Recirc won't stay on '07 Camry

How are the vents directed while you're waiting to see if recirculate
changes its setting? Any chance you're cycling the control through the
defrost position? I'm asking because in my 04 Tacoma, recirculate is
DEactivated when I switch to defrost. I can REactivate it once the control
is on defrost, but the default is for the car to DEactivate that feature
because it's a good idea.

On Mon, 22 Mar 2010 11:42:54 -0400, "JoeSpareBedroom"


I rarely use the defrost setting since I live in Southern California.
However, there are those cold days when I do.  As I recall, it's not
always a partciularly cold day that this occurs, but I can't be
certain.  Maybe I start out on a cold morning and leave it in the
defrost position.  However, that's rare.  I usually run it for only a
minute or two with the heat turned up to the max just to defrost the
windows and turn it back to having the vents flowing from the floor or
floor/dash. But I'll keep this in mind and I'll be more aware in the
future what the settings are at the time this occurs or even what the
settings may have been earlier in that particular drive.  I'll also
try leaving it in the defrost mode next time I drive to see what
happens.
Thanks.

Does the manual shed any light on the patterns by which the recirc button
works for your car? The feature exists for use in unusual situations which
you notice at the moment you need it, but generally, that situation won't
exist at the exact moment you get in your car next time. For instance, you
might want to use recirculate if you end up behind a vehicle that's spewing
really bad exhaust. That generally will NOT be the situation next time you
start the car.

Because there are climates where using recirc ALL the time is a lousy idea,
it might be set up (in your car) to deactivate next time the car is started.
That's how it SHOULD be.

On Tue, 23 Mar 2010 09:30:35 -0400, "JoeSpareBedroom"


Driving to work yesterday I turned the setting to defrost and sure
enough the recirc turned off.  But that wasn't the problem since the
recirc turns off intermittently even when the defrost is not on - or
at least I'm 99% sure it isn't.

Whenver the recirc turns off, it's always well into my drive.  I drive
about 25 miles to work and it occurs maybe half way to work.  And it
will happen after driving all that distance without ever touching the
unit at all.

I'll take a look at the manual.

Don

I'm guessing the manual will say that there's a timer involved, based on
your "maybe half way to work" comment. Please report back with your
findings.

The workings of the Recirc function is one that confuses the hell out of me.
I have an 08 Avalon and for a while thought that the Recirc system had a
mind of it's own.  One of the things that I finally figured out (at least in
my car) was that it is tied to the outside air temp and the temp setting of
the heating/AC system.  Try this experiment--vary the heat temperature
setting and watch the Recirc light--at some point it will go from Off to On
and visa versa as you move the setting up and down.
Let us know how it works out.
MLD

I wasn't aware the temp control alone would affect the recirc setting.
I'll give that a try.  I do adjust the control at times, but the
problem occurs even after I haven't touched any part of the A/C for
awhile.  But I'll try the experiment in case I have the temp control
right at point where it might be close the trigger point as you
mention.  If that's the case, maybe it's simply the vibration or a
bump in the road that sets it off.
Thanks.

Tried that experiment, but turning the temperature setting from one
extreme to the other had no effect on the recirc setting.  But I only
tried it with the recirc turned on.  Just reread your message and you
suggested trying it while recirc is off.  I'll try that, but it looks
like the temp control isn't affecting the recirc.

As long as the temperature control doesn't affect the accelerator, I
an live with it. :)

Don

One other factor is the inside air temperature--between all of these various
inputs--outside and inside air temperatures and the  temperature setting--  
there are some combinations that will turn the recirc OFF & ON as the temp
setting is moved up and down.  Perhaps your current climate makes it a wash
(doesn't want the recirc off (or on) but when the OAT is cold and or
mid-range I've made the Recirc light go OFF & On about a specific
Temperature setting.  Tried asking at the Dealer a while back and got a
blank stare.
How about this one---dash lights vary from dark to light seemingly at
random.  Found someone at the dealer who could finally solve this
mystery--With headlights in the ON position and the dimmer switch below the
max setting, the dash lights will go from bright to dark as the car moves
through something like a tunnel or under a large bridge span.  Didn't know
it but there is a light sensor on the dash very close to the windshield.
MLD

dsarvas@yahoo.com schrieb:

The design of recirculation is avoidance of pollution from outside eg in
a tunnel or at a stop. Since the inner of the car is hermetically sealed
the CO2 inside is low enough for four persons for at most a quarter of
hour to avoid selfintoxication. So for saving your life the automatic
stops and gives you fresh oxygen after five minutes. Should be written
about in the instruction booklet.

