Weird AC recirculating air noise.

[Evilemokid94]

Took my ram for its first road trip 423 miles from Indiana to Tennessee and I noticed periodically I’d here a rush of air for 20-30 seconds around the passenger footwell area almost as if I had turned on the cabin recirculation. Has anyone heard of this happening or know the cause of why it would do this? It never lasted long enough to be annoying and I think it only did it maybe once an hour out of my entire 7 hour trip to Tennessee.

 

[Firebird]

Mine does it too. Seems like the recirc door opens about every 15 minutes and then closes back. Not sure why. I'll ask about it when I get time to do the recall notice I was sent.

 

[RBRK]

It’s because it can’t maintain the set temperature even if not on auto it will still do it to try to cool the air.

 

[Bowtechbob]

I think I'm hearing the same thing. It's like the blower just ramps up for a 10-15 seconds and then back to where I have it set. The difference is mine does it with recirc mode on...I think. I'll have to double check to be sure.

 

[TatoAlto27]

Mine does this all the time. I notice it on long road trips. I frequently travel from El Paso, TX to Atlanta, GA (3x) and it definitely happens about every other hour for about 15-20 seconds like you guys stated. It only happens when the A/C is on auto. I tried it without it being in full auto and I never noticed the wind noise. I'm assuming that the system is doing what it does to keep fresh air in the cabin lol. However, I have a routine maintenance appointment for oil change and fluids. I will ask the service manager to get their opinion. I will keep you guys posted on any update.

 

[RamCares]

Mine does this all the time. I notice it on long road trips. I frequently travel from El Paso, TX to Atlanta, GA (3x) and it definitely happens about every other hour for about 15-20 seconds like you guys stated. It only happens when the A/C is on auto. I tried it without it being in full auto and I never noticed the wind noise. I'm assuming that the system is doing what it does to keep fresh air in the cabin lol. However, I have a routine maintenance appointment for oil change and fluids. I will ask the service manager to get their opinion. I will keep you guys posted on any update.

Keep us updated on what you hear, TatoAlto27. If any assistance is needed at anytime, don't hesitate to let us know.

Jasmine
Ram Social Care Specialist

 

[Flot]

Keep us updated on what you hear, TatoAlto27. If any assistance is needed at anytime, don't hesitate to let us know.

Jasmine
Ram Social Care Specialist

@RamCares Keep YOU updated?

The intermittent A/C noise on the highway - I timed it, looks intentional

This topic comes up every so often - the intermittent "wind leak" noise you hear on the highway. After some testing, It looks to me like this is functioning as designed when the A/C system is running in recirc mode. I had a 3 hour road trip and timed it, here were my findings: - Noise is most...

5thgenrams.com

Jasmine, what would be useful, is that as a Ram employee, if you could follow whatever escalation path you have to ask someone at Ram engineering - "Hey, there are dozens of people online reporting that their recirc door on the air conditioning opens for exactly 50 seconds every 15 minutes and 10 seconds. Is this normal? If it is normal, maybe we should put it into the user manual. If it is not normal, do we need a TSB to cover this?"

Otherwise we can all just go to the dealer and ask them the same question, so if 100 of us each do that, and each dealership bills the factory 1/2 hour of labor for debugging time, then we all just collectively cost Ram $4500.

I'm not sure why this would be difficult, unless of course RamCares has no actual path to escalate a problem. I assume RamCares has team performance metrics, wouldn't it be nice to say "We saved Ram $4500 this week by having a 3 minute conversation with someone from the factory."

 

[Mrwilcox281]

Same situation here. This will happen even if I have the AC set to outside air vs. recirculate. Base AC system with manual control knobs.

 

[deanfx]

Mine does this as well. I think it's normal.

 

[RAM#2]

I am experiencing the same issues with my RAM. Air in Full Auto, Synced, Normal Ops, etc... I always run mine with the recirc on and the temp set between 65 and 70. I did take my truck in the the dealer a week ago and asked that they look at this problem along with a backup camera issue. They said that they completed TSB 24-001-19..... but this didn't do anything to correct the problem.

I do agree that it seems as if the recirc vent door is opening as the air flow will increase (just like it does when you turn the recirc off) and with the weather that we are having here on the East Coast - you can smell the humid air entering into the cab and thus feel the temperature increase along with it.

 

[Fidomac]

Took my ram for its first road trip 423 miles from Indiana to Tennessee and I noticed periodically I’d here a rush of air for 20-30 seconds around the passenger footwell area almost as if I had turned on the cabin recirculation. Has anyone heard of this happening or know the cause of why it would do this? It never lasted long enough to be annoying and I think it only did it maybe once an hour out of my entire 7 hour trip to Tennessee.

