Jump to content

Recirculate cabin air

sduff

By sduff
in Troubleshooting & Recalls

 Share

Recommended Posts

sduff Enthusiast

sduff

Posted
Posted (edited)

I have a 2014 GMC Sierra SLT Crewcab, 2 weeks old. I have noticed that when I have the air recirculating in the cabin, outside air closed off, I still am smelling outside air, cigarette smoke from the next car while sitting at a light, bus exhaust, skunk smell. I also have a Buick Enclave ('11) and my old Silvefrado ('03) which did not permit outside air from entering the passenger cabin when the 'recirculate' button was in use.

 

I is almost like the 'door' is not closed completely. Has anyone else experienced this?

Edited by MotoMedic
Added Topic Tags
  • Replies 121
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

take2
take2

Gm called and said they may have a fix for us...They said when the vents close they still stay open about 10% (WOW). Anyway they said they can reprogram the onboard computer and change the level of cl

sduff
sduff

Well the results are in and I couldn't believe what I was being told....I have attached the write-up so you can read it for your self....You may not want to have a truck like this if you live in areas

skunkstripe
skunkstripe

My question is. can you acces the flap that is the problem through the glove box. If so you should be able to do a little mod to make sure it closes all the way. Or maby seal it shut.   Sent from m

Posted Images

juanlpadilla Enthusiast

juanlpadilla

Posted
Posted

I started noticing this about two weeks ago but only when the recirculating air is on and I have the windshield air / air under the dash button on also.

It's odd because I dont remember my previous vehicles doing this.

1kwik72 Enthusiast

1kwik72

Posted
Posted

I found a PI a while back indicating that they were having trouble with the cabs being too sealed up and actually creating a vacuum causing dust to be sucked in when in full recirculate mode. It indicated the HVAC module could be programmed to only close about 90% in recirculate mode to correct this issue but the customer may loose some cooling/heating performance in extreme situations. Back then it sounded like it was customer choice if they had the dust issue it could be reprogrammed to fix it but the customer was to be advised that it wouldn't go to full recirc. Or leave it and deal with the dust (sounded like it was only in extremely dusty/dirty conditions)

 

Maybe they started building them all that way or if you guys had any updates done and the tech wasn't aware of what the new calibration did they may have just stuck the latest and greatest in and ran with it.

 

Craig

  • Like 1
GMCustomerService Senior Enthusiast

GMCustomerService

Posted
Posted

Hey sduff,

 

Sorry to hear that this is going on with your Sierra! Have you talked to your dealership about what you are experiencing? I would be happy to help you set this up if you would like to PM me your name, contact information, VIN, current mileage, and involved dealership.

 

Sincerely,

 

Jonathan A.

GM Customer Care

  • 2 weeks later...
take2 Enthusiast

take2

Posted
Posted

I have taken mine into the dealership 3 times and they try to act like there is nothing wrong. The smells are terrible on the highway with exhaust smells and I also smell cigarett smoke sometimes as if it were in my vehicle. My truck now has 4,000 miles and I have had it for almost three months.

  • 4 weeks later...
Carp4050 New Member

Carp4050

Posted
Posted

I thought I would google this same problem and found you all having the same issue as me. I traded my 2005 Dodge Dakota for the 2014 Silverado in November. I agree, don't sit too long next to a diesel truck or an old car with gas exhaust fumes, or you'll get a cabin full of the disgusting smells. I love my new truck......but didn't have this problem with my trade-in.

pm26 Senior Enthusiast

pm26

Posted
Posted (edited)

Seriously though, "recirculate" means the outside air intake door is fully closed and air inside is recirculated though the system. That's the only way to stop outside odors from coming into the vehicle, and in humid states like Florida, the only way to effectively cool your vehicle in the peak of summer due to extreme humidity.

Edited by pm26
take2 Enthusiast

take2

Posted
Posted

I have taken my truck in four times now and they keep saying that there is nothing wrong. The last time I had them contact GM to see what they would say, and GM said that there had been no other reports of this issue, and therefor was no solution. So we need to get as many people as we can find that have this issue and have them go to the dealer and get it reported to GM corporate. I am going to start a Facebook page to start trying to spread the word to see if we can get this noticed and taken care of.

