issue Recirculate cabin air

[sduff]

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 February 7, 2014 by MotoMedic
Added Topic Tags

[juanlpadilla]

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]

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

[GMCustomerService]

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

[take2]

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.

[Carp4050]

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]

So it appers that this is another "NORMAL" feature.

[pm26]

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 February 4, 2014 by pm26

[take2]

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.

[sduff]

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]

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]

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.

Edited February 4, 2014 by pm26

[sduff]

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!!!

[xoriceboiox]

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 February 5, 2014 by xoriceboiox

[strickland604]

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.