Not sure if this has been covered before, but when the MODE is changed to direct the air flow ONLY towards my feet, the outer Dash Vent air flow does NOT change at all and the two Inner Dash Vents are cut down to about 10 percent of their previous air flow. Is this normal (I suspect it is)?

I'm coming from a '99 Audi A4 which would completely cut-off the air flow to the Dash Vents automatically, if the inside air temp was set to 74 or higher.
BTW, that A4 had the best Climate Control system of any car owned thus far.

 

Does it still react the same way if you take it off of "auto"? What happens if you go to straight defrost, does it still blow out the vents, if so to both, sounds like you have an actuator problem (controls the flapper valve for the airflow) and will need to be taken in.

 

I exercised the mode button several times between having the displayed Arrow pointing toward my chest and then pointing toward my feet.
This seems to have helped, as with the fan at high, the Center Dash Vents barely blow air at all, and the Outer Dash Vents blow only about 10 to 15 percent of max.

My question is: Do other 09 TSXs still blow air out the Side/Outer Dash Vents, when the Mode is displaying an arrow pointing ONLY toward the feet of the "guy sitting down" icon?

 

I do not feel anything coming out of the side "frontal" vents except latent heat. Are you sure you are not feeling the airflow out of the top dash side vents (at the bottom of your A-pillar)? These will stay on in all modes to keep your side windows clear.

 

I have exact the same problem and I my car is at acura right now, but they just called me and said that everything is fine and I do not know how to use it. I will come later to pick it up and he will show me something "magical" I guess.

For me this is very very very annoying.

 

just came from the dealership and as I expected they did not show anything I did not know. The air still blowing from front vents even with manual mode "bottom only". The tech guy said, that this is normal and all acuras are doing that. So there is no fix.

 

Thanks for the confirmation.
I believe it to be a design "feature".
Unlike my A4, which completely cut air flow off to the dash vents when the air flow was directed to my feet.

 

not only acuras, hondas are the same thing.. the open and close valve next to the vent are there for a reason.. if you look thru the wiring schematic and service manual, there is noway to control it electronically

 

Other cars are like this, it was explained by Nissan area Grand Poo-Bah years ago on my 91 SE-R that they want fresh air in the cabin at all times to reduce the risk of exhaust getting into the car. I guess it would create a positive pressure situation in the cabin?

 

Yup its a Honda thing for sure (well and I'm sure many other cars), every Honda I've own has done this. I always thought it did it to keep the side windows from ever fogging up, never heard about the exhaust thing...

 

Federal requirements for all cars is to maintain air circulation, even when the HVAC system is turned off (the fan always runs, just in a slow mode) to protect from exhaust fume accumulation. I have noticed that the vent does not close completely as well, which is the first vehicle I have had that does this. The plenum door that directs the airflow mode is not sealing off completely, which must be by design to save money in the reduction of an actuator (since there is dual passenger controls), or the actuator itself is not powerful enough to close the vent completely.

I also wish that Acura would use an infra red thermal sensor to detect the occupant's temperature, instead of the thermister (above your right knee you will see a small vent in the dashboard, this is an air intake for a small fan that pulls in the cabin air to measure the ambient temperature). The thermal sensor takes in consideration to your body temperature (say you were working out and got into the car) and will adjust accordingly, not just to the ambient air. The Chrysler 300/Jeep Grand Cherokee (slap me for saying this) has this this type of thermal sensor approach and is much superior to the Acura system.

 

I hate the temperature sensor in the Grand Cherokee. If you put a cold drink in the cup holder the car starts baking you to death. If you put a hot sandwich in the space in front of the gear shifter (which happens to be the perfectly sized space for just such a use), the car turns into an ice box.

The Acura approach is vastly superior in my opinion.

 

You are right about the effects of the cupholder/console. The problem is the placement of the sensor. It should be mounted in the middle rear view mirror and pointed at the occupants face/chest. The problem that you stated does demonstrate the ability of an infrared thermal sensor, as it measures your surface temperature.

I find myself adjusting the temperature much more frequently with a thermister type control vs the infrared control.

The TSX tech gets confused or is too sensitive in the software with too slow of a response in the actuation on tight curvey roads. Since the climate control syncs the sunsensor that is mounted in the upper dash, and the navigation system for determination of which direction the sun is at, it will direct temperature variances to the appropriate vent to compensate for the sun hitting your face/chest. I am blessed on my daily commute with a two mile stretch of tight hairpin turns, and the car makes you feel like you are in a thermal chamber test. When I drive the car at night in the same loop, it does not react that way. My suggestion to Acura is to put a slower response in to the software reaction allowing for the variation in turns.

 

I don't have the navi and I don't have that sort of issue at all. I've always thought that linking the navi to the HVAC is kind of gimmicky and isn't all that helpful. I think it's trying to be too smart for it's own good. When computers try that kind of thing it usually goes poorly, e.g. that stupid paper clip in Microsoft Office. I wonder if there's a way to turn that off through diagnostic menus or something.