Avensis 2012 - Air Recirculation Button

[Berengaria]

Recently bought a 2012 Avensis. An unbelievable annoyance that's come to light is the fact that every time I start the car up the air recirculation activates regardless of whether the fan unit is switched on our not.

I can't see the logic in having a default setting that just moves the 'bad' air around the car. Standard on 99.9% of cars is for fresh air to be coming in unless you change the setting or activate full climate control.

Is there a way of getting this programmed out so that the default setting outside of the 'auto' setting is to have fresh air coming in? All I want is to have fresh air coming in (either blown by the fan or force of the car moving).

[alan333]

If it's warm outside it automatically switches to recirc mode to aid quicker cooling inside. To test my theory turn the heat up, the recirc should switch itself off.

[FROSTYBALLS]

A few years ago, a new Primera I had was always in recirc mode until the interior temperature got near to the set temperature before switching to fresh air. Useful in winter as it prevented cold air being drawn into the cabin too soon.

[APS]

Do you have the AC enabled? If the cabin temperature is higher than the ambient temperature then it will enable recirculation. Likewise in winter it will enable it to speed up heating of the cabin. Make sure you don't have some 'Eco' setting enabled which may attempt to save energy. (This behaviour is seen on hybrid versions in Eco mode)

Also check your manual. It normally states the conditions that trigger recirculation.

Yes I do agree with you, having it set to recirculation by default even with the system in OFF seems daft.

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[Berengaria]

The button lights up every time I switch the ignition on and start the car, regardless of whether or not the unit is switched or notnand regardless of whether the dual, auto or a/c setting has been selected.

It does switch off when I turn the temperature up. The logic that it recirculates to cool the car down quicker is flawed. The temperature outside at the moment in June in warm enough, but the cabin will always be warmer because of the greenhouse effect in the cabin. Air recirculation (of the warm, stuffy, stale air inside) is never going to cool it down is it. All I want is for it to take the fresh cool air in from outside to cool the cabin, which is normal.

Surely, this could be overridden by some sort of software update. Probably won't, but feel like disconnecting that switch!

[gazza1286]

You will be probably be able to connect an in-line switch (hidden under the dash) assuming that the default position is external. Otherwise rigging up a (switched) live to the button so that it is permanently on 'external' regardless of the temperature setting. An auto electrician could solve it in minutes if you're not that handy with a soldering iron.

[APS]

Check with your dealer if there's anything they can do. I doubt you can do any "hot wiring". The switch will be a soft switch which momentarily pulls a 5V signal when pressed. If you set a switch which always pulls it high or disconnects it, the computer will simply ignore it either way. You'd need to change the presets somehow in the computer which could only be done (if at all) by the dealer (unless you are a home gadget hacker and can do it yourself). Maybe there's someone out there who has already done it!?

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[APS]

I meant to say- it's probably easier to simply to make a habit of pressing the button to deactivate recirculation.

And I fully agree with you, recirculation is a false economy when the cabin has been in direct sunlight and is really hot. It actually not very intelligent. The control system knows the inside and outside temperature and it also knows how strong the sunlight is. Therefore it could quite easily work out that is would be cheaper to draw in cooler air from the outside and then switch on recirculation after a short while. That said I assume the people who made the system has far more experience than I. But I do know how product development works and that you sometimes have to comprise to stay within the set specs.

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[dew66]

The wording in the owners manual for my 2012 Avensis is as follows: " Recirculated air may be automatically switched to in accordance with the temperature setting and the inside temperature".

I assume that the wording "may be automatically switched to..." actually means that it will be automatically switched to...

From the manual explanation it seems that the external temperature is irrelevant to this automatic switching decision.

Dave

[gazza1286]

With this setup there must surely be a wire feed to the recirculation button which is triggered from the temperature control unit. A few minutes with a multi meter to the wiring socket to the rear of the assembly would identify which needs to be disabled. 99.9% of the time most people have external air regardless of the temperature so Toyota should have left this well alone.

[TomdeGuerre]

Hey Gary, around here the farmers use that liquefied pig manure. The recirc button is absolutely essential, pure gagging that smell.

[APS]

The recirc is indeed very useful whether you have pig farmers or smoking diesels in front of you.

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[Berengaria]

Dare say it's useful in those situations!

Won't be speaking to modify it. Spoken to the dealers who says this setting cannot be changed. Contacted Toyota, but received one of those strange replies that apologises, says that this may be caused because it's in 'auto' mode' then apologises again saying that this will be taken account of in future product development.

Surely this could be reprogrammed? From the response I'm getting, it looks like I'm going g to have to live with it.

Incidentally, are there costs involved in getting the dealer to reprogramme the doors not to automatically lock every time the car movesoff?

[mcorban]

I done it to my own car using techstream system.

The dealers may not switch is off for some safety reason, but worth an ask.

You can also set it up to open all doors when the car is switched off and driver door opened.