I have this problem occasionally as well, actually it happened today. A while back this bonehead at the dealer told me he couldn't find anything wrong. Oh well at the next service I'll try again. Maybe you'll have better luck at your dealer.....

 

I just purchased a 2015 HL in March. I live in Phoenix and we had the best spring any of us could remember. However, it hit 107* yesterday and it's HOT now. Ever since I purchased the HL, I noticed that it took a while for the AC to kick in. When it was cooler outside, there was no delay, but as it got to the 80's and 90's, I noticed it took anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of minutes before the AC got cold. Now it's in the 100's and it takes 3-5 minutes before the AC kicks in. It will literally blow HOT air the whole time for a few minutes. Even when driving and RPM's raised to 2k+, it still takes the same time to start cooling as if it's just idleing.

I usually have the AC on recirculation, full blast, rear AC, etc. I've tried searching this forum and online and only found one other thread that brought this up for the new Highlanders. I've tried turning on/off the AC button, recirculate button, different vents, open windows, etc, to no avail. This is my 5th Toyota (3 Camry and 1 Tundra) and never had this long of a delay with any other cars I've had.

Anybody else had this issue? Thanks in advance...

I have a 2012 Venza that often (not every time, especially in cooler Oklahoma summer weather) blows really hot air on Auto start up. I turn the air system off. Then turn it on auto. After getting out of the neighborhood where I can hit the gas hard for a few seconds, it will start to blow cool air and work wonderfully. It’s annoying and crazy.

 

Not sure if this is correct or not, and I live in Ohio, but mine seems to do the same. But the reason is because it simply takes awhile to produce cold air. So instead of it turning on and making it worse, it doesn't kick on until it will help.

I'm pretty sure this is the reason. I'd suggest contacting your dealer though.

 

I'd like to be able and agree with this but it just doesn't make any sense, at least in my case.

Under normal operating conditions i. e., unit turned on, the unit will start blowing as soon as my HL is turned on and the compressor kicks in. Blows hot for maybe 5 seconds and then starts to cool down quickly.

The couple of times I've had this problem I start the vehicle and it blows but the compressor doesn't kick in. Both times turning it off and then back on have got it working. Unless there is some type of error code that would be kicked out, I don't see any dealership being able to correct the problem without being able to recreate it.

 

There are at least a couple threads on this.
Try taking a tech with you after leaving it at dealer for a while, so you start it with him/her(Any fem techs in the house?just asking).

But I would try starting it with outside air, then inside, which sound sreverse, but try it. If you set to max ac might go to recycle air mode.

 

That is a good idea. I have to believe when you first get in the car the air inside the car is hotter than the air outside, so why would yo want to re-circulate hot air?

 

Has anybody stuck a thermometer into the vent when its blowing this "hot" air? The air coming out should be 10-20F cooler than the ambient car air. If the inside of the car is 130-140F after cooking in the sun, its going to feel hot until the car ambeint temp drops. It may be cooling.

Someone should test the ambient car temp vs the vent temp when its doing this to confirm if its actually the compressor taking its sweet time to start functioning or its simply stupid hot inside and the AC unit is undersized for the load. I can't imagine them shrinking the system in the 3rd gen, but the 2nd gen system is equivalent to a 2.6ton AC unit (ton of refrigeration (or whatever the unit is)). These aren't small systems.

 

My 2015 XLE AWD Highlander did the same problem when I first got it. Took forever to blow cool air. It was just blowing out normal hot air for over 5 minutes and driving it around or reving the engine up doesn't help anything. Cycling the AC on an off and back on again didn't help either. 6 months and 18k miles later.... it doesn't seem to have than issue any more. What I did change was the AutoAC feature in the radios menu. Not sure if that was the fix or not, but it the AC doesn't take that long to blow cool air now. Or maybe the new AC just needed some time to break-in?

 

AC delay



I have the same experience like you did. I can't say if this is a problem. It was a 80+ degree weather here in Boston. I got into my 2015 HL after a long day sitting in the sun. I started the car with the A/C on (at Lo setting). It blew hot air for a minute or two. I first turned the fan to the highest level, then I lowered the front windows. I thought this is normal. It's 50'F here and I will try this again when the sun comes out.

 

Same with mine. It'll blow ambient-temp air for a minute or two. It is like night and day as soon as the a/c kicks in. There is little noticable gradual cooling. One second it is regular air, the next it is ice cold.

 

I also have this issue. I just brought it in to the dealer for my 5000 mile service and they said they saw nothing abnormal. I will say that it has gotten better as time has gone on. I think polaek01 is probably correct. The system is probably a "smart" system and doesn't blow anything until the AC can pump out cold air. If the owner's manual stated this, none of us would have an issue. But it doesn't and the dealer doesn't know anything about this, so we all sit and fret!

 

The reverse (heat) is also normal with Auto AC/Heater systems. In the winter months (in colder climates) if (for example) you set the thermostat to 22*C and the outside temp is 0*C and place the system in "Auto" mode the system defaults to recirculate and the fan will not come on until the engine/coolant reaches a set temp. This prevents you from getting blasted with frigid air from the vents. The fan will gradually speed up as the temp of the coolant heats up. This is also normal and the system is performing as designed. I had this feature way back in my 2000 Lexus ES 300.

 

Yup, I remember now that it happened to me last summer. Haven't noticed it again the past few days, with the 80F ++ temp we had. I'll pay attention when I get to drive the HL again.

And yes, there were few threads about this from last year.

