OK all summer I left the recirc on and it was fine, not last few weeks whenever I turn car on the recirc button is offon off, occasionally on. And when I turn it on the AUTO mode seems to turn it off sometimes. Seems to be now that temp is down and car is working more ehat than AC. Also the entire car was diconnected for a few days during the front end repair, so not sure if something got affected or reset by that. It is annoying I want the recirc on all the time unless I shut it off (open it up). Is it behaving normal is is mine posesed. Is ther a way to force it to stay in recirc?

I had the dealer "de-link" the recirc button, because mine kept setting itself ON all the time, which in warmer weather was a real pain. I thought that de-linking would let me set it and the car wouldn't mess with the setting. In the last week, though, I am noticing the TCH is turning recirc mode OFF upon restarting the car, even if I am NOT using "Auto" mode.

So, I am now confused at to whether this de-linking actually did anything. Maybe the dealer set the wrong thing.

I'm interested to read what others are experiencing with this feature!

B. Goodman

The recirc changing automatically is controlled by the Air Inlet Mode setting on the TCH. The factory setting is auto. Disable this by having the dealer set the Air Inlet Mode to manual Your dealer may charge you to do this. Below is a link to a PDF listing the custom parameters the dealer can change:

Customize Parameters.pdf

Just an FYI, according to the manual, if the airflow is set to foot, it still pumps air out the windshield defrost outlets:




I know it doesn't answer your question, but I thought you might just be interested in knowing that. I found that out by hearing air coming out of the windshield defrost vent when the Auto A/C system lowered the fan speed after hitting the desired temp (with the airflow setting set to foot). For some reason, the airflow was louder at the defrost vent at low fan settings than at higher settings.. go figure..

What's the thinking behind leaving it in recirc all the time? I put mine in recirc when I need max A/C, or when travelling on a dusty road. Other than that, I leave it in auto. And there are days here where it's so humid that the windows would never de-fog in constant recirc mode.

"When you get to the fork in the road, take it." --Yogi Berra

If the air filter were charcoal I might let it do its thing, but when you get behind the occasionaly oil buring car/truck or what ever I liek to keep those odors out and by the time you realize it and switch it yourself it is too late. I always used to leave it open on previous cars, but my last 2 I leave it closed as much as possible.

This is annoying that you have to go to the dealer to do this, pure stupidity! My TL was user set, how stupid does Toyota think we are? Also the option only says that turing the AC on will set to recirc does not say recirc will stay on all the time? Mine tends to turn the recirc OFF under certain conditions.

This is annoying that you have to go to the dealer to do this, pure stupidity! My TL was user set, how stupid does Toyota think we are? Also the option only says that turing the AC on will set to recirc does not say recirc will stay on all the time? Mine tends to turn the recirc OFF under certain conditions.

I agree 100% My VW I have a program for my computer and hook my laptop to the diagnostic terminal and set any electrical componant, even the fuel injection quantity, door locks, radio, A/C and everything else. come on Toyota your dealers will make still money on oil changes lol

TCH-43mpg
VW TDI--48
08 LS 600 HL-20
08 LX 470-16

I can understand that. I forgot to mention in my earlier post that I'm getting in the habit of turning recirc on when I'm in bumper to bumper traffic behind a smoker.

"When you get to the fork in the road, take it." --Yogi Berra

The other item I didn't see mentioned here is the driver's side ionizer and cabin filter - the combination of the two allow for a cleaner cabin when you choose to have recirculated air. That way, you are in essence, recirculating cleaned air.