HVAC misbehaving on startup

[DeltaV]

Maybe it’s me.

Nice day outside, so I have the A/C off, the recirculate off to let in fresh air, the fan on speed 2 (very low), and the temp set to LOW so the car won’t heat the outside air coming through the dash vents. Note that setting many of these options turns the AUTO climate control off. I finish my drive and park the car.

Next morning, I start the car and get assaulted by the coldest air the car can muster at the highest fan speed possible.

Apparently, the car starts in AUTO climate control whether you want it to or not, sees the LOW temp setting, and gives it full beans to achieve that temp.

Now, had it been the middle of August, I might appreciate the cold tornado, but since the previous day was nice and cool enough to not warrant A/C, the next morning is likely to be even cooler.

So, can I somehow tell the car to NOT default to AUTO climate control on startup, but to retain the settings from when the car was parked?

If it’s in the manual, I’ve missed it multiple times.

Thanks!

Signed,
Frigid Frida in Fargo

 

[vipeboy2000]

Maybe it’s me.

Nice day outside, so I have the A/C off, the recirculate off to let in fresh air, the fan on speed 2 (very low), and the temp set to LOW so the car won’t heat the outside air coming through the dash vents. Note that setting many of these options turns the AUTO climate control off. I finish my drive and park the car.

Next morning, I start the car and get assaulted by the coldest air the car can muster at the highest fan speed possible.

Apparently, the car starts in AUTO climate control whether you want it to or not, sees the LOW temp setting, and gives it full beans to achieve that temp.

Now, had it been the middle of August, I might appreciate the cold tornado, but since the previous day was nice and cool enough to not warrant A/C, the next morning is likely to be even cooler.

So, can I somehow tell the car to NOT default to AUTO climate control on startup, but to retain the settings from when the car was parked?

If it’s in the manual, I’ve missed it multiple times.

Thanks!

Signed,
Frigid Frida in Fargo

I wonder if it's an automatic full speed if the temp is on LOW vs the next temperature up... does it do the same if you have it set to the lowest temperature above low? because maybe the LOW setting overrides the manual setting when restarted as the manual says if on LOW the ac will operate continuously and doesn't mention if its in auto or not...

 

[bfglitch]

Taking a look now as well. So far the only thing I'm seeing is "When the engine is restarted with remote start the climate system is automatically set to 73F and operates."

 

[DeltaV]

I wonder if it's an automatic full speed if the temp is on LOW vs the next temperature up... does it do the same if you have it set to the lowest temperature above low? because maybe the LOW setting overrides the manual setting when restarted as the manual says if on LOW the ac will operate continuously and doesn't mention if its in auto or not... View attachment 69527

Thanks!

I’ll try this.

Of course I’d select the one case that doesn’t operate the way I prefer!

 

[DeltaV]

Taking a look now as well. So far the only thing I'm seeing is "When the engine is restarted with remote start the climate system is automatically set to 73F and operates."

So, I’m not using remote start in this situation. When I do use remote start, it’s usually from the app where I set the HVAC and seat heaters/ventilation as part of the app remote startup routine.

But I’ll check this as well.

Thanks!

 

[bfglitch]

So, I’m not using remote start in this situation. When I do use remote start, it’s usually from the app where I set the HVAC and seat heaters/ventilation as part of the app remote startup routine.

But I’ll check this as well.

Thanks!

Actually what @vipeboy2000 said makes a lot more sense.

 

[DeltaV]

I wonder if it's an automatic full speed if the temp is on LOW vs the next temperature up... does it do the same if you have it set to the lowest temperature above low? because maybe the LOW setting overrides the manual setting when restarted as the manual says if on LOW the ac will operate continuously and doesn't mention if its in auto or not... View attachment 69527

I’m wondering if this comment refers to the A/C running continuously when the A/C is SET TO ON and the temp is set to LOW…not that the system will TURN ON the A/C if the temp is set to LOW when the A/C is off.

Because I set the temp to LOW the previous afternoon with the A/C off and it doesn’t come on but the next morning it turns on the A/C and sets the fan to high BECAUSE THE SYSTEM IS NOW IN AUTO FOR SOME REASON - perhaps as a system setting (which I’d like to turn off).

