Fumes even on recirculate

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jawshoeaw

Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2013
Messages
23
I just spoke to a Nissan Leaf certified technician and he told me that there is no recirculate in the 2013 Leaf (he didn't say about earlier models). I'm so sick of breathing fumes that I'm seriously considering getting rid of the car. My wife wanted to know why my clothes smelled like exhaust and I said it was the Leaf. She thinks it's funny that an electric car makes you breathe everyone else's exhaust but I"m not amused. I'm thinking the Prius C might be a better choice for me - I spend 3-4 a day in my car and it's really starting to get to me. Never mind that I have to run the damn defroster constantly to keep the windows defrosted - where did Nissan test these cars, the desert?

I asked the tech i I could just block off outside air with some insulation and he said no - the batteries depend on the same air path. Then I asked where the split was between cabin and battery and he said it's buried in the day and it would void my warranty if I tried to get to it. :twisted:

Anyone else having this problem? Anyone driven the Prius C? Also thinking about Jetta sportwagen
 
derkraut said:
I don't understand your post. My 2011 Leaf has re-circulate setting. :? :?

jawshoeaw said:
I just spoke to a Nissan Leaf certified technician and he told me that there is no recirculate in the 2013 Leaf (he didn't say about earlier models).

He answered it in the first sentence. I'm not sure why they would not have a circulate setting; it is the first I've heard of this as well. I do know that my '11 seems to prefer to set to outside and you have to work to keep it on circulate.
 
derkraut said:
I don't understand your post. My 2011 Leaf has re-circulate setting. :? :?
Yeah, I think the title is confusing ! Does it have or not have recirculate ??? The title makes it sound like it does, but it's defective. If it doesn't have it (like the tech told him), then the title should be changed.
 
http://www.nissan-techinfo.com/refgh0v/og/Leaf/2013-Nissan-LEAF.pdf

From the 2013 On-Line Manuel
(Looks to me like the S has re-circulation)

a12_zpscbcbfc5f.jpg


a13_zpsf0e9c003.jpg
 
this all sounds fishy to me.. as the Batteries and inverter are cooled by water.. .. So your saying that you are getting exhaust fumes from out side? do you run with the AC on ? even if its not in Cold mode that should still keep your cabin air in rec mode..
 
Your car is defective. If you have it on recirc you shouldn't get any outside air, and you shouldn't be smelling fumes. Period. The batteries are not cooled. Not by air, not by water, not at all. Find technician that knows what he's talking about.
 
Do you have it set to defrost/defog? My car ('04 VW Jetta) does not allow recirculation if the defrost/defog vent is selected, regardless of temperature setting. If the air is blowing directly on the windshield it's gotta be 100% outside air. Not sure if the LEAF has the same requirement.

=Smidge=
 
Considering how often my Leaf TRIES to kick me out of recirc, I started to wonder when I saw this thread. Interesting that the S has totally different instrumentation(?)... Even on the SV/SL the layout changed to allow for the new 'heat' button. Looks like there is now one button to switch between fresh and recirc.. I wonder if the 2013 software tries to knock you out of recirc as much as the 2011/12...
 
thew said:
you know the LEAF has to Radiators right.. one for the inverter/battery pack.. Water is cerced around both to remove heat during charge and use.
But it only cools the motor, inverter, and charger, not the battery pack.
 
thew said:
you know the LEAF has to Radiators right.. one for the inverter/battery pack.. Water is cerced around both to remove heat during charge and use.
Those in AZ and TX probably wish that you are correct, but sadly, not. And folks in MN are probably happy they use something other than water to cool the inverter, charger, and motor. ;)
 
jawshoeaw said:
Never mind that I have to run the damn defroster constantly to keep the windows defrosted - where did Nissan test these cars, the desert?
Never mind that "never mind". That's the key to your problem. Recirculate is disabled when the defrost is activated. See this thread: Climate Control and AUTO Mode Guide
Defrost (front defroster)
  • Directs all air to defrost vents. Turns on A/C (for compressor) to dehumidify. Turns off recirculate to avoid humidity. In some cases fan speed is also increased.
Note that the author of that thread says this applies to "most cars", not just the LEAF.

