The air conditioning comes on whenever I try to put the heat on defrost, but just on the windshield only setting, the others all work normally. I can feel the engine lag with the a/c coming on and it's cold air so I'm sure this is happening. Anyone ever hear of this or know how much of a pain it is to get into the a/c controls? Thanks for the help, I checked the stickies but didn't see this anywhere.

 

This is normal behavior. The A/C helps dry out the air inside the cabin (removes humidity) - this is what essentially defogs the windshield.

 

While your set on ECON mode, just hit the MODE button to direct air up or down without running the a/c compressor.

 

I don't have the auto climate control if that's what you're referring to. the a/c shouldn't' kick in with defrost unless you turn it on though right?

 

Aaah - ooops... I don't know why I assumed you had climate control (auto). In almost all cars, whenever you switch to the defrost mode - the compressor turns on automagically... don't think you can bypass that... One trick might be to use the winshield/legs mode - in that case it may not turn on the AC automatically.... not sure about that though.

 

it doesn't turn it on in the windshield/legs mode, if that's normal in most cars I'm surprised I never noticed it before. interesting.

 

Maybe I should clarify "normal" - at least in all the cars I've driven that are mid 90's models or later...

 

Yeah the AC always kicks in when you set it on defrost mode. If you want to direct the air to the windshield you have to turn on just the air vents and then switch the **** to direct air through the defrost ducks manually.

 

before the max I had an 02 pathfinder but never noticed. Good to hear it's not a problem though.

 

a/c dehumidifies the air, and fog is just condensation on your window sooooo... blowing "dry" air on it will clear up the fog faster. its a factory design on every car ive seen.