Do your have your auto start/stop activated? If you don’t turn that off, when you’re at a red light or stopped in traffic it cuts the air off while it stops the engine. Also, I’ve noticed sometimes on mine that some days I need to push the separate AC button to get the cold air going, while most days I do not. I haven’t figure out why that is yet, but it always blows cold air when that extra AC button is turned on.

 

What do u mean by auto start stop. My big round knob on the left is always On with green auto button is always lit ON green and lit LO. I also added ur suggestion of having green light lit On A/C on the right with LO lit in tight big knob with lit green on right too. see pic below

 

They are referring to the engine's auto stop/start function that will turn off the engine when you come to a stop in traffic or at a light or stop sign. When the engine shuts off the AC does as well; when you step on the gas the engine turns back on and the AC should do so too. I don't have a Grand Highlander but the auto start/stop function has been around for several years now at least dating back to 2019 or earlier on a multitude of brand's vehicles. There is usually a button that you can press when you first start the car that will disable the auto start/stop feature if you choose but the default every time you restart the car is for auto start/stop to be engaged. Good luck.

 

No No No. I dont have this button. I have a 2024 Grand Highlander Hybrid AWD 2.5L - it has no auto start stop button. The AC system compressor runs on 100% electric power when engine is off or On. Hybrid cars AC run only on electric. Engine does shut off on red traffic lights. but ac should still blow cold due to hybrid battery feeding AC 100%

 

push this button to turn off the engine auto shut off. If your AC is only pausing when you are stopped, this is the culprit.

 

Thank u so much !!! Its 90 degrees outside. I also closed the top cover on the roof so its feeling cooler now. Thank you for your patience with me. I am not that bright.

 

I have had my GH for a year now and yes, I have experience the same issues with the A/C. I have been pretty disappointed with that system compared to other cars that I have owned. I have no solutions other than turning on the rear A/C. For whatever reason, it increase the cold and flow consistency. I assumed the poor behavior was some side effect of a change in the coolant type they use these days for "environmental" purposes, "computer" control for more eco benefit or perhaps that I run my gas version on the ECO engine mode all the time... so lower engine rev.

Regardless, it is still constantly frustrating to have it fluctuate they way it does for as expensive of a car it is. The A/C never runs as cold as other cars I have owned no matter what I try and set it to.

 

This is what i did that helped me today.
#1. I closed the top on the roof to prevent sunlight getting inside. This helped a lot.
#2. The left knob AUTO i turned OFF (green light on Left big knob no longer lit. The right knob, however I turned ON with green light A/C lit on right big knob and I manually raised the fan lines to toppest line.
what this did is put AC into Manual instead of Auto.
#3 The SFlow i turned OfF. SFlow light Not lit.
4. my rear ac is off.
This solved my problem 100%
try this Chris and reply.
Auto AC is shit. I will post a pic of final settings. Get urs same way and it will fix. i guarantee u that u have no leak. ac auto is the culprit

 

I was going to say, try taking the A/C off of Auto mode. But, it sounds like you figured it out already! (and I moved the thread to the right hybrid section.)

 

Thank u.

 

Is it on 'eco heat/cool' perchance? I believe that allows for a larger variance in cabin temps in order to keep the system more efficient or something.

 

This. If the car is in eco mode it will noticeably cut back on A/C performance.

Auto systems are great when you let them work as designed and are well programmed. Toyota programs there systems well. Putting it on Lo and manually selecting fan speed messes it up. Set it like your home thermostat and leave it alone.
I've take road trips that start off on cold mornings and transitions to warm afternoons. It's usually set to 68 and we start off with heat to warm things up and without me touching anything it transitions to cold air as the day warms up with the rising sun.