2004 E320, USA - "AC off" button: on or off?

13765 Views 9 Replies 6 Participants Last post by sosh, Mar 1, 2005

yoyoyojo

Discussion Starter · Feb 24, 2005

My wife and I are having a disagreement over the AC Off button. We have a 2004 E320 bought in Nor Cal.

The button is labeled "AC off". The manual simply says this button activates "economy" mode where the AC unit is turned off. The confusion comes with the indicator light on the button.

I (thinking like a programmer) think the button turns on economy mode, which turns off the AC. when the button is activated the button is "on" which means the light is on. Therefore the light on means AC off.

Of course my wife, who is not a programmer, thinks the light ON means AC is on. This is usually hwo it is in other cars.

It's been cold since we bought the car so honestly I can not tell from feel when the AC is on or not.

So does light on = AC off?

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sosh

· #2 · Feb 24, 2005

Have the same dilema with my new 05 E320 4M. Its been too cold to figure it out. All I know is that sometimes the red light is on and sometimes its off. I did notice today in a snowstorm that when I push the defrost button the a/c light comes on. The manual is confusing. Guess I will have to wait till it warms up to figure this one out.

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xabo

· #3 · Feb 25, 2005

sosh - 2/24/2005 6:59 PM

Have the same dilema with my new 05 E320 4M. Its been too cold to figure it out. All I know is that sometimes the red light is on and sometimes its off. I did notice today in a snowstorm that when I push the defrost button the a/c light comes on. The manual is confusing. Guess I will have to wait till it warms up to figure this one out.

I know in most Japanese cars, you're able to turn the AC on w/the Defrost as this helps to defog the windows faster. when I push the defrost button the a/c light comes on

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sosh

· #4 · Feb 26, 2005

xabo - 2/24/2005 8:13 PM

sosh - 2/24/2005 6:59 PM

Have the same dilema with my new 05 E320 4M. Its been too cold to figure it out. All I know is that sometimes the red light is on and sometimes its off. I did notice today in a snowstorm that when I push the defrost button the a/c light comes on. The manual is confusing. Guess I will have to wait till it warms up to figure this one out.

Click to expand...

I know in most Japanese cars, you're able to turn the AC on w/the Defrost as this helps to defog the windows faster. when I push the defrost button the a/c light comes on

Thanks!! What I do not understand is why they would pot a red indicator light on the switch when the A/C is on. Thats the normal position. I would understand red if it indicated off.

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JG in SB

· #5 · Feb 26, 2005

Maybe we are over-analyzing light colors here [

] Try thinking about it this way: light "on" = AC "on", light "off" = AC "off". I think they chose red for the LED color because it matches the rest of the LED's in the same section of the dash.

Also I agree that a button labeled "AC Off" is confusing. In my car, this same button is simply labeled "AC".

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dimple173

· #6 · Feb 27, 2005

OK, let me see if this makes sense to everyone here. There is an "AC Off" button and the red LED is on the "AUTO" button. The "AC Off" is the same as Economy mode which cuts off the A/C compressor and stops dehumidifying the air entering the cabin. Now, with the LED lit (meaning "ON") on the "AUTO" button, the climate control is now set to automatically maintain the temperature set on the display. Meaning, the fans will increase or decrease in volume automatically. Where the fan speed will decrease the closer it gets to the set temperature or increase if temp is further away. Hope this explanation helps.

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sosh

· #7 · Feb 28, 2005

JG in SB - 2/26/2005 4:04 PM

Maybe we are over-analyzing light colors here [] Try thinking about it this way: light "on" = AC "on", light "off" = AC "off". I think they chose red for the LED color because it matches the rest of the LED's in the same section of the dash.

Also I agree that a button labeled "AC Off" is confusing. In my car, this same button is simply labeled "AC".

Having flown airplanes for a living most of my life I always get concerned when a red annunciator is lit. I am used to red being a bad situation, green being normal and yellow meaning that the switch is not set to the ambient normal position. Without going to the garage to check, I believe that the switch is just labeled AC. The manual shows two HVAC panels I have not yet taken the time to detirmne which I have. At this point I believe I liked the panel in the W210 I just traded better and I also miss the charcoal filter and the rest function

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JR_Rider

· #8 · Feb 28, 2005

"AC" off button refers to the compressors status, whether it is running or not. You guys are funny.

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dimple173

· #9 · Feb 28, 2005

sosh, the charcoal filters and REST carried over into the W211. The "A/C Off" button also activates the REST feature.

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sosh

· #10 · Mar 1, 2005

dimple173 - 2/28/2005 3:15 AM

sosh, the charcoal filters and REST carried over into the W211. The "A/C Off" button also activates the REST feature.

It does not do this on the 05's and they do not have the filter either. Believe this changed 04 to 05.

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