Once I have the page set up I will be back on here and post a link if you guys can get on and like page and shares on your Facebook's maybe we can start getting more people involved.

  • Like 1
sduff Enthusiast

sduff

Posted
  • Author
Posted

When I had my truck in for the 'Fire Recall' I asked them to check the functionality of the Recirculate and they said the door was functioning properly. Fine, then how is the outside air making its way into the cabin of the truck. They have no answers and I'm under the impression they may not care. It is obvious to me they don't understand how its suppose to work if they believe its working correctly. I am going to bring in the GM Customer Care folks in on this one since they have offered (21Dec13).

Twylyt Enthusiast

Twylyt

Posted
Posted

I might be wrong on this so take it with a grain of salt, but I'm pretty sure this is a safety feature in all vehicles. You can never close the cab down completely so that way there will never be a complete depletion of oxygen/build up of harmful gasses. While this is a possible explanation, it still seems like our trucks let to much in.

pm26 Senior Enthusiast

pm26

Posted
Posted (edited)

Look on the bright side: partially closed recirculating door will let in enough skunk smell to definitely keep you from snoozing behind the wheel at night. :lol:

Edited by pm26
  • Haha 1
sduff Enthusiast

sduff

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hopefullly we will be getting to the bottom of this issue. With the help of our GM Customer Service Monitor my truck is scheduled next wednesday (12 Sept 14) at 0900. Evidently GM will be involved in diagnosing the problem. I already told the service technician that called to set up the appointment that they will need to do some real world testing and not just let it set in the service bay. He mentioned something about a 'smoke' test....this should be interesting. I will let you know what the results are after I get back on Weds.... Get the popcorn ready!!!

  • Like 1
xoriceboiox Enthusiast

xoriceboiox

Posted
Posted (edited)

I'm experiencing this issue as well, a potential transmission issue, crappy radio reception(which dealership said is normal),and vibration issues on my "new" truck which may or may not be due to the tires/rims so far that I'm aware of.

Edited by xoriceboiox
strickland604 Enthusiast

strickland604

Posted
Posted

I have the same issue with the outside smells getting into my truck. But I had the same issue with my 2012 Silverado. The only upside is the amount of out side air getting in is not as bad on my new truck as it was on my 2012.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • Grumpy Bear
      Sugar Bears 2015 GMC Terrain SLE-2 2.4 AWD

      By Grumpy Bear · Posted

      286,740 Mile Services   8/6/2026   New AC Compressor. Refrigerant oil and dye, evacuate and charge system.  New exhaust system from cat back.  New Iridium plugs plus replace #3 coil Repair/rewire headlamp wiring (passenger side) and replace all forward bulbs. Polish lenses of both assemblies.  Pull rear rotors, clean and adjust parking assembly. Inspect, clean and grease front calipers. Check pads and shoes.  4 wheel power bleed of brake system. Dot 4 Reset idle speed 50 rpm higher New Serpentine belt.    Will need new pads in the rear in about 5K more miles.    Tax Title and License out the door just short of a grand.    AC clutch had bitten the dust. 1 year warranty on the pick and save replacement. Thing will make a Polar Bear cry Uncle.  He spent quite some time on the wiring. It was in the harness and he does nothing half. I got off cheap. I have considerable more light down the road. Sylvania Silver Star replacements.  Gas seal between the porcelain and shell of plug #3 was blown, cooked the coil. That was the cold miss.  Love the new exhaust. I can sneak into the neighborhood again.  Nice to have a working parking brake again. Belle Tire never got it done. That was disappointing.    This was one of her bigger bills and still way cheaper than a payment even given the oil consumption. This thing cost me under a hundred a month in repairs and normal routine costs. What is my incentive to replace it? 🤔           
    • AidenVorpagel
      cam upgrade in CA

      By AidenVorpagel · Posted

      hello I recently bought a 2012 gmc 1500 with a 5.3 and have a AFM disabler on it I'm interested in doing a cam but I'm worried if I remove the AFM system I will fail smog does anyone have info if they are able to detect that or a work around to it (not talking about hot smogging) please let me know thank you  
    • B14Sierra
      Noise after AFM delete

      By B14Sierra · Posted

      Did you figure it out?
    • B14Sierra
      Possible lifter tick after DOD delete