 

Sorry for the very late reply guys, had some crazy issues I had to deal with. Anyways, thanks all for your inputs. Since the last heat spell we had here in the desert over a week ago, it's been relatively decent and under 100* most days. So even though it's still somewhat hot out, the interior of my car hasn't been all that bad and the AC had been kicking in within 1 minute or so. And like RaiderSCL said, when it does kick in, it's like night and day. It doesn't gradually get cooler, it just hits a switch and blasts of cold air.

With that said, when it was 107*, I swear the air coming through the vents was as hot, if not hotter, than the ambient temp. And, it seems the hotter it is, the longer it would take for the AC to kick in. Like I said, this is my 5th Toyota (and dozens of other cars), and I've never had it this bad while living in the desert. Even the AC in my '94 Camry kicks in almost immediately when it was 115*. Next time it gets over 105*, I'll bring a thermometer (as per SweeneyP's suggestion) and see if the vent temps are slightly cooler.

 

Next time it gets over 105*, I'll bring a thermometer (as per SweeneyP's suggestion) and see if the vent temps are slightly cooler.

You'll want a vent output temp and an ambient car interior temp (not outside air temp), to compare :thumbsup:

 

Add me to the list. Noticed it for the first time today. Probably a solid two minutes before the clutch engaged for the A/C to start blowing cold air. This vehicle just keeps showing up with bona-fide material quality defects (speaking only for myself).

 

I've had this problem a couple of times over the last two years! Both times turning the vehicle off and then restarting it solved the problem. Since it's an intermittent type of problem I haven't wasted my time taking it to the dealer and trying to recreate the issue. It shouldn't happen but that's just life. Computers and electronics are great things, until they screw up!

 

I could not agree more. I have no doubt Toyota will screw you around 10 ways to sundown over issues that are difficult to reproduce, many of which they don't even know the root cause, let alone a solution. They are playing that game with me as a I write this. Unfortunately it's not just Toyota that carries it like that. Win or lose, I find it necessary to use what little recourse is at my disposal to try and force their hand under those kind of circumstances (that and try to make sure I don't make the same buying mistake next go around).

 

Also, IMHO, this car blows the least cold AC I've ever experienced in a new car.

 

As far as I'm concern this is a Defect. None of the explanation is this thread make since to me. Unfortunately it's intermittent and hard to get the dealer to take you seriously. Sometimes in the summer it can take 'several' minutes before cold air comes out of the vents. NO car I've ever owned has done this before including other Toyota's. My daughter in law has 2014 Sienna and her father has 2014 Rav 4. I'll check to see if they have this problem.

 

Blows cold once compressor starts

I will echo the sentiments of others...sometimes there is a lengthy (several minutes) delay between startup and when the compressor engages. Once the compressor engages, cold air starts blowing within seconds. The delay between startup and activation of the compressor is the issue; this delay may be seconds to minutes.

 

My HL does this too...... but i don"t remember on my 05 Rav4 doing this kind of thing......

 

My 2015 XLE does the delay A/C thing every once in a while. It is annoying and totally unpredictable.

Has anyone had any success with the dealer or a fix?

 

My car has done this as well, 2-3 times. Luckily, it's never lasted several minutes, but long enough for me to think the A/C is broke. And as someone else said, once it does kick in it blasts cold air.

 

I noticed this recently with my 2014 HL Limited. It seemed to happen right after I read a post that was talking about switching the AC to outside air before shutting off the vehicle to prevent smells. I started turning off the Recirculate mode, taking it out of full Auto mode, before shutting down the vehicle. The few times that I had with delay start up of the AC seemed to follow me taking it out of full Auto mode. I stopped messing with the full Auto mode and have not had the delay start up of the AC. This has been through 90+ degree days when the vehicle has been parked in sun all day. Those who seem to be having the problem more consistently are you changing modes instead of just letting the Auto mode take care of the vehicle?

 

My HL exhibits this pattern virtually every startup at ambient temps above 75-78 degrees F. I can't speak to auto mode mitigating the problem, but I can tell you that the '15 Rav4 I recently had for a rental for four days behaved exactly the same as my HL. Is it a defect? Absolutely. Has anybody had success getting Toyota to admit this problem exists, especially in light of the fact that other Toyota's exhibit the same issue? I sincerely doubt it.

Damn shame how transparent and how much of a one trick pony Toyota is proving to be in my experience with them. One way or the other, when my dealings with Toyota are over, the only certainty for me is that I will not be looking back.

 

never had a car automatically go into recirc mode, and yes my 2014 is slow to cool as well, but a bigger problem is the smell i get out the vents when first turn on the AC, lucky it goes away almost as fast.I guess every vehicle has its quirks, it could be worse, i could still be driving my GMC Jimmy !!!

 

Toyota should some how program the AC to get outside air at turn on, not recycle. That I think is the problem, at least as far as I have.
If I'm in outside air, AC cools pretty quick.

Each time I start I have to swithc to outside.
This speeds up the cooling, and it gets rid of odors.

 

My Highlander now does the delay on every cold start regardless of outside temp. It takes 2-3 minutes before any I get any cool air. On all subsequent hot starts for the rest of the day the cool air is blowing immediately after starting the car. This sounds like a software issue. Headed to dealer this afternoon, but of course it will have to sit there over night to act up again.

 

Just joined so I could add to this thread. I also experienced the AC delay today :frownthat's how I found the forum). Went about a mile and a half blowing hot air before the compressor finally kicked in. Outside temperature at the time was 88 and windows were closed (pretty hot inside). As others have said, no amount of button pushing helped. I was finally forced to open the windows and that seemed to "wake" it up as the compressor kicked in as soon as windows were down. It really does seem to be some kind of a software problem. They probably made it too smart !! I plan to visit the dealer and will share any information if I get it. - Ray