everytime i press "Auto" the outside air automatically turns off
i need to turn it on so that air from outside will not enter the cabin during AC is on. is there a way i can control this manually?

 

Not sure, but I believe the AC does this to prevent humidity from building up, thus the fresh air. I never really understood it. Did you try the ECO button? It might be in the owner's manual, did you check that?

 

ECO button doesn't make it come on either. I used mine this morning. I believe you are correct about the humidity reason. I am almost positive that's what it is but I won't bet your life on it! :-P

Memory kicked in a little. The AC button is always lit to help reduce the humidity. This is why you see it on even when it is cold out.

 

If you use AUTO it will change to outside air -- most of the time. I actually think I might have seen it switch between the two but I am not sure as I may have changed it without remembers ...

Anyhow, I generally use AUTO and after hitting the AUTO button, I hit the recirc button to use inside air because I have this horrible problem in my area: the darn vents suck in all the exhaust from the cars in front of me and I don't feel like getting gassed.

 

I believe there's a setting which can be configured (well I _know_ there is) to make the recirculation come on manually instead of automatically. What I don't know for sure is how this reconfiguration (dealer config) would affect specific aspects of the recirculation usage. I literally just had mine changed this weekend because I get sick of it turning recirc on every time I start the car in the summer when I most want fresh air coming in. I'd actually just written about it in another thread too (bringing back what some may find helpful, but not as obvious a thread as this ). Take a look at the PDF configurable options pages, there's an air inlet option (or something like that) the dealer can change.

 

It is a (dealer) programmable feature whether the AUTO function automatically controls air recirc/fresh or leaves it manually operated. In automatic mode the system works like this: if you like outside fresh air the system will usually select recirc mode. If you prefer recirc inside air the system will usually select outside fresh air. So as you figured from my sarcasm, I've had the recirc button set to manual on my car as have many others...

 

When you do this, and you turn recirc ON, does it stay on until you turn it off?

 

Well, I'm a fresh air guy. I almost never use recirc unless for good reason. I had the button set to manual control so that it always stays on fresh air unless I have reason not to. So, from my view, the recirc button always stays off, and the few times I've had it on from what I recall I think it it stayed on.

 

I imagine most inquire about recir/fresh because they want to economize on the use of the AC (correct me if I am wrong..yes, mikie, I know you don't like the smell of stinky exhaust).
Does anyone know how much, if at all, the difference between fresh and recir makes in terms of mileage?
Thanks!

 

Does it actually make a difference in mileage? My assumption would be the difference is just an "open" vs "closed" venting state. I suppose "open" could increase drag somehow, depending on how it was implemented... Admittedly using AC/heat, or even just the fan, vs not using is a choice people make based on personal preference vs mileage--I'm mostly comfy with windows/roof open when it's hot out and if I need more than that I can pop on the AC for a bit.. and winter unless I'm unusually cold or need to defog/frost my windshield I mostly figure I'm good as long as I'm out of the wind, hehe. So I don't have the fan on in my car most of the time because I think it's unnecessary. But recirc power usage, I can't imagine there would be any. In fact I think it's kind of foolish that they didn't have an extra condition for the recirc being on automatically, namely that the fan should be on. I do turn mine to recirc sometimes for particularly stinky circumstances, but otherwise why on earth would I want to have trapped air in warm weather if I'm not using the AC? Recirc doesn't dehumidify, AC does. Recirc by itself is mostly dumb as far as I'm concerned, except specific (as I said, stinky) circumstances (exhaust, skunk, etc).