wrinkledpants

Even if you could somehow isolate the heater core, it's still not fresh air as all the incoming air goes through the charcoal filter. The only thing you get by going to Low and Econ is more humidity in the car.

If I want fresh air, I open the roof or windows, and just leave the HVAC system in auto with auto recirc. Opening the rear windows a crack removes all the buffeting from having just the front windows open. Otherwise I leave it in fully a auto so I retain the benefits of the auto recirc functions. It seems like way too much work to go turn off auto recirc, temps to Low, and then fans lowered for a reasonable speed - just to have a bit more humidity in the car.

user 83838290

If you have sunroof, tilt it open and it will suck out the air from inside and you'll get better flow and the air in econ mode will be a little cooler due to more flow.
But the air will never be as cool as on the outside. Not even when it's like 40 outside.

JAGMAN1

It sounds to me like everything is operating normally. I think what you're noticing is the system picking up residual heat and piping that into the cabin. It's fresh air, just a bit warm. I find that temps in the mid 60's outside aren't cold enough to keep the vent air cold after it passes through the intake cowl and warm heater core. This is most noticeable in traffic and a low speed driving, or after a long period of heat soak.

The only possible problem would be if you're stuck in recirculate. But that's easy enough to determine simply by listening for the sound of the fan. Listen for the typical change in noise level when you cycle from non-recirc, to recirculate using the dash switch. If you are hearing the change in fan noise, than it is most likely working as advertised.

endless_corners

nothing fresher than SoCal air!