# A/C turns on by itself at startup???



## Eddy Cruze (Jan 10, 2014)

What model CRUZE do you have. Does it have the Auto Climate feature?


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Do you turn the fan completely off when you shut off the car? If so, it automatically turns on the A/C the next time the system is turned on. Annoying, but that's what it does. I think if you leave the fan on on the settings that you had before, it'll stay off.

Weirdly, unless you completely press Auto again, the "auto" climate control system on mine doesn't do that when you just hit the power button for the fan.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Eddy Cruze said:


> What model CRUZE do you have. Does it have the Auto Climate feature?


In his signature, 2016 Chevrolet Cruze LT. In the 2nd gen section.


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## jsnowbordr47 (Aug 10, 2013)

LT w/standard style HVAC controls, not auto climate. 

Not sure if I normally turn the fan off, but I probably at times do turn it off when I get home, so it sounds like it's technically a feature then... albeit a stupid one IMO.lol I'll have to pay closer attention to what I do next few times I turn the car on/off.


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

jblackburn said:


> Do you turn the fan completely off when you shut off the car? If so, it automatically turns on the A/C the next time the system is turned on. Annoying, but that's what it does. I think if you leave the fan on on the settings that you had before, it'll stay off.
> 
> Weirdly, unless you completely press Auto again, the "auto" climate control system on mine doesn't do that when you just hit the power button for the fan.


Is it just the fan speeds or does it mimic the whole A/C when on floor like Gen 1 did? Older cars windshield defrost only would light up the A/C button on start up, wondering if they slowly went back to that.


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## Sklyn (Jan 7, 2017)

Not sure if the interior design is the same but i discovered i would inadvertantly bump the fan knob with my knee and turn it on without realising.


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## EricSmit (Dec 21, 2016)

That's normal. There is a cabin humidity sensor.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

EricSmit said:


> That's normal. There is a cabin humidity sensor.


In my experience with a new LT though, that wouldn't turn on the AC light. The air, when on cold and A/C button off, would just suddenly get cool while driving, suck out the humidity, and go back to fresh air again.


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## sinnman100 (Jan 29, 2017)

yes as a matter of fact it happened tonight on my 2016 premier,,it was very damp out and about 37 degrees f and i was driving home and looked over and saw the light on its the second time i have sen this since i got the car in january,,ill have to pay attention but you say it will shut off when the humidity goes down?


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## 17Hatch6MT (Dec 28, 2015)

The automatic lights, locks, a/c, that can't be disabled are all very annoying. These things annoy me multiple times when I drive (start the car in the garage or drive in an underpass, lights click 'on', drive out of the garage or underpass, lights click 'off', pull the car into the garage, lights click 'on'...) (get in, drive a moment, locks click shut, a minute later try to get out, yank on the door handle and nothing happens). It's definitely something I'll consider next time I buy a car. When I bought it, didn't occur to me that such annoying stuff would not be user-settable in a 2017 car.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

sinnman100 said:


> yes as a matter of fact it happened tonight on my 2016 premier,,it was very damp out and about 37 degrees f and i was driving home and looked over and saw the light on its the second time i have sen this since i got the car in january,,ill have to pay attention but you say it will shut off when the humidity goes down?


What I described wouldn't turn on the light, at least in the car I drove. Fresh air on, it would just get cold, drop the humidity, and go back to fresh air mode.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

17Hatch6MT said:


> The automatic lights, locks, a/c, that can't be disabled are all very annoying. These things annoy me multiple times when I drive (start the car in the garage or drive in an underpass, lights click 'on', drive out of the garage or underpass, lights click 'off', pull the car into the garage, lights click 'on'...) (get in, drive a moment, locks click shut, a minute later try to get out, yank on the door handle and nothing happens). It's definitely something I'll consider next time I buy a car. When I bought it, didn't occur to me that such annoying stuff would not be user-settable in a 2017 car.


Pull door handle twice to unlock. 

Auto lights and auto door locks have been standard on GM cars since the early 90s or so.


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## SilverCruzer (Nov 30, 2010)

I am not sure if your issue is resolved or not, but I would like to add what I think is the same issue.

After starting the vehicle, I looked down and noticed the AC button is illuminated _*not with a green light, but a yellow light. *_I then press the button and the light turns green (turning on the AC I presume), then press it again and it turns off.

My car is a 2017 LT, no packages. I do not have auto climate control, and the AC was not turned on during the previous run. I have been driving it for two weeks, and it has happened twice.

Any ideas?

I


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

SilverCruzer said:


> I am not sure if your issue is resolved or not, but I would like to add what I think is the same issue.
> 
> After starting the vehicle, I looked down and noticed the AC button is illuminated _*not with a green light, but a yellow light. *_I then press the button and the light turns green (turning on the AC I presume), then press it again and it turns off.
> 
> ...


