[guynextdoor81]

Hey Guys ! If you don't mind I have a few questions about my new Venza (2010 V6 Premium 4900 km)

1. Almost every time I start the car the recirculate mode automatically activates (in all modes, possibly not defog). Do you know what triggers it (ie outdoor ambient temp) ? What is the purpose ? Can it be overridden ?

2. I have been told that the A/C compressor runs all the time to circulate the refrigerant whether A/C is turned on or off. Is that true ? Sounds like it would consume alot of unnecessary fuel (I live north of 56 parallel)....

3. I leaving on 4000 km+ road trip next week and will hit my 8000 kms while I am out of province. Are my free ECP oil changes good at any Toyota in Canada ?

Thanks !
Brian

 

[samej]

congrats on the Venza Brian.

1. high inside temp triggers it, regardless of whether you've got the HVAC on auto or not. a total PITA. Some folks have gotten their dealers to reprogram this...

2. I doubt it. If the compressor was running the coils would be cold and you'd always get cold air in the cabin with a cold engine, adn you don't.

3. don't know!

 

[iJeenyus]

Hey Guys ! If you don't mind I have a few questions about my new Venza (2010 V6 Premium 4900 km)

1. Almost every time I start the car the recirculate mode automatically activates (in all modes, possibly not defog). Do you know what triggers it (ie outdoor ambient temp) ? What is the purpose ? Can it be overridden ?
Brian

I think Venzas are pre-rogrammed to do that, it's like that in my car too. I've read somewhere that you can have it reprogrammed (to not turn when you start the car) by the dealership.

 

[Verndog]

congrats on the Venza Brian.

1. high inside temp triggers it, regardless of whether you've got the HVAC on auto or not. a total PITA. Some folks have gotten their dealers to reprogram this...

To add to that, it's when the difference between the set temp for AC and the actual inside temp have a fairly large difference. If you turn up the inside temp 1 deg at a time, you will see the recirc. eventually turn off when you get inside of whatever the difference is...if that makes any sense.

 

[saxdogg]

It changes back to fresh air once it cools down the cabin...do you not like that?

If it's short trips you're taking, just turn it off before you get there to keep the air fresh and musty odors down. I've always done this and never had musty or moldy a/c smell in ANY car.

JP

 

[guynextdoor81]

Thanks for all the info everyone !

I live in northern Canada (north of 56th parallel) and rarely have use for air conditioning. The sun will beat down on the car in summer leaving it approaching 35-40 degrees inside while it's only 22 outside. You can see why I would not want recirculate activated !

I use this car as a sales vehicle for work, starting and stopping up to 10 times over the course of the work day. It's not just the ride to/from work, annoying to have to turn it off every time I start the car.

My salesman had never had that complaint before and didn't know if anything could be done - it's interesting that it can be reprogrammed ! I will look into it further...

Gas mileage is key (gas comes out of my pocket) so you can also see why I choose to run the a/c as little as possible and why I would be concerned about the compressor running all the time.

Thanks All !

 

[smacd]

Very easy for your dealer to program the recirc to manual only. We had ours done at our first service.

 

[jflarin]

2. I have been told that the A/C compressor runs all the time to circulate the refrigerant whether A/C is turned on or off. Is that true ? Sounds like it would consume alot of unnecessary fuel (I live north of 56 parallel)....

I have OBSERVED that the AC is always on when you put the CAR in auto. As far as I'm concerned, whenever the air is cool outside, or in the winter whenever you are heating the car, I turn the AC OFF manually.

I would have expected the AC to be on until the temperature desired is reached and then have it turn off, but it doesn't seem to be the case. I can feel this in the winter through the fuel consumtion indicator.

jf

 

[samej]

Our Venza AC shuts off when it's below freezing at some point. I don't recall exactly but I did note this last winter, as it's different behaviour from other auto HVACs we've had - they leave the AC on always. If you press in the large knob on the HVAC the TFT will briefly display what the Auto settings are, including whether AC is on or off.

Has anyone in Canada gotten their recirculate button reprogrammed to NOT activate automatically when it's hot? If so did the dealer charge for this?

 

[guynextdoor81]

Thanks again for the responses and the good info !

1. I will go to my dealer stat and have them reprogram ! I did some searching and couldn't find anywhere that would tell me how to do it myself. Must have to hook up up a computer to it or something....

2. Didn't make any sense to me either but my salesman insisted upon it. I don't know if it would just dump the cold air from the coils somewhere else ?

3. I will inquire about the ECP when I discuss the recirc.

Thanks !

 

[smacd]

Our Venza AC shuts off when it's below freezing at some point. I don't recall exactly but I did note this last winter, as it's different behaviour from other auto HVACs we've had - they leave the AC on always. If you press in the large knob on the HVAC the TFT will briefly display what the Auto settings are, including whether AC is on or off.

Has anyone in Canada gotten their recirculate button reprogrammed to NOT activate automatically when it's hot? If so did the dealer charge for this?