Took my ram for its first road trip 423 miles from Indiana to Tennessee and I noticed periodically I’d here a rush of air for 20-30 seconds around the passenger footwell area almost as if I had turned on the cabin recirculation. Has anyone heard of this happening or know the cause of why it would do this? It never lasted long enough to be annoying and I think it only did it maybe once an hour out of my entire 7 hour trip to Tennessee.

Mine does it too approximately every 15 minutes... it seems like the temperature and humidity goes up too... if you turn the air conditioner off and turn it back on it will go back to normal.....

 

[shaveman]

Glad I found this thread. Noticed this issue on a road trip from Dallas back to Houston last weekend. It was very windy (drove into headwinds and crosswinds), and kept the radio off this trip, so it was VERY noticeable. At first I thought maybe it was the ANC playing tricks on me. My wife (in the passenger seat) also noticed the rise in temp from the vents when it would occur. I was stressing about how the hell I was going to get this problem properly diagnosed. Now at least I can tell it's by design, although a strange design.

 

[deanfx]

I would think it's a problem if so many people didn't report this. Also it seems that only the center vent does it.

 

[RamCares]

I am experiencing the same issues with my RAM. Air in Full Auto, Synced, Normal Ops, etc... I always run mine with the recirc on and the temp set between 65 and 70. I did take my truck in the the dealer a week ago and asked that they look at this problem along with a backup camera issue. They said that they completed TSB 24-001-19..... but this didn't do anything to correct the problem.

I do agree that it seems as if the recirc vent door is opening as the air flow will increase (just like it does when you turn the recirc off) and with the weather that we are having here on the East Coast - you can smell the humid air entering into the cab and thus feel the temperature increase along with it.

Mine does it too approximately every 15 minutes... it seems like the temperature and humidity goes up too... if you turn the air conditioner off and turn it back on it will go back to normal.....

Glad I found this thread. Noticed this issue on a road trip from Dallas back to Houston last weekend. It was very windy (drove into headwinds and crosswinds), and kept the radio off this trip, so it was VERY noticeable. At first I thought maybe it was the ANC playing tricks on me. My wife (in the passenger seat) also noticed the rise in temp from the vents when it would occur. I was stressing about how the hell I was going to get this problem properly diagnosed. Now at least I can tell it's by design, although a strange design.

Hi everyone,
We'd like to help you get this addressed by your dealers by connecting you with a Case Specialist. If you plan to continue working with your dealer, please send us a private message.

Lydia
Ram Social Care Specialist

 

[RuggedLongHorn]

Hi everyone,
We'd like to help you get this addressed by your dealers by connecting you with a Case Specialist. If you plan to continue working with your dealer, please send us a private message.

Lydia
Ram Social Care Specialist

Thank you Lydia, I’ll be honest I hate taking my car in for service, I do all of my own maintenance because even though I know it is next to impossible for some to work under the hood without touching the painted surfaces around the outside it still drives me crazy when I get my vehicle back with hand prints and rub marks all over it.

Do you think you might be able to ask if there is a way to deactivate the feature? I am assuming it serves some purpose... and what ever that is I am also assuming I can live without it but as much as I drive it has become a serious pain point.

 

[DonsRam19]

Same thing happens with my a/c.

 

[RamCares]

Thank you Lydia, I’ll be honest I hate taking my car in for service, I do all of my own maintenance because even though I know it is next to impossible for some to work under the hood without touching the painted surfaces around the outside it still drives me crazy when I get my vehicle back with hand prints and rub marks all over it.

Do you think you might be able to ask if there is a way to deactivate the feature? I am assuming it serves some purpose... and what ever that is I am also assuming I can live without it but as much as I drive it has become a serious pain point.

Hi RuggedLongHorn,
I understand your reasoning for not wanting to visit your dealer. With that said, If this feature is operating as designed, we are unable to advise on if/how it can be deactivated. We are available via private message if you need any additional assistance.

Lydia
Ram Social Care Specialist

 

[Richard320]

Hi RuggedLongHorn,
I understand your reasoning for not wanting to visit your dealer. With that said, If this feature is operating as designed, we are unable to advise on if/how it can be deactivated. We are available via private message if you need any additional assistance.

Lydia
Ram Social Care Specialist

The big question is IF.

Again, @RamCares, Lydia, I urge you to contact the technical people and find out once and for all if this is a design feature and why it is there. And if it is designed that way, encourage them to issue a TSB advising technicians of the fact so that the complaint can be explained and not just brushed aside as the ravings of a neurotic with "Unable to Duplicate."

Stop with the private message crap and send a PM yourself to someone in engineering or even training - just to someone who might have a firm answer one way or the other if this is a design feature. Even better would be to know why -- to flush the stale cabin air or to defrost the evaporator?

 

[mpmitch1]

Mine does it and I got the unable to replicate from dealer

 

[Shorty1315]

I've noticed this also. Haven't taken it to the dealer yet though, but it sounds like people aren't getting anywhere with the dealers anyways....