Orange = "max A/C" mode. Runs the engine at stops for A/C.
Green = "Eco A/C" mode. Lets the engine shut off until the evaporator warms up, then restarts. Will let the cabin rise a little bit more in temp before restarting. I'm not sure if this also reduces compressor output when running down the road for slight MPG benefit as on some other cars do as well.


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## SilverCruzer (Nov 30, 2010)

Thanks, but...I did not turn the A/C on. Not this ride, or yesterday. Defrost?


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## Eddy Cruze (Jan 10, 2014)

jblackburn said:


> Pull door handle twice to unlock.
> 
> Auto lights and auto door locks have been standard on GM cars since the early 90s or so.


Auto lights standard on GM models since the early 90's, are you sure. My only other GM product, a 93 Buick Century didn't have this technology and either did my 2004 Hyundai although the 2006 did. While GM offered the Twilight Sentinel on select Cadillac products in 1960, I'm not sure Auto Lights were standard in the early 90's?


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

The compressor (A/C) should run in defrost and blend (w/shield and floor) mode, I believe.

Rob

Side question: Can the DRL's be shut off like the genI? If so, it should disable the auto lamps (or, at least it did on genI.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

SilverCruzer said:


> Thanks, but...I did not turn the A/C on. Not this ride, or yesterday. Defrost?


Defrost will kick on the AC, but doesn't light up the AC button.

If the AC light is orange, it was turned on when you turned on the fan itself.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Eddy Cruze said:


> Auto lights standard on GM models since the early 90's, are you sure. My only other GM product, a 93 Buick Century didn't have this technology and either did my 2004 Hyundai although the 2006 did. While GM offered the Twilight Sentinel on select Cadillac products in 1960, I'm not sure Auto Lights were standard in the early 90's?


Late 90s then. Every 90s GM truck I drove had them, as did a neighbors Lumina. No idea if the cheaper things like Cavaliers did or not, never bothered to drive one. 



Robby said:


> The compressor (A/C) should run in defrost and blend (w/shield and floor) mode, I believe.
> 
> Rob
> 
> Side question: Can the DRL's be shut off like the genI? If so, it should disable the auto lamps (or, at least it did on genI.


DRLs are LED strips on the LT/Premier, but they can be turned off each drive by turning the wheel to the left at startup.


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## KKCruze (Jul 7, 2016)

jsnowbordr47 said:


> Okay, I've been searching the manual to see if this is a feature or not, but my vehicle at times will automatically turn on the A/C when I first start the vehicle. Being as it's still winter weather, I won't even realize it until I start to notice that the auto start/stop is not working. Every time I look down and I see that orange light on the A/C button lit.
> 
> Does this sound like a feature or a issue maybe with software or something, the A/C Compressor turning on automatically without ever having pressed the button and it definitely not being on when the car was shut off?
> 
> ...


My Premier does this and it drives me nuts!


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## MegaMadx (Jul 21, 2017)

I started noticing this on my 2017 LT and noticing it is happens when turning on the car when the fan is off. At first I thought I was bumping the AC button, but with after testing it almost always happens and part of the time I notice it is on auto mode or it at least display that on the screen. 

I have noticed 2 other strange things an the first one might be normal, but when adjusting the heat when it is on the upper half of the heat dial the fan seems faster, but putting the heat to max the fan speed reduces. Also with it being colder now I have been using remote start from the my Chevy app and a few times the fan speed was reporting off but it was really on, tuning the fan off and on did not seem to help.


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## 17Hatch6MT (Dec 28, 2015)

Yes, mine does the same thing. I find the auto-on auto-off nannies (a/c, locks, lights) on this car to be very annoying. When I bought it, didn't ask if every one of them could be set the way I wanted. I just assumed that a new car in 2017 would have settings for all of them. I was wrong.


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## SilverCruzer (Nov 30, 2010)

jblackburn said:


> In my experience with a new LT though, that wouldn't turn on the AC light. The air, when on cold and A/C button off, would just suddenly get cool while driving, suck out the humidity, and go back to fresh air again.


That's my experience as well. If I have just the fan on and the cabin gets a bit humid, I can feel the AC turning on for a bit to dehumidify, but no AC light. That feature I like.
But I also experience what the original poster is experiencing: The AC comes on with the AC light automatically in cold weather driving even though I don't recall turning it on. So not turning the fan all they way off is a work around? Strange.


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## Nanci (Mar 19, 2019)

I don’t have an answer for you, but I have the same issue with my 2017 Cruze! The dealer is telling me that’s normal, but it doesn’t make any sense...


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