Remote climate control question....

One thing that annoys me is that the ac shuts off when I open the drivers door. Why they didn’t design it like every other system baffles me (ac should keep running while getting into the car and pressing the brake pedal and starting the start button).

 

When I was looking at the differences prior to purchase, my thought was that Honda would disable certain functions in the app if it was registered to a VIN # for a base model, but apparently that's not the case or maybe the backend code isn't working right and some future 'fix' will disable the functionality in apps registered to base models.

 

The general consensus is that the info on the brochure about remote climate control not being on the base model was an error. You should have it for life.

 

Except that it persists; it wasn't a one-time error that was fixed later. Go to Honda.com and explore the Clarity Plugin and click on Models & Specs.

 

Going beyond the brief comparison previously snapshotted on their site and you find the full feature list matches what owners experience. Not sure why this would be a feature to list under Electric Motor category rather than Comfort & Convenience.

 

Well, instead of persist you could also say never corrected. Kind of like the picture in the owner’s manual that shows 1,000s of miles of HV range. It’s still there too. What ever the case, all the base models so far have remote climate control and all the rest of Honda Link working identical to the touring models, as far as we know from posters in this forum.

 

To shut off the remote conditioning, press and hold the fan button for 1-2 seconds. Sometimes when I am charging for free at a level 2 charger, I sit in the car for a few extra minutes and when it is hot, I will press the lock, then the fan to pre-condition while I am still in the car to keep it cool using free electric. If you open the door during this time, the alarm will sound. So I press the fan button, then unlock and get out and unplug.

 

Thanks. I wasn't holding the fan button long enough to turn it off.

Also I think I've found a work around for the sat radio not working with climate control. If I switch the audio source to something other than SXM then after pre-conditioning when it starts, if I *then* switch to SXM it's been working.

My next test is to try it with switching the audio off before hitting STOP when getting out so I have to turn audio back on when getting in.

 

Was going to post about it. Noticed the same issue the other day when I got in the car after pre-condition - no SXM. But yesterday I was listening to FM. So this morning when I got on the car with pre-conditioning, FM was working, and switching to SXM worked.

Obvious bug - how do we report it?

 

Interestingly, shutting audio off while on SXM and then the car off, after pre-conditioning, turning on audio -- SXM still doesn't work.

 

Finally the temp is cool enough that I tested the pre-conditioning this morning (110V outlet).

I only have Level 1 charging as Level 2 is way too expensive for my house. I unplugged the charge cable about 25 minutes before I was going to leave as I took the garbage out this morning. I left the garage door open afterwards since I don't want to close and then open again in 20 minutes so the garage temp is around 8C (46F), inside car temp probably a few degrees warmer. About 10 minutes before I leave, I thought about pre-conditioning so I plug the charger back in, the green LED is off since the car is fully charged. I use the HondaLink app to turn on pre-conditioning, about 30 seconds later, I hear some noise inside the car, then both the green LED turns on at the car charge port and the charger cable box. About 10 minutes later, I unplugged the Level 1 charger, open the car door and the inside is warm, amazing.

This is my first car with climate pre-conditioning so I am actually looking forward to the winter where I won't have to stay frozen for 10 minutes waiting for the ICE to warm up the car and then me...

 

Pro tip: if you are charging on Level 1 and want to precondition the car, simply use the app to stop charging. Then you can hit the Climate Control On button and it will start the climate control and resume charging.

Yeah, it's an extra step, but a useful trick to know about if you ever need to turn on the heat/AC while charging on L1!

 

I tried to remote cool down (yes, it is still summer in the desert southwest) using the app
for the last couple of days on my base model but the AC never turned on.

Here are the details -

Started climate preconditioning using the app when plugged into L2 charger with 100% battery.
App shows in-car temp as 90 F and Climate Running.
Weather app shows current temp is 100 F
Go to the car after 20 minutes
In car temp is still 90 F according to the Hondalink app and fans are blowing just hot air inside.
Start the car and temperature display (outside temperature) shows as 93 F.
My driver and passenger side temps are set to 70 F - though this shouldn't matter per previous posts.

Based on the info posted in this thread by KentuckyKen,
the car was definitely not in the "comfortable air temp zone" and
the AC should have started up.

Tried it for two days with same results of no AC or cooling except for the fan turning on.

Can someone tell me what I am doing wrong ?

 

lanb, just a 'stupid' question. Are you sure you A/C is working properly? You did not mention if you have use it in normal (non remote) condition

 

Yep, it does. If I turn it on manually, it works.

One thing to note though - When I drive in the morning, I generally don't use the AC as it is not very hot.
Perhaps the remote conditioning needs the AC to be left on before shutdown ??
I would think not, but then Honda seems to have a lot black box logic about the remote conditioning
rather than let the users pick heat/cool and temperature in the app.

 

Lanb - Yes, that's what I would suggest next... Make sure you were using the AC and it was set at a comfortable temp before turning off the car. I usually just push the temp control button to select Auto.

-Skip

 

Yeah, I will try that tomorrow.

 

So, for warming up the car, if you don't have it plugged in, it will use the batteries or will it run ICE? If plugged, it will use electricity to warm up the car?

 

I don't believe the engine is ever used for pre-conditioning the Clarity's interior.

 

I am still waiting for an answer from Honda Canada, Honda Japan on this one. What is the battery threshold for pre-conditioning to work or stop working. Sort of waiting for the pigs to fly kind of scenario...