I have a 2003 Town and Country (Caravan), and I am tired of having to press the recirculate button every time we restart the van. I live in Los Angeles, and there is NEVER a time when I want the outside air (SMOG) inside our van. If I do I will deselect it. I disassembled the heater control and it looks like computers have taken over! Does anybody know how to reprogram this function to stay on?
Richard
Think very carefully about it for a moment: The outside air (smog) is already inside your van. All you do by hitting Recirc is allow the already-dirty air inside your van to become progressively more and more stale. There is no scrubber system, no means by which for the dirty air where you live to get any cleaner by dint of staying in your van. Recirc is off by default for a very good reason: Fresh dirty air is better than stale dirty air. If you don't like it, move out of LA.
It is setup to reduce the chance that windows will fog up. When you run in recirc too long under certian conditions the windshield can fog up and make driving impossible. So the automakers engineers (me) programmed it to not allow you to do this.
It's in the owners manual.
KS
A HEPA filter does one thing and one thing only: It removes
*particulates*. Dust and large smoke particles. It does not purify the air, turn smoggy air into clean air, or turn stale air into fresh air.DS
I spent ten years (at flat rate) at the dealer wrenching before finishing school and going to work as an engineer, that was over eighteen years ago. It was the best experience I could have had for my job. I agree with your assesment, all engineers should go thru a dealer for a few months....
Unfortunately, trade offs have to be made. Although I wasn't involved with Durango I suspect that cost, and packaging played the primary role in how the lines ended up...
It is not a HEPA filter.... It is a simple particulate filter with an activated charcoal layer, and it is optional on minivans so not all have it!...
Kevin are you sure? I don't believe it in there (The manual). All I see
is that you push it to turn it on, and that it resets is self when the
ignition is turned off. Maybe you are talking about a TECH manual, and if
so, how about sharing this knowledge with me. And Daniel, I prefer the
filtered (recirculated) air over fresh smelly (Diesel) air.
Rich
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