Outside air coming in while in OFF/MAX setting

[sharpshooter73]

This is my second full week of ownership, so maybe it's just me getting used to this vehicle...?

I read in the owner's manual that if the A/C is switched to OFF or MAX A/C then the outside air is cut off and I shouldn't be able to smell outside odors (cut grass, exhaust, etc.). But I am getting these smells in the vehicle. Not just faint smells which might be expected, but full odors as if the windows are open. Doesn't matter if it's set to OFF or MAX. Anyone else have this problem or know of it being a problem?

'02 Explorer XLS

 

[Eneurb]

Do you notice a difference in air flow between normal A/C and MAX A/C??? If not, the recirculation door may not be closing.

 

[jgilbs]

i dont think its possible to COMPLETLEY seal the car from outside air. think about it. this is a safety feature. if you were to be able to seal up the vehicle, and have your family inside traveling cross-country, you would all very quickly become hypoxic, pass out and crash. carmakers realize this and make it so that there is no way to completley seal the car from the outside. so if the odors bother you that much, youre prob better off investing in a few air freshners than trying to seal the car.

 

[sharpshooter73]

Do you notice a difference in air flow between normal A/C and MAX A/C??? If not, the recirculation door may not be closing.

I will double-check when I leave work tonight. I do know that when I switch between MAX and the other settings (floor, face, both) that it does some hissing and I can hear (I think?) doors open/closing.

 

[sharpshooter73]

i dont think its possible to COMPLETLEY seal the car from outside air. think about it. this is a safety feature. if you were to be able to seal up the vehicle, and have your family inside traveling cross-country, you would all very quickly become hypoxic, pass out and crash. carmakers realize this and make it so that there is no way to completley seal the car from the outside. so if the odors bother you that much, youre prob better off investing in a few air freshners than trying to seal the car.

I understand what you're saying, and realize that I'm not going to be riding in a hermetically sealed vehicle. It's just that I sit in alot of stop-n-go traffic and get fumes coming in. I also have bad allergies and have to hold my breath when I pass the roadcrew cutting grass on the roads/highways so I don't breath in the fresh cut grass/dust.

 

[jgilbs]

well if you do hear some sort of hissing, you may have some sort of blend door issue. if you still get those allergies, sharper image does make an air ionoizer for the car, but some ppl say those things are a waste of money