Funny, this morning I just happened to notice a button on the lower left side of the dash that said ECO driving, or something like that.
This wasn't shown or explained to me.
When I press the button, no light or signal appears telling me it's on or working or doing something.
Was is it for?

 

ECO is designed to use an "economy" version of the heating and ac. Basically it helps save gas and has been on most Toyota Carmies (and other models I am sure) for over 20 years.

When you turn it on, there is a green light that should be lit within the button and the heat/ac display should show the letters ECO in the middle-left.

To maximize fuel economy, use the ECO button at all times. To get faster heating and cooling, turn off ECO.

Note: If you use the defroster, ECO will ALWAYS be OFF.

Mike

 

Look on the environment control display. When you press the button, it toggles "ECO" mode on that display. The effect is that heating and cooling functions are adjusted to minimize their impact on FE. Note that certain settings (like turning on front defrost, or setting temperature to MAX or MIN) will turn off ECO mode and the only way to turn it back on is to press the button again (after eliminating the setting that turned it off in the first place - if you leave defrost on, ECO can not be turned back on).

 

The “ECO HEAT/COOL” mode is canceled in the following cases:

• The temperature control is set at “LO” (the lowest temperature) or “HI” (the highest temperature).
• The air flow is set in the floor/windshield mode or windshield mode.
• “ECO HEAT/COOL” switch is pushed again.

 

And I wish that wasn't the case. Since if you change where the air is coming from you almost ALWAYS have to turn ECO back on because as you cycle through the choice you hit the floor/windshield setting.

 

Oh yeah, another thing - be careful you don't open the fuel filler door when you reach for the ECO button.

 

Is the filler door capable of being opened when the car is in motion?

 

Excuse my ignorance (being such a newbie), but where is the Environment Control Display?

 

I've managed to do it

 

With all the high tech stuff that this car has going for it, I can't believe someone didn't write a program to prevent it.
Line 1 "If car is not in park disable the filler tank open button"
Line 2 "See line #1"
Line 3 End program

But hey, I'm not an auto engineer. It might be more difficult than that.