As has been discussed in other threads, I think you can get around the restriction by using the "foot+defog" mode rather than the defrost button.

Ray
 
planet4ever said:
As has been discussed in other threads, I think you can get around the restriction by using the "foot+defog" mode rather than the defrost button.
At least on my '11, that doesn't work. Still get forced fresh air.

I usually find that most of the time running the HVAC at a reasonable temperature, by pressing AUTO, then recirc, provides enough defogging to keep the windows clear unless it's really humid out, in which case brief blasts of defrost is necessary and I try to time it when there are no diesel trucks or old jalopies in front of me. I really wish foot+defrost worked in recirc - it does in my Prius.
 
even on the Prius you get outside air on recirculate see http://priuschat.com/threads/dust-pollen-button.111249/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; post 9

Even in recirculate the system draws a small amount of fresh air . This is to help keep the windshield from fogging, air to breathe and to keep some air circulating for the HV battery cooling. The Dust/Pollen button closes off the external fresh air door completely but only does this for three minutes. It is to clean any dust or pollen from within the cabin. It is good to use, as others have said, to block foul smells momentarily like diesel fumes, etc.

I'm not sure if any Nissan vehicle offers a Dust/Pollen style button like the newer toyotas have. My 2005 Prius doesn't have that feature but I'd love to have it as I hate exhaust fumes from the occasional truck and I do have allergies so it'd be nice to force extra filtering from time to time when the pollen levels are higher.
 
With my 2011 LEAF set to fan or cooling, and recirculate,
get very little or no outside air. Switch to outside air and
the exhaust stench is (usually) imediately noticeable.

So, on my car, the Recirculate seems to do a good job.
 
Well, I guess I should have been more clear in my original post. :oops:

So of course there is a "recirculate" button on my Leaf but i noticed that when I turned it on to avoid a big blue cloud of smoke I was about to drive through, it didn't really work, that is, I still smelled fumes. In my Prius, and pretty much every car I've ever driven, recirculate meant close to zero outside air, at least according to my nose. In my Prius, the recirc button means I don't smell anything except myself. :lol: But today, in my Leaf, I was smelling some gasser's catalytic converter dumping sulfurous fumes going up a hill. No air conditioning, no heat, just fan and recirc. I'm going to do a test with some incense and report back what I find. then I'm going to find a charcoal filter of some sort and kludge it in next to the cabin filter if possible. Maybe my recirc door is just a little sticky? I can hear it making a noise like a soft click.

Anyhow, when i called and asked to speak to the Leaf certified technician, he told me that the Leaf has a common manifold in front of the windshield (under plastic cover) that directs air both into the cabin and into the battery compartment. Whatever. He then told me specifically that the Leaf does not have a 100% recirculate, that it just reduces outside air. Maybe he's full of it, but that's what my car is doing. I like my wife's prius with the pollen setting, but I always found recirc to be enough. And her car never fogs up - what is up with the leaf and fogging? I suspect this is why nissan decided to engineer in a little fresh air at all times.

FWIW, when I took off the inspection hatch over the high voltage disconnect, I could feel an immediate breeze blowing up into the car, but i'm not sure that is contiguous with the batteries themselves.
 
In the 2011, I believe that:
The Battery Pack is sealed, no air in or out.

Air under the car can blow around the battery pack case,
but there is no (should not be) any connection to the cabin air.

There is no fan to circulate air inside the battery pack, and
there is no external fan to blow air over the pack housing.

My recirculate function seems to work well, as expected, to
keep out outside dust and smells.
 
I think what bugs him is that when the heater controls are in the "off" postion, for what ever reason there appears to be fresh air still coming in the car. I can agree that my 2013 S has a slight push of fresh outside air at speed while the heather control is in the off postion.......funny I thought it was crazy untill I just read this post....
 
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