LC200 A/C turns off on engine restart (1 Viewer)

[Jon Barber]

Hello. First post, but promise i searched the archives.

I have a 2008 LC, 100% stock, ~95k miles. Several months ago I noticed that my air conditioning would turn itself off after I restart the engine. I live in Florida so the a/c is almost always on and 95% of the time the AUTO climate control button is selected. While operating, everything works great.

Normally when the engine is restarted the a/c will return to the applied settings when the engine is turned off: temp, fan speed, 4-zone, etc., etc.

Now when I start the truck, the AUTO button is illuminated, but the fan does not begin blowing and about 10 seconds later the AUTO goes off and the A/C OFF message is displayed on the nav screen. During this 10 seconds, I cannot adjust the temperature, fan speed, or turn on the front or rear defrost. I have to wait for the a/c to turn itself off before I can then restart it. I though maybe this was a sign of battery that was at the end of its life; well the battery was changed several weeks ago and the problem persists.

As we approach summer, I would REALLY like to get this problem resolved and hope that it is something simple that I am just missing. Please help.

Thanks.

 

[Archtaan]

Have you had the cabin air cleaner changed recently? If so and if it was done wrong, the blend door may get broken and causes the HVAC to lock out. Also, check to make sure the cabin air filter is set correctly and the blend door is free to move. If that checks out, try disconnecting the battery for awhile to see if the hvac will reset. Hopefully its a pretty simple fix.

 

[xkennx]

Jon,

Does your TLC have the A/C controls under the radio or is it one of the versions where a single screen controls the radio/nav/ac system?

 

[ZOMBIECRU1S3R]

I had the exact same issue - it's some sort of actuator or something, can't recall name.. BUT, for whatever reason, IF the rear AC was also on, then the front AC would not have the issue. If rear AC was off, the front AC would do as you stated above.. like a 30 second delay or something before it could be turned on, and in Texas in August, that's no bueno.

 

[ayaws]

I had the same issue. Dealership monkey put the cabin filter back in wrong. Didn't break my blend door -- just wouldn't let it actuate fully. Check your cabin filter, it's likely the issue.

 

[hawglaw]

Thanks for this thread. We have had this problem in my wife's 2008 for quite some time but since she never reminds me I never did anything about it. It seems that reseating the filter and door has it fixed.

However I am now noticing a new issue, it seems that I can't get the A/C to actually turn off, even when Auto is off the a/c light on the screen stays lit up and won't change no matter how i press it or if I push the off button below the screen.
We have the single screen radio/nav/climate with some limited climate controls under the screen.

Has anyone had this problem? Could it be related to the cabin filter actuator?
Thanks

 

[arich]

Turn off the cool box and you can turn off the AC

 

[Jon Barber]

Jon,

Does your TLC have the A/C controls under the radio or is it one of the versions where a single screen controls the radio/nav/ac system?

Man, I have been asleep at the wheel. Forgot about this thread until now, when the temps are 90+.

A/C controls are on the NAV screen, except the climate and temp buttons.

Thank you for the cabin filter/door advice; checking these will be job 1 when I get home today.

 

[ytaebnairb]

My cruiser now has this same issue. Dealer swears they did nothing wrong during oil change. Checked filter and everything looked fine. Went in for 120k service and they replaced battery (said was bad - from 2011) but issue remains. Are there any videos or other troubleshooting steps? All fuses check out according to dealer, but Toyota makes quality trucks so there must be a root cause. Any help is appreciated.

 

[studawg]

Cabin air filter was probably changed incorrectly. Owners manual states how to change the cabin air filter. You have to set the climate to recirculate mode, then change the filter. I had the same issue when I bought mine. Filters had just been replaced by the Toyota dealer and they did it wrong. I fixed mine in minutes after I figured this out, nothing was broken.

 

[NLScooby]

So i just got my 200 back from the 90K service (where they installed a new cabin filter) and my AC is acting up. It doesn't turn on automatically anymore and after a long delay it shuts off!

I have just followed the procedure in the manual. It sounds like I may need to wait an hour or so to see if this solution worked....but so far it seems to have fixed it. Thanks to the forum and the "search" feature!

Quick question to those who have done it:
When you open he filter door - did you have to raise the "accordion" looking thing to get to the filter? The manual didn't mention anything about that part.....and I did put the recirculation mode on prior to opening the door (as per the manual).....