      By B14Sierra · Posted

      Update. I started chasing down my symptoms. Started first with pulling valve covers and looked at everything. Everything looked good and couldn't hear or feel anything different. Then a compression test. 240 psi or really close on each cylinder. I was worried I was a tooth off of timing. Not bad for an engine with 173,000. Granted I did put new heads on. I sprayed water around the injector area to see if I could hear a change. Nothing. I hooked up my new hp tuner which I should have done in the first place but I don't really know what I'm looking at just yet but am learning. I noticed the fuel trims were way off so that told me I have to have either a bad injector or exhaust leak. New injectors, so I did the shop vac on blower and in the tail pipe. Sprayed soapy water and found the exhaust flange on the drivers side was leaking. I didn't think it would be that considereding I pulled the heads and left the manifolds attached. I did have the transmission replaced not long ago. They must have not seated them properly but I guess I didn't notice. I put in new gaskets on both sides. Which by the way isn't a bad job but I had a hard time getting them to seal right. Took two attempts. Reset the fuel trims and the ticking is gone, engine runs smooth and acceleration has improved. Got to feel the real difference with that stage 1 cam. It's not that big of a difference but it does add a little more. It feels like how the truck should have been from the factory.
    • Grumpy Bear
      Some Assembly is Required

      By Grumpy Bear · Posted

      Can it still be Assembled I?    Stribeck says that we need a certain amount of viscosity under conditions of load and velocity to prevent two surfaces of a know roughness from tearing each other asunder. And we have marketing trying to tell the masses that those two surfaced require less of that commodity due to more exact limits being placed on the same old clearances. We also know that there are limits to how hard something can before it becomes to brittle to be viable and to smooth to 'wet' the surface and that both of those conditions have been known and met since about the Second World War.    That viscosity value shook out at 10 centistokes at 212 F just under a hundred years ago.  Give this a look: [Anton Parr]     What is advertised is the Kinematic viscosity (mm2/s) or that which has been density adjusted but the value we are after is the dynamic viscosity (mPa.s) or true viscosity. You can see that this number is dependent on density thus base stock and temperature. You can also see that an SAE 30 doesn't reach that value in this example. However an SAE 30 that is at the upper end of the SAE 30 range; 12.5 cSt (mm2/s), might. 12.5 * .83 = 10.375 (mm2/s). If you could find an SAE 30 at the upper end these days.   Then there is the complication of viscosity modifiers or VII or VM, whatever you wish to call them. Polymers added to very thin base oils, perhaps 3 to 6 cP oils, that will meet the SAE *W30 spec at 'tested' shear rates and 100 C/212F  target temperature. So a polymer fortified base that is a fraction of the 10 cP requirement Stribeck insist upon.   This could be all well and good if those polymers didn't have two very problematic 'features'. They shear or loose viscosity both 1.) permanently and 2.) temporality. And they do both omitted in the advertised data with the distinct  purpose of deceiving the consumer of the actual operating state of the fluid. I've shown the example of Warren Oils COSTCO 10.91 cSt 5W30 formuation several times where the 100 C HTHS value is 6.9 cP!! That's the temporary shear down and with and SSI or shear stability index of 9.4 cSt. Note the intentional deception in using mixed units?    After a short while that 9.4 cSt oil has a viscosity corrected dynamic value of 7.8 cP. But as the SSI is still within the range of an SAE *W30 whose lower value is 9.3 cSt.    This allows them to continue to call this SAE 16 weight oil a 30 weight, the cake, and still meet the API requirements for fuel efficiency IMPROVEMENT mandated by the EPA. The eating of the cake. By the time you've worn out your motor doing the responsible thing by adhering to the warranty requirements, (the stick), you get deprived of the carrot, wear control. So sad, to bad.   So what can be done? Do I need actually say? [Anton Parr]       Even this must be monitored if the oil is on the low side and the VII an organic or you opt for a 0W40 with an even lighter base oil and more / higher MW VII. (Note the lower density of the 40 weight versus the SAE 30 mono-weight?)    There is another workaround. Temperature. An SAE *W30 run at a bulk temperature of between 180 and 195 F.    Being the belt and suspenders sort I am I do both. Run it cook and run it heavy.    In Part II I'll work the AW package. 

  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...