--

Roland Franzius

posted on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 17:28:10 +0200 the following:


Where did you read that the Camry is hermetically sealed?  I certainly beg
to differ.  When I'm driving along (2007 Camry) and see smoke blowing
across the road from someone's leaf burning, I immediately switch to
recirculate.  There have even been times when I was already on recirculate
before ever seeing the smoke.  In either type of instance, I would always
smell the smoke when driving through it.  If the car was hermetically
sealed, I wouldn't be able to smell anything that's outside the car.
Granted, I can tell the difference between recirculate and normal with
regard to the swiftness of invading odors, but recirculate is definitely
not airtight.  And the so-called cabin filter is a joke.  It doesn't
filter anything.  If I get behind someone driving a diesel, the filter
does nothing to stop the offending odor.  I'm often left gagging for fresh
air as I try to wonder if I'm going to be poisoned before I can flush the
cabin with cleaner air than what was farted out of the tailpipes in front
of me.

Damaeus
--
"Marijuana inflames the erotic impulses and leads to revolting sex
crimes"
-Daily Mirror (1924)

Most vehicles are not hermetically sealed.  If they were, you'd feel your
ears pop every time you sat inside and closed the door, and all of the
windows would have to be inoperable to form a hermetic seal.

The cabin filter is a fiber filter and is designed to filter dust and
debris, not odors.  I have seen some aftermarket filters that have charcoal
to absorb some odors.  Even a charcoal filter is not 100% effective because
the air would have to linger long enough for the charcoal to absorb the
odors, and vehicle movement and the HVAC fan moves the air past the filter
too quickly.

You can reduce the intake of diesel fumes into the cabin by staying several
car lengths behind the source of the diesel fumes so that the exhaust from
the vehicle in front of you does not immediately hit the base of your
windshield, where the vehicle's cabin air intake is located.  Allowing the
fumes to dissipate a little before they reach the cabin air intake helps.

Some Lexus models have some kind of sensor for the cabin air intake system
that automatically switches the system to recirc mode when it starts to suck
in fumes, and the cabin air filter uses charcoal to absorb some of the odor.
The downside to the system is that the filters are something like $75 to
replace.

--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

Ray O schrieb:

For the purpose of air exchange, cars have an controllable intake and an
outlet, mostly open or often sealed loosely with a flap cover against
noise.

If you close the intake and all windows are shut you dont get rid of the
the CO2 produced by passengers because the one open outlet makes no air
flow.

The car has an air volume around a cubic meter. With each breath each
person pollutes perhaps 1/1000 of it. After 500 breaths ore some minutes
you have half of the concentration of CO2 in the outgoing air from the
lungs.

Now headache starts because of a to low oxygen concentration in your
blood. It cant get rid of CO2 because the external CO2 density is to
high (5% is deadly).

 From these rough figures you may calculate the maximal lifetime for
people transported in closed standard containers.

--

Roland Franzius

On 4/14/2010 5:52 AM, Ray O wrote:

My '06 Sonata has this feature as part of the automatic AC system.
Hopefully, the Hyundai filter will be cheaper than a Lexus filter. In a
perfect world, it should be about $25 installed. :-)

In news:alt.autos.toyota.camry, "Ray O"
-0500 the following:


Well, yeah.  If I roll the windows up at highway speeds, I put the air
conditioner on recirculate first or my ears will feel the pressure hit
them.  Mine is a Camry LE.  My friend's/roommate's is a Camry SE.  If I
don't crack the windows before closing the doors in his car, it hurts my
ears; I don't get that effect in my car.


It filters out rat nests and hair, too.  One got into mine and built a
nest right up against the cabin filter.  I'm just glad he didn't stay in
there and die.  I'm also glad bits of his nest and poo poo pellets didn't
come flying through the vents and into my face.


I can hear the horns blowing at me now as I do that in city traffic at a
red light.  That's what I was envisioning.  As for highways, I leave more
than just "six car lengths per ten miles an hour of speed" when I'm behind
anyone unless I want to pass them.


They want $50 to replace the Toyota ones unless you do it yourself.  I
wonder if the carbon filter one will fit a Toyota if it's made for a Lexus
version of a Camry.  I don't know what the Lexus version is called.

Damaeus
--
"Marijuana inflames the erotic impulses and leads to revolting sex
crimes"
-Daily Mirror (1924)

Camrys are sealed fairly well, but they are not hermetically sealed.   The
purpose of the gaskets on the doors is to reduce wind noise.

The smaller the cabin, the greater the ear popping effect.


I've seen stuff come out of many customers' vents due to rodent nests - not
very pleasant.
I've heard of rodent offspring getting chewed up by the heater fan, which
sprays the stuff all over the inside of the fan housing, making for a pretty
smelly system.


I prefer not to travel behind big trucks and buses because the dual rear
wheels tend to kick up some pretty big pieces of road debris, so I just hang
back and let people pass me or I pass the truck.  A side benefit is not
having to feal with the fumes.


I checked to see if Toyota dealers stocked the cabin filters for a 2001
Lexus LS, but they did not.  I never compared the cabin filter from the
Lexus with one from a Toyota, and I haven't found any aftermarket cabin
filters at auto parts stores yet so I just stick with the cabin filters from
the Lexus dealership.  I think my 2004 LS has 6 interior filters - front
cabin filter with charcoal, rear cabin filter with charcoal, and a small
filter for each ventilated seat, which appears to be just a paper/fiber
filter.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)