 

[Desert Nomad]

Quick question to those who have done it:
When you open he filter door - did you have to raise the "accordion" looking thing to get to the filter? The manual didn't mention anything about that part.....and I did put the recirculation mode on prior to opening the door (as per the manual).....

If the recirculation mode is depressed the door should open if you select fresh air you should see it close, if it doesn't or if you can open/close it by hand the linkage might be broken.

 

[skyak]

For what it's worth I had the same issue after the dealer changed the filter...I seem to have fixed it by putting it in recirc mode and then forcing the accordion door into the recirc position. With enough force it seemed to snap in on both sides and hold the recirc position. After that everything worked normally.

 

[NLScooby]

For what it's worth I had the same issue after the dealer changed the filter...I seem to have fixed it by putting it in recirc mode and then forcing the accordion door into the recirc position. With enough force it seemed to snap in on both sides and hold the recirc position. After that everything worked normally.

It's still not working so It sounds like this is what happened. I'll bet I need to force the accordion door back into recirculating position. I'm guessing the dealership didn't have it in recirc and forced it open. Hopefully the didn't break it.

Thanks for the last two responses guys!

 

[NLScooby]

If the recirculation mode is depressed the door should open if you select fresh air you should see it close, if it doesn't or if you can open/close it by hand the linkage might be broken.

Yikes. My recirc door wasn't open although I did have it in recirc mode as per the manual. I don't like taking my cars to the dealer!

 

[NLScooby]

I followed @skyak 's info and popped the door back into the correct recirc position and all is well again! There is no delay upon startup.

I don't like taking my vehicles to dealerships. I do like getting helpful, real world advice from the folks on this forum!!

 

[drmwvr]

I followed @skyak 's info and popped the door back into the correct recirc position and all is well again! There is no delay upon startup.

I don't like taking my vehicles to dealerships. I do like getting helpful, real world advice from the folks on this forum!!

I did the same thing with similar success! Thanks again to Skyak!

 

[AeroAggie]

I did the same thing with similar success! Thanks again to Skyak!

+1

I've had my 200 for two days now, and it quickly became obvious that something was being reset on the A/C after it sits for a while. I'm paranoid about finding problems after a car purchase and I've learned a few hard lessons that way. I'm glad this wasn't a fix that required more dollars!

 

[blatant]

I started a thread on this issue and someone was nice enough to link me here

Here's what i wrote:
Most recently when I start the truck, 2011, the auto button is illuminated and there is no functionality of climate control, either screen or buttons, until the auto button goes off which is about 30 seconds. I also cannot turn off the auto button manually

Essentially I have zero use of climate control upon startup. If I turn the vehicle off with the AC running it starts up with the auto illuminated and the above symptoms, it does not start where everything was when I turned it off.

Has anyone seen this or have any idea?

I've checked the manual. I've checked the computer settings, the rear air settings and I'm getting nowhere.


--- that said, i haven't messed with the cabin air filter at all, however for the sake of science, i'll go check it now per the above feed back.


Great thread.

 

[Taco2Cruiser]

I started a thread on this issue and someone was nice enough to link me here

Here's what i wrote:
Most recently when I start the truck, 2011, the auto button is illuminated and there is no functionality of climate control, either screen or buttons, until the auto button goes off which is about 30 seconds. I also cannot turn off the auto button manually

Essentially I have zero use of climate control upon startup. If I turn the vehicle off with the AC running it starts up with the auto illuminated and the above symptoms, it does not start where everything was when I turned it off.

Has anyone seen this or have any idea?

I've checked the manual. I've checked the computer settings, the rear air settings and I'm getting nowhere.


--- that said, i haven't messed with the cabin air filter at all, however for the sake of science, i'll go check it now per the above feed back.


Great thread.

Well, I think you will be okay about the cabin air filter. There are no wires or sensors that connect with that filter or the plastic tray it sits in.

First I'd say to remove your negative battery cable, attempt to start the motor. That will dump that last charge the ecu has. Wait a few minutes, connect the negative battery cable. Turn the vehicle to ACC (not starting the motor) and let the screen show you it is running through its loading process. Once loading is done, fire up the motor. And let me know what happens.