Observation of Windshield Defogger Button

i think all our toyota's have done this, no? i have always found the climate controls confusing.

 

Yeah I noticed this too.

What's happening? Same thing as when you have windshield+feet and fan is off, except nothing is going to your feet.

Also, to turn it off, you can also just press it twice. No need to fiddle with the fan controls.

 

Hitting the mode button will turn the light off, too.

 

Living in Upstate New York during this “refreshing season”, you need the windshield defrost frequently.
I have seen numerous posts complaining about not having a “defrost only” selection for the heater vents. To prevent the ICE from turning on and still be able to defrost, people were recommending setting the “temp to LO”, selecting “floor and defrost”, and using manual fan control. They then complain about the cold air blowing on their feet. I already have a Jeep that provides that feature through the rusted floor; I wasn’t going that way.
The real solution is to use the true “Defrost” feature; the “FRONT” defrost button. The problem with this is that as soon as you select the FRONT button, it goes to AUTO, AC and fan which turns on the ICE. This is unacceptable for all of us that obsess over keeping that darn thing off…….so…...here is my solution.

• Make sure your temp is set to LO (mine never leaves that setting)
• When you first get in the car, keep your foot off the Brake Pedal and press the Power Button twice. This will put the car into IGN mode without putting the car in Ready.
• Now press the FRONT defrost button, the orange light will come on
• Press the fan “Off” button. This turns the fan off, but the FRONT orange light stays on.
• Now place your foot on the Brake Pedal and press the POWER On button. The car will now come to READY, climate control and fan are off, but the FRONT orange light is still on.
• Now drive in your normal “Prius obsessed style”, and when you need Defrost, press the manual FAN button to direct airflow directly to the windshield (only). No more Cold Feet! (and the ICE does not turn on!!!!)
• When the windshield is clear, press the fan OFF button to stop the fan, but the Defrost mode is still set (orange light still on).

This works for me..... hopefully others will find this useful.
Happy New Year!!!!!!

 

I was thinking of trying this before suggesting it. Glad to know it works!

 

wow, fabulous discovery! i will try it tonight! thanks!

 

34Hupp, I tried that defroster trick, it didn't work for me. I duplicated it and both times the ICE fired up.

 

What a great tip!
It's nice to see you can fake out the car and get what you need, not what they think you want!

 

If it is too cold (not sure the break point yet) when I leave the house in the morning, there is nothing I can do to keep my ICE from starting in less than 1/4 mile from my house. But on those days in low thirties, this seems to work for me. Looks like some more experimentation is required..........

 

i went out today and tried hupp's suggestion. i pushed the power button twice without foot on the brake. the car was not 'ready'. i pressed the front defrost button and the light came on, air switched to 'outside' and fan began to ramp up. thinking it wouldn't matter, and needing defrost right away, i turned fan to 'low' and hit power with foot on the brake. as soon as i shifted to reverse, the ice came on.

so tonight when i went out, i repeated the process but shut the fan off before making the car ready. cool, no ice as i drove off to work. after a few miles, the windshield was getting bad so i hit fan low and the ice fired right up. not sure what i'm doing wrong.

 

no, none of those things. what would start the ice? the front defrost button i guess. that's whu i'm questioning it. have you tried it yet?