[Bluenoser]

Hi all.......my first post......
My '98 RAV brought the A/C on when the heater controls were in defrost and indicated it with the A/C light......all automatic to my annoyance. I remember mods to cut a certain wire to eliminate this but never bothered.
My '05 RAV annoys me even more!!!!.....the A/C comes on in two positions of the heater controls....defrost and floor+defrost.....and Toyota got cute and no longer indicates the A/C is on.....took me two months to realize this!
In the northern latitudes, most of use heat to defog or defrost our windows and having the A/C come on only sucks up more gas.....and gas prices keep going up, up up!!!
I think I'm bright enough to know when I want the A/C on!!!......TOYOTA I HOPE YOU'RE LISTENING!!!!!!!!!
Finally to my question.....does anyone know how to defeat this automatic feature???? I'd like to put a switch in one of the switch dummies to control the voltage at the heater control or at the A/C clutch.......
Sorry about the length of this, but I had to rant!!!

 

[Jeff]

On the inside of the control panel there is a plastic ring around the shaft of the knob. When you turn the knob and get to a certain point, the ring trips a switch to turn on the A/C. A few of us have disabled this feature by taking apart the control panel and removing the plastic ring.

 

[Bluenoser]

Thanks Jeff!!
I'll start looking for it, although I dread taking apart the dash on current autos......just too tight under there and I'd hate to introduce a squeak or rattle....... :roll:

 

[[email protected]]

There is a good reason why the A/C automatically turns on when you put the knob to the defrost setting. A/C doesn't just cool the air but removes moisture from the air, as well. This drier air helps to remove the condensation inside your windshield. Low humidity plus the heat coming from the heater makes the condensation go away much faster.

 

[gamma742]

George is right

But I can also relate to the price of gas these days.

 

[Bluenoser]

Quiet Sunday afternoon here and raining hard, so decided to try and find the aforementioned A/C ring. Took apart the centre dash but was unable to get the heater panel all the way out due to either the harness or the slider cables........ so I was unable to take the heater panel apart to access the "ring".
So I "chickened out" :wink: and pulled out the 5 amp fuse for the A/C in the relay and fuse box under the hood. I'll pop it in once a month thru the fall and winter and turn on the A/C to keep everything moving and the seals in good shape.

I realized A/C dried the air, thus defrosting quicker; but it isn't worth the cost of running the A/C in winter when the heater will do the job. Besides I generally leave the heater control in the "floor plus defrost" position, with a little heat and low fan speed, throughout the winter to dry the carpet savers and defog the windows continually.......and I didn't want the A/C cycling in this position.

 

[Cal_Rav]

Can I ask how much gas you can save by disabling this feature?

 

[waltrav]

As others have mentioned, the defrost system works with the air con.. Taking the moisture away.
In the summer your home system does the same.
If you have just cleaned your carpets or have had some excess moister in the basement the Air Con will collect much of it. If you want to save gas look more to your driving habits and keep your car light (no excess cargo)

Walt

 

[bmorton]

I did the A/C disable mod in my old-style 2000 RAV4. You don't cut a wire, you just disconnect a plug behind the radio. Took only a couple of minutes but it's a nice improvement. I drive around in winter with the setting on floor+defrost most of the time and most of that time I definitely don't want the A/C.

My Subaru is the same way (defroster-linked A/C) and unfortunately there's no easy way to get rid of it, so some people on Subaru forums are doing what you did -- pop the fuse until spring.

 

[Bluenoser]

I can't even guess at the savings.......what does A/C decrease mileage by.....10-15%???. But I did notice that in that pos'n, the compressor runs on a 50% duty cycle (on 30 secs-off 30-on 30). That can't be cheap.......

As far as pulling the fuse till spring, I wouldn't do that........ The system should be run regularily to keep seals lubed, etc......

Any A/C techs on the board???......what's your advice???

 

[bmorton]

I meant that you're going to pull the fuse and have it mostly out of there until spring. Yes, it still needs to run regularly to stay in good working order. As long as someone's aware of that, pulling the fuse seems like a reasonable alternative to disabling the defroster-linked A/C completely.

 

[Alien18]

strange in my car when ever i do anything to clim control a/c never turn on by it self .

 

[Bluenoser]

Alien, maybe it does........
I had my '05 RAV for 2 months before I realized the A/C was coming on in the 2 cw pos'ns because the A/C dash light doesn't come on as it did in my '98 (*%$&!!&$#@&!!). Then one day it was idling in the garage and I heard the A/C clutch engaging and disengaging while I was beside it......

Toyota really doesn't understand that buyers don't want everything to be automatic.........along the lines of the thread referring to the RAV as a ladies vehicle.......( I'm not slighting the ladies!!! .....but a lot of them, not all, want things to be automatic, my wife included.) They really drop the ball in some areas......such as the 1st gen had a large speedo and tach, not so the 2nd gen, it had large speedo and gas gauge and H2O temp, and a small center tach.......I for one, don't like it, gimme the big tach back :roll:

But I'm getting off topic..........maybe I'll start another thread.... :lol: