A/C Auto Mode questions

[Rash]

18 GT Premium

When climate is set in AUTO mode, and the A/C is on, if I press the A/C button to turn it off, the A/C turns off, but AUTO is still lit. Same thing occurs if controlling climate through the touchscreen. If I touch the still lit AUTO button, A/C goes back on.

Shouldn't AUTO mode turn off if I manually turn off the A/C? I mean if it's now pumping warm air instead of cold, it can't be automatically keeping the proper temp.

Also, in AUTO mode, the A/C never comes through the footwell vents. When I manually select the footwell vent, it turns off AUTO mode. The manual is vague on this. Is there any way to get AUTO mode to use the footwell vents for A/C?

It seems the climate control is wonky. When I start the car in the morning and it's 55 degrees out, it still starts pumping the A/C hard (I am not remote starting). Basically the A/C is running all the time even in cool weather unless I turn it off manually, which defeats the purpose of AUTO mode IMO.

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[w3rkn]

The moment you adjust something manually, it is no longer in auto.

You can still have automatic climate control on (defog, vents, fan speed, heat, etc) without having your Air Conditioning on. Having A/C on and having Auto-climate on is not the same thing. Auto climate will turn your air on, if you have your (or your passenger's dual climate) settings to about 15 degrees lower than ambient temp.

Just turn off climate control (ie: auto)

 

[Rash]

The moment you adjust something manually, it is no longer in auto.

That's what I assumed, but the AUTO light stays lit so it's confusing.

Just turn off climate control (ie: auto)

The only way to do that is to turn the whole system off, or turn auto off on the touchscreen, correct? 'Cause hitting the lit AUTO button in my car keeps AUTO lit and turns on the A/C.

(ie: auto) Auto climate will turn your air on, if you have your (or your passenger's dual climate) settings to about 15 degrees lower than ambient temp.

I have A/C set for 74. It's 60 degrees outside, but A/C still goes on when I start the car. :shrug:

 

[JinNTX]

A/C on during cold(er) days is to dehumidify the air. You can run the A/C compressor at full heat settings and the air will still come out hot. It is probably keeping the A/C on for this purposes as it helps to keep the windows from fogging up even when running heat. If it's like my prior cars, just because the A/C is lit doesn't mean the compressor is on, just that the auto climate can use the A/C if it's needed. Have you tried starting it, with auto and A/C on, and seeing if the compressor is cycling? Is it blowing cold air?

 

[DickR]

I went through this recently. In order to actually turn off AUTO you need to go to the climate screen and touch at least one of the airflow buttons such as the dash vent and floor buttons. This is because AUTO controls which vents are used and turning AUTO off seems to leave all the vents off. Confusing but probably logical for some engineering reason.

Just to be clear the vents which are "on" are blue.

If you've ever driven a car without AC when the windows want to fog you will appreciate the dehumidifying function of A/C combined with heat!!!! Just don't be driving at 70 mph in the rain with the car cold and turn on defrost/defog. It might make the windows fog even more! You need heat plus A/C on a cold damp day.

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