issue Recirculate cabin air

KARNUT · April 9, 2014

My only hope is that if anyone manages to get their truck cabin completely sealed, they and their passengers are on a back road somewhere and simply run off into a field when they all pass out. The only smell I get in my truck is the duck dynasty air freshener swinging from my mirror. I drive in Houston all the time.

WhiteLTZ14 · April 9, 2014

My only hope is that if anyone manages to get their truck cabin completely sealed, they and their passengers are on a back road somewhere and simply run off into a field when they all pass out. The only smell I get in my truck is the duck dynasty air freshener swinging from my mirror. I drive in Houston all the time.

Well i just have a whitle sound coming from my air vents when my truck is recirculating mode so im trying to see if anyone has or had this issue before?

KARNUT · April 9, 2014

Well i just have a whitle sound coming from my air vents when my truck is recirculating mode so im trying to see if anyone has or had this issue before?

Most of the time I have the radio crank pretty good so if the truck is rattling or making any noises I wouldn't notice. Now smells I would notice, there is nothing any different with this than any other ride Ive had. GM has made these trucks pretty quite so I can imagine hearing little sounds is to be expected. The roads we drive on aren't perfect, a lot to ask at the speeds we travel.

sduff · April 10, 2014

Did any of you get this corrected or any updates? Do any of you know if the recirc door is actually closed 100% or 90%? Does anybody know how to get to the recirculating door? And if the door was only 90% close, has any of you gotten the dealer to close it a 100%?

I have given up for the time being....check out my 8 March post. There is a document attached that gives us options. The dealerships should have been aware of this document or maybe communications between the Service Manager and the techs is not the best. I have stopped doing GM surveys because I don';t know how to answer them....

WhiteLTZ14 · April 10, 2014

I have given up for the time being....check out my 8 March post. There is a document attached that gives us options. The dealerships should have been aware of this document or maybe communications between the Service Manager and the techs is not the best. I have stopped doing GM surveys because I don';t know how to answer them....

Just got my truck back and the whistle has stopped now.... they performed the TSB PIT5229... im not sure if its the same as PIT5229A. The one you posted says to disregard bulletin PIT5229 but that's the one the service guy told me they did.

Edited April 10, 2014 by WhiteLTZ14

pm26 · April 10, 2014

Just got my truck back and the whistle has stopped now.... they performed the TSB PIT5229... im not sure if its the same as PIT5229A. The one you posted says to disregard bulletin PIT5229 but that's the one the service guy told me they did.

Hmm, TSB PIT 5229. Sounds like an abbreviation for TSB MONEY PIT 5229.

Sooperdave · April 10, 2014

No complaints here at all. Seems to work pretty well but i've only used it just a couple times. I don't seem to get the smells like I used to in my G8. Guess cause of the height is above most stinky exhausts.

WhiteLTZ14 · April 11, 2014

Just got my truck back and the whistle has stopped now.... they performed the TSB PIT5229... im not sure if its the same as PIT5229A. The one you posted says to disregard bulletin PIT5229 but that's the one the service guy told me they did.

Correction whistle still there after tsb.... bs

Beltboy · December 4, 2014

Still looking for more posts on this, but I've had my new truck 3 days!!! Love everything thus far except that in recirculate all outside smell enters the vehicle. Skunk, cigarette smoke, exhaust, doesn't matter!!! No way to prevent it. I will look around for more solutions here, and take back to dealer Saturday, but if this isn't fixed I will absolutely cry fraud and seek full return and legal options immediately! No other vehicle I have ever been in in my life has been like this! The responses I've read so far are complete crap! How can 100's of car designs over years and years of design not have this issue, and suddenly a car manufacturer claims this? Give me and you a break. A Kia at1/4 the cost is showing better qualityat this point. Additionally, I've got resources others don't, so we'll see what happens.