Hey samej,
I got mine done in Cranbrook, BC and there was no charge for it, even though I didn't buy the car from that dealer. I had it done at the same time as my first oil change. Now it's the same as my previous van, recirc only comes on when I manually choose it.

 

[samej]

thanks smacd. Will ask on my next service!

 

[AIH]

While I don't envy you Canuk's cold air, I do wish I had your air quality! Here in Los Angeles, I don't want outside air while I'm stuck in a traffic jam on the (smile) freeway.

Next chance I get, I'm asking for the recirc. button to be reprogrammed to manual only!

 

[gurneyeagle]

With the outside temp hitting 95°+ for the past month, the inside of my Venza has been an oven when I get in it at 5:30 pm to go home.

What I do is turn off the recirc until the inside of the car has started to cool down. I'll open the sunroof and all four windows for a couple of minutes to evacuate the hot cabin air, and then hit the recirc button. It hepls cool down tremendously.

 

[Bronze x Two]

We had our 2009 Venza reprogrammed by the dealer several months ago. There are only two settings {for the dealer to choose from} in the Venza computer. #1 The factory setting.. The recirculate button is controlled by the computer, the moisture inside the cabin of the car and other envinromental info. #2 Turn off the factory setting and the recirculate button is controlled manually by the people in the car not the car computer. We much prefer #2 setting it is not difficult to realize when the windows are fogging over and we do not choose to have exterior exhaust drawn into the cabin. It took about 15 minutes for the dealer to change ours, a very simple reprogram. Wyovenza

 

[venzoid]

I got my oil changed this morning at Clarington Toyota and asked about the reprogram and they knew nothing about it and did not investigate any further.
Then I phoned Van der Meer Toyota (Cobourg) and the advisor read from something that said you can customize the HVAC so that recirc always comes on upon restart. Some other things like when you press Auto you get foot/def mode first. Nothing about only manually turning on recirc.

My beef with auto recirc is that it comes on when you shut the AC off and turn the temp to low ... I like doing this to get cool outside air which is not dried by AC system.

If anyone in Ont finds a dealership who can perform this service please post the name.

 

[Bronze x Two]

I got my oil changed this morning at Clarington Toyota and asked about the reprogram and they knew nothing about it and did not investigate any further.
Then I phoned Van der Meer Toyota (Cobourg) and the advisor read from something that said you can customize the HVAC so that recirc always comes on upon restart. Some other things like when you press Auto you get foot/def mode first. Nothing about only manually turning on recirc.

My beef with auto recirc is that it comes on when you shut the AC off and turn the temp to low ... I like doing this to get cool outside air which is not dried by AC system.

If anyone in Ont finds a dealership who can perform this service please post the name.

Any Dealership can do this if you ask them to...... Each dealership has a computer unit that they plug into your car computer. It brings up all the settings on your Venza computer and how they are set at that time. There are two settings for the recirculate button which are essentially "On Automatic" Or "On Manual". Now that you have the information all you need to do is take the information to your dealership service manager and ask him to do it for you. Seems to me the dealerships you talked to are not very interested in your needs as a customer. It is a VERY simple fix, it does not require any special knowledge, TSB, visit from Toyota Service Technician etc. It simply requires an interest in you as a customer, connecting the dealership computer to your Venza and switching your recirculate button to manual. As we say in Wyoming USA "Don't let them Buffalo ya Partner! Stand yer ground an git what you want"... :bash: Wyovenza

 

[venzoid]

Wyovenza you are 100% correct.

Visited Whitby Toyota this morning and had the recirc button reprogrammed to only come on manually. So far seems to work just that way. It took about 5 minutes to plug into the computer and reset. There are alot of functions that are available and can be changed. So the mechanics or service people cannot know what is or is not available to change. But it does require them to get their portable computer and have a look. Congrats to Whitby Toyota for doing this for me. It is a relatively small thing but now I don't have to keep turning the recirc button off. Too bad the dealership which I bought the car from (mentioned in above post) wasn't interested in helping.

 

[deanesfield]

Wyovenza you are 100% correct.

Visited Whitby Toyota this morning and had the recirc button reprogrammed to only come on manually. So far seems to work just that way. It took about 5 minutes to plug into the computer and reset. There are alot of functions that are available and can be changed. So the mechanics or service people cannot know what is or is not available to change. But it does require them to get their portable computer and have a look. Congrats to Whitby Toyota for doing this for me. It is a relatively small thing but now I don't have to keep turning the recirc button off. Too bad the dealership which I bought the car from (mentioned in above post) wasn't interested in helping.

Would be nice to see a list of the other options that can be programmd in this fashion. There might be options that could improve our Venza experiences, like this one.

 

[venzoid]

Just a follow up on getting the recirc button reprogrammed to manual setting. I'm pleased with the new setting. The recirc only comes on when you press it (obviously haven't tried any winter settings yet). Auto climate and fan doesn't react as vigorously as before. Seems much more predictable. I like it better.