2004 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER Owners Manual

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To cool off your Toyota after it has
been parked in the hot sun, drive with
the windows open for a few minutes.
This vents the hot air, allowing the air
conditioning to cool the interior more
quickly.
Make sure the air intake grilles in front
of the windshield are not blocked (by
leaves or snow, for example).
On humid days, do not blow cold air
on the windshield. The windshield could
fog up because of the difference in air
temperature on the inside and outside
of the windshield.
Keep the area under the front seats
clear to allow air to circulate through-
out the vehicle.
On cold days, set the fan speed to
high for a minute to help clear the
intake ducts of snow or moisture. This
can reduce the amount of fogging on
the windows.
When driving on dusty roads, close all
windows. If dust thrown up by the ve-
hicle is still drawn into the vehicle after
closing the windows, it is recommended
that the air intake selector be set to
FRESH and the fan speed selector to
any setting except “OFF”.
—Air flow selector settings—Operating tips

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If following another vehicle on a dusty
road, or driving in windy and dusty
conditions, it is recommended that the
air intake selector be temporarily set to
RECIRCULATE, which will close off the
outside passage and prevent outside
air and dust from entering the vehicle
interior. Heating
For best results, set controls to:
For automatic operation—
Press in the “AUTO” button.
Temperature— To the desired
temperature
Air intake—FRESH (outside air)
Air conditioning—OFF
For manual operation—
Fan speed— To the desired fan speed
Temperature— To w a r d s WARM
(to the right)
Air intake—FRESH (outside air)
Air flow—FLOOR
Air conditioning—OFF
For quick heating, select recirculated
air for a few minutes. To keep the
windows from fogging, select fresh af-
ter the vehicle interior has been
warmed.
Press the “A/C” button on for dehumidi-
fied heating.
Choose floor/windshield air flow to heat
the vehicle interior while defrosting or
defogging the windshield. Air conditioning
For best results, set controls to:
For automatic operation—
Press in the “AUTO” button.
Temperature— To the desired
temperature
Air intake—FRESH (outside air)
Air conditioning—ON
For manual operation—
Fan speed— To the desired fan speed
Temperature— To w a r d s COLD
(to the left)
Air intake—FRESH (outside air)
Air flow—PANEL
Air conditioning—ON
For quick cooling, select recirculated
air for a few minutes.

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Ventilation
For best results, set controls to:
For automatic operation—
Press in the “AUTO” button.
Temperature— To w a r d s COLD
(to the left)
Air intake—FRESH (outside air)
Air conditioning—OFF
For manual operation—
Fan speed— To the desired fan speed
Temperature— To w a r d s COLD
(to the left)
Air intake—FRESH (outside air)
Air flow—PANEL
Air conditioning—OFF
Defogging and defrosting—
—The inside of the windshield
For best results, set controls to:
For automatic operation—
Temperature— To w a r d s WARM
(to the right) to heat;
COLD (to the left) to
cool
Air intake—FRESH (outside air)
Air flow—WINDSHIELD
For manual operation—
Fan speed— To the desired fan speed
Temperature— To w a r d s WARM
(to the right) to heat;
COLD (to the left) to
cool
Air intake—FRESH (outside air)
Air flow—WINDSHIELD
When pressing the windshield air flow but-
ton, the air intake selects FRESH auto-
matically. This is to clean up the front
view more quickly.
If you want to return the setting to
RECIRCULATE mode, press the air intake
selector button once again. Pressing the windshield button turns on
the defroster
−linked air conditioning. This
is to clean up the front view more quickly.
When the “A/C” button is not pressed in,
pressing another air flow button turns off
the air conditioning.
On humid days, do not blow cold air
on the windshield—the difference be-
tween the outside and inside tempera-
tures could make the fogging worse.
—The outside of the windshield
For best results, set controls to:
For automatic operation—
Temperature— To w a r d s WARM
(to the right)
Air intake—FRESH (outside air)
Air flow—WINDSHIELD

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For manual operation—
Fan speed— To the desired fan speed
Temperature— To w a r d s WARM
(to the right)
Air intake—FRESH (outside air)
Air flow—WINDSHIELD
When pressing the windshield air flow but-
ton, the air intake selects FRESH auto-
matically. This is to clean up the front
view more quickly.
If you want to return the setting to
RECIRCULATE mode, press the air intake
selector button once again.
Pressing the windshield button turns on
the defroster −linked air conditioning. This
is to clean up the front view more quickly.
When the “A/C” button is not pressed in,
pressing another air flow button turns off
the air conditioning.
To heat the vehicle interior while de-
frosting the windshield, choose
floor/windshield air flow.
If air flow control is not satisfactory, check
the side vents. The side vents may be
opened or closed as shown.
Side vents

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1. Main switch
Push the switch to turn the rear heater
system on or off.
Turning the fan speed selector to the “LO”
or “HI” position with the rear heater sys-
tem on illuminates the main switch indica-
tor. 2. Fan speed selector
Turn the knob to adjust the fan speed—to
the right to increase, to the left to de-
crease.
When the rear heater system is off, the
fan speed selector will not operate. 3. Rear heater vents
Air flows from the vents when the rear
heater system is operating.
CAUTION
Do not place feet near the vents for
long periods as burns may result.
Rear heater system

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The air conditioning filter information
label is placed in the glove box as
shown and indicates that a filter has
been installed.
The air conditioning filter prevents dust
from entering the vehicle through the air
conditioning vent.The air conditioning filter is behind the
glove box.
The air conditioning filter may clog af-
ter long use. The filter may need to be
replaced if the air flow of the air condi-
tioning and heater experiences extreme
reductions in operating efficiency, or if
the windows begin to fog up easily. To maintain the air conditioning efficiency,
inspect and replace the air conditioning
filter according to the maintenance sched-
ule. In dusty areas or areas with heavy
traffic flow, such as inner city or desert
areas, early replacement may be required.
(For scheduled maintenance information,
please refer to the “Scheduled Mainte-
nance Guide” or “Owner ’s Manual Supple-
ment”.)
Checking and replacing the
air conditioning filter

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1. Remove the clip with a Phillipshead
screwdriver.2. Open the glove box and push eachside of the glove box to disconnect
the claws.3. Pull the filter cover toward you andremove it.
4. Remove the filter case toward you.

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5. Remove the filter from the filter
case.
6. Inspect the filter on the surface.
If it is dirty, it should be replaced.
When installing the filter and filter
case, keep the arrow pointing up.
INFORMATION
The air filter should be installed prop-
erly in position. The use of air condi-
tioning with the air filter removed
may cause deteriorated dustproof per-
formance and then affect air condi-
tioning performance.