Yet another example of Kia thinking they know what’s best for us.

 

[777David]

That's kinda weird. I was wondering too if it is in the System settings. I don't recall all the features in there off hand, but I know it has a lot of "auto" features regarding climate.

 

[DeltaV]

OK, it all boils down to this: When I restart the car, no matter how the climate control was set when the car was last shut down, the system is set to AUTO and does whatever IT thinks is best. Because, you know, Kia doesn’t give us enough credit to know what we want the HVAC to do. Right in line with the transmission dropping out of sport mode whenever it likes, again, because it’s smarter than we are.

 

[MerlintheMad]

^^^I don't know about the drive mode changing on us. How does "dropping out of sport mode" manifest? How do you know that is happening? I've just accepted that if I don't use the paddles fast enough or select a low enough gear when calling for a lot of acceleration, the car ignores you and gears down or upshifts appropriately.

And this AC thing: I read in the manual that 73F is the optimum setting where the Auto system works best. So, if you want the climate control system to do its thing without fuss, just set the temperature at 73 when you turn the car off.

 

[Legendsk]

I wonder if it's an automatic full speed if the temp is on LOW vs the next temperature up... does it do the same if you have it set to the lowest temperature above low? because maybe the LOW setting overrides the manual setting when restarted as the manual says if on LOW the ac will operate continuously and doesn't mention if its in auto or not... View attachment 69527

The manual shoulda said "full beans" instead of continuously. Sometimes manuals really ought to be written to get the message across instead of worrying about good English.

 

[DeltaV]

^^^I don't know about the drive mode changing on us. How does "dropping out of sport mode" manifest? How do you know that is happening? I've just accepted that if I don't use the paddles fast enough or select a low enough gear when calling for a lot of acceleration, the car ignores you and gears down or upshifts appropriately.

And this AC thing: I read in the manual that 73F is the optimum setting where the Auto system works best. So, if you want the climate control system to do its thing without fuss, just set the temperature at 73 when you turn the car off.

If I want outside air with no A/C or heating, I turn auto off, set outside air, A/C off, preferred fan speed, and temp low. That works.

When I get back in the car, the damned thing, OF ITS OWN VOLITION, decides to turn auto on, sees the low temp, and blows a fricking snow storm (A/C on, full cold, full fan speed)!

Why does the *CAR* get to decide that “untouched outside air, please” should later mean “make it Antarctica in here”???

LEAVE IT THE WAY I SET IT!

It’s bad enough that every time I get back into the car I have to set 14 things back to the way they were when I stepped out.

 

[DeltaV]

And *I* get to decide what gear is appropriate, not the car! It doesn’t know my intentions or the road ahead.

It’s just guessing.

So when I put it in manual mode, KEEP IT THERE!

 

[MerlintheMad]

And *I* get to decide what gear is appropriate, not the car! It doesn’t know my intentions or the road ahead.

It’s just guessing.

So when I put it in manual mode, KEEP IT THERE!

You have shift by wire; I have manual gate. When I put the shifter into manual gate it indicates which gear I am in constantly (any drive mode): but if I drive "wrong", e.g., upshift with WOT going when the car insists on a lower gear than I selected, you bet the car knows my intentions and says "NO". If I drive "right", the car lets me do what I want.

As for climate control going Auto on you with an arctic blast when you start up, I don't have an answer for that one. I gave up years ago trying to tell the climate system how to do its job: and I find it easy enough to just leave the temperature at 73 until summer pushes interior temps above that, then I set the temp to 79 and leave it. In between, I will frequently turn Auto OFF: and the system still knows I have 73 selected and moves toward that, just not using Auto: I don't understand it, but it seems to ignore OFF in some subtle way.

 

[General_Vodka]

And *I* get to decide what gear is appropriate, not the car! It doesn’t know my intentions or the road ahead.

It’s just guessing.

So when I put it in manual mode, KEEP IT THERE!

Cough sounds like you might be interested in a TCU tune. Stays in manual.

 

[DeltaV]

All, my apologies for posting while frustrated. I’m trying to work this issue through Kia customer support who agree that the behavior isn’t as expected.

I’ll update with any conclusions.

Thank you.