HVAC has a mind of its own

[benjwhite9]

I have a 2019 Leaf S, with the "basic" infotainment system and HVAC controls with physical buttons: one for heat, one for A/C, one for mode, and two dials for fan speed and temperature. Hopefully that conveys my setup.

The question is, as the outside temperature changes, the car will change the mode without my intervention. For example, as the outside temp gets colder, the blend door will switch to the floor vents, while I had last set it to the dash vents.

The car has always done this, as long as I have owned it, and I realize it's probably a feature, not a bug, but it annoys me. Does anybody know how to make the mode stay on the assigned setting until I push the mode button again?

 

[Snakebitten]

Hmmmm
As long as I don't touch any of the other HVAC butt that override the manual settings, my 2018 SL doesn't make any changes on its own.

I use the mode button to choose floor/dash/windshield combination. AC/Heat, depending on ambient. And finally temperature and fan speed.

 

[benjwhite9]

Thanks, Snakebitten. You made me realize that I left out one important piece of information: I do not use the "auto" button. The amber light in the center of the "auto" button is off while this behavior is happening.

 

[Snakebitten]

Good point.
But what you describe as the behavior of your HVAC sounds very much like what "auto" would be capable of doing.

I wonder if you cycle auto on/off, if it would have any affect? Maybe a glitch?

 

[knightmb]

Thanks, Snakebitten. You made me realize that I left out one important piece of information: I do not use the "auto" button. The amber light in the center of the "auto" button is off while this behavior is happening.

I know exactly what you are referring to. It's a feature of the HVAC system in the Leaf where even if you have it set for AC or Heat mode manually, it changes those vents if the temperature difference between the outside and inside is high enough. It can be annoying when it happens while driving and the floor vent is all of sudden blowing in your face.
It's been this way since my 2013 Leaf and still functions the same way on my 2020 Leaf, so yeah, kind of an annoying legacy "feature".

An example, say you turn on "Heat" and then set the temperature to 60F. If the temperature outside warms up enough, all of sudden it's blowing air in your face via the top vents like it wants you to switch to AC mode.

 

[benjwhite9]

Thanks, knightmb. That is exactly what is happening to me. Unfortunate that there is no "off" button for this feature, but at least now I know that I've done all I can do.

 

[Bombastinator2]

I get weirdness like that on my 2019 sv. I always chalked it up to Japanese weirdness like the automatic features on the headlights. With the head lights I pretend the automatic features don’t exist and run them either “on” or “off” manually. It’s probably doing what it is supposed to. It’s merely that what it is supposed to do is stupid.

 

[benjwhite9]

My Leaf S does not have the automatic headlights, but my wife's Honda Fit has something similar, and I agree, it's a nice idea, but the implementation needs work.