How to turn on air recirculation without the AC coming on automatically?

[slam]

A question on the climatronic system.

Typical scenario is as follows: it’s a cool day so I don’t need to use AC – just fan only with outside air is fine (eg recirculation is off).

I see someone mowing the lawn up ahead with a large cloud of dust. I turn on the air recirculation before I drive past, then switch it back to outside air again say 10 seconds later after I've driven past. But every time I turn the recirculation on, the AC comes on automatically, even if I don't need it to.

Is there a way to stop the AC from coming on automatically whenever I turn the recirculation on?

[AdamD]

If you press the recirculate button twice in quick succession, it'll enable auto-recirculate mode (the right light on the recirculate button) - the car decides when to recirculate air based on a sensor, and doesn't automatically switch on the A/C.

[Finance_Analyst]

Awesome! I was always wanting to know the answer to that!

Another way is, leave the air on when turning the car off, and that will turn it back on again without turning the a/c on.

[slam]

Thanks AdamD, but I didn't think the auto recirculate mode would activate on dust? I thought it was connected to some sort of NOx sensor?