That hidden "eco" button?
 

Funny, this morning I just happened to notice a button on the lower left side of the dash that said ECO driving, or something like that.
This wasn't shown or explained to me.
When I press the button, no light or signal appears telling me it's on or working or doing something.
Was is it for?

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

ECO is designed to use an "economy" version of the heating and ac. Basically it helps save gas and has been on most Toyota Carmies (and other models I am sure) for over 20 years.

When you turn it on, there is a green light that should be lit within the button and the heat/ac display should show the letters ECO in the middle-left.

To maximize fuel economy, use the ECO button at all times. To get faster heating and cooling, turn off ECO.

Note: If you use the defroster, ECO will ALWAYS be OFF.

Mike

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

Look on the environment control display. When you press the button, it toggles "ECO" mode on that display. The effect is that heating and cooling functions are adjusted to minimize their impact on FE. Note that certain settings (like turning on front defrost, or setting temperature to MAX or MIN) will turn off ECO mode and the only way to turn it back on is to press the button again (after eliminating the setting that turned it off in the first place - if you leave defrost on, ECO can not be turned back on).

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

The “ECO HEAT/COOL” mode is canceled in the following cases:

• The temperature control is set at “LO” (the lowest temperature) or “HI” (the highest temperature).
• The air flow is set in the floor/windshield mode or windshield mode.
• “ECO HEAT/COOL” switch is pushed again.

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

And I wish that wasn't the case. Since if you change where the air is coming from you almost ALWAYS have to turn ECO back on because as you cycle through the choice you hit the floor/windshield setting. :angry:

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

Oh yeah, another thing - be careful you don't open the fuel filler door when you reach for the ECO button.

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

Is the filler door capable of being opened when the car is in motion?

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

Excuse my ignorance (being such a newbie), but where is the Environment Control Display?

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

I've managed to do it :)

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

With all the high tech stuff that this car has going for it, I can't believe someone didn't write a program to prevent it.
Line 1 "If car is not in park disable the filler tank open button"
Line 2 "See line #1"
Line 3 End program

But hey, I'm not an auto engineer. It might be more difficult than that.

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

I don't know - and I don't want to find out.:P

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

Sorry - the heating and A/C controls.

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

What I was speaking of in my post. Under the radio but above the covered compartment with the AUX jack.

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

But what if you want to do a highspeed refueling?? :P

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

High speed refueling is when the pump guy takes takes less than 2 minutes to walk to the car and start pumping (I live in the great state of NJ where self serve gas is illegal...very nice in inclement weather)

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

That's for SAAB's born of jets.... we need to stop and stretch while refueling our TCH's;)

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

I've never hit the gas door button by mistake, but the hood release is in the same spot that the brake release is in my other car so when we first got the TCH I repeatedly was popping open the hood when I'd start to drive off!

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

2 days after we got the car .. my wife hit the fuel door button while in motion, and yes it opened. She pulled over and closed it right away. She was reaching for the ECO button.

I agree with others that it should be in a more accessible spot. Oh well ... no car is perfect.

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

Especially when so many people have different ideas of what perfect would mean...

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

You are correct. It does light up with a green light. It was only visible at night. During the daylight hours, I couldn't tell if the green light was on or not.

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

You're absolutely right. I can't find much to complain about anyway. I'm extremely happy with the car.

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

for future reference cant have the temp on high or low

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

FUEL FILLER door? Dang it, I thought that was the high-speed brake! Oh well, no more 'Top Gun' reruns for me....

Of course, if I could get a KC-135 or KC-10 to fly low enough, I guess I could try refueling while inflight, er, I mean while driving.

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

The synapse I use is : Inside button = Inside Eco , Outside Button = Outside fuel filler cover.

Re: That hidden "eco" button?
 

I am not so sure that the ECO button does much at all. I live in Tucson, AZ and with the average daily temperature during the summer above 100 degrees, I have stopped using it. Even though my wife (known far and wide as "Leadfoot Linda") drives the car most of the time, I have been running above 36 MPG in city driving. (this is not from the car computer but from dividing the number of miles by the gallons used) My Camry is a 2007 Hybrid with 76,000 miles on it. I keep the tire pressure at 40 PSI and on long trips I cruise at 70 MPH and average 40.2 MPG using cruise control. I have not had a maintenance problem since I bought the car in 2007.