I've owned Toyota for 30 years, preaching Detroit designs were garbage. I bought this truck bc it is so nice, but 1 day in I am regretting this purchase, and will let the world know!!!!

Beltboy · December 4, 2014

Just pulled this from the owners manual, so by definition and description, not performing as designed!!!

"Press Recirculation Mode to quickly cool the air inside the vehicle or prevent outside odors from entering the vehicle. It is not available while the Defog or Defrost Mode is selected"

Funny!

Lightshade · January 8, 2015

My 2015 GMC 2500HD Denali does this, also. My father's 2015 Silverado Z71 does this, also.

My previous 2008 Ford F-150 did NOT do this. My father's previous 2002 Silverado did NOT do this. My mother's old Chevy Impala did NOT do this.

This is ABSOLUTELY a design flaw on Chevy / GMC's part and they need to fix it. This is something that would make me never purchase a GM product again. I have had the fumes in the cab get so strong, while waiting in traffic, that i've felt light-headed at times. This is just completely unacceptable. Recirc should, as the Owner's Manual says, prevent outside odors from entering the vehicle. At the very least, GM should honor their own printed words.

GM needs to fix this immediately.

Dnt · January 24, 2015

Have had my truck for a year and never really noticed this until the other day when I was stuck behind a diesel truck for miles on a curvy 2 way road. I hit the recir button but the fumes were still entering the truck. I was a bit surprised so thought i would look it up on here and sure enough it is DESIGNED that way LOL. Now these trucks apparently have a replaceable cabin filter is there an option to get a charcoal filter? I do not want to die or pass out from lack of oxygen so not really interested in sealing up the cabin like a casket just would be nice to cut down on the outside odors a bit.

Beltboy · February 4, 2015

Had my truck in again and no luck. They keep trying to push the deal that opens it up to 80%, as a possible remedy, but that ain't gonna fix it. I did learn that dodge had a similar issue a few years ago that was root caused to a warped door in the system. I've seen how the gmc works, if you look behind and through where the inside air filter goes , you can see the door and large hole it covers when in recirculate. The opening is about 5 inches wide by 3 inches. There is however no way to test the seal of the door without removing the entire dash!!! My thoughts were that if there was a way to put additional sealing on that trap door then when closed it should help. The odor seams to flow through the air way just above the hood where it meats the windshield on the passenger side.

I've also tried to look around the rest of the cabin and engine area to see if there are any other gaskets or areas where air can filtrate in, but simply can't see enough to make that determination.

I will say this, I love this truck but only after 3 months and seriously considering trading this in ONLY because of this issue. To another's point when in traffic it truly is difficult to breath.

I've also added clothes drying sheets around the cabin filter and that doesn't seem to help for more than a day! Also it seems to be worse if the system is set to only the feet. But the difference is nominal.

GM hear me!!!!! This sucks do something!!!!

Dnt · February 5, 2015

I think they have charcoal type cabin filters for the older models so I assume there will be some charcoal filters available for 2014 and up, maybe they are available now? If someone runs across a source for a charcoal cabin filter I would appreciate a link......................

m33ortiz · December 21, 2015

Has anyone received any relief from this problem?

We bought our 2014 Sierra in August 2014. We've been taking it in for service since about November 2014 for this and other issues...mainly this one though. I have a current open case with GM after the one in July was closed. The response each time is the vehicle is working as designed. Last couple of times, I'm referred to the owner's manual which says that the "Air is recirculated to quickly cool the inside of the vehicle. It can also be used to help REDUCE outside air and odors...". Well, the Quick Reference Guide from the same vehicle says, "Recirculation Mode to quickly cool the air inside the vehicle or PREVENT outside odors from entering the vehicle...".

I'm really tired of breathing in vehicle exhaust, every dead animal on the road or the person's cigarette smoke from the car next to me. GM has not been responsive and I'm feeling ignored while they are dismissing this. We feel this is a safety issue and they aren't taking it seriously.

Hoping someone has received a fix or resolution to this.