AC recirculate doesn't stay on; oil smell

[HillCountry]

Now that I am picking up kids from school again, I am noticing the AC is not acting right. I’ll be making a service appointment for next week... I’m seeking comments and commiseration in the meantime.

I have to press the recirculate button twice, not once, to activate it. The recirculate mode cancels on its own after 3 or 4 minutes. Then the cooling is diminished (this part I understand), and the air begins to smell like oil. I press recirculate button twice to start the cycle again.

The above happens whether the car is idling or in motion, though the effect is naturally more pronounced when idling.

I peeked at the radiator and stuff behind the grille and could not locate anything that looked like an issue to my layman's eyes.

Details that may provide background and/or be pertinent: The car performed very well for our June road trip... I had zero complaints about the AC then. I had an oil change recently (maybe 150 miles ago). I tend to drive short distances, and really haven’t spent more than 15 minutes at a time inside the car. This week though, I've driven a couple longer trips as well idling at school pickup. Daily high temperatures are 95+ here in Texas.

Has anyone had a similar experience? Does anyone have thoughts/comments on this? Thanks!

 

[Tellthemride]

Check to see if your sunroof is completely closed.

Vent issue

Anyone else having an issue with the recirculation/external vent disabling after about 5 mins? In mild weather I like to use sunroof and windows but I have noticed that my climate keeps switching to vent from recirculate. Is this just a design flaw I will need to get used to?

tellurideforum.org

Air re-circulation button turns off very frequently.

Hi, I'm new to the forum and KIA Telluride is my first SUV.Recently I tried playing around with some climate control settings. After that even when I'm in manual mode (Auto off, AC on, air flow facing front passenger) and then try to turn on the air re-circulation button on (to avoid the smog...

tellurideforum.org

 

[ZonaRide]

Check to see if your sunroof is completely closed.

Vent issue

Anyone else having an issue with the recirculation/external vent disabling after about 5 mins? In mild weather I like to use sunroof and windows but I have noticed that my climate keeps switching to vent from recirculate. Is this just a design flaw I will need to get used to?

tellurideforum.org

Air re-circulation button turns off very frequently.

Hi, I'm new to the forum and KIA Telluride is my first SUV.Recently I tried playing around with some climate control settings. After that even when I'm in manual mode (Auto off, AC on, air flow facing front passenger) and then try to turn on the air re-circulation button on (to avoid the smog...

tellurideforum.org

Are you sure this just is not the ISG System? If your coming to a stop and dropping the kids off, maybe its just cycling off until you start to travel again. Same as stopping at an extended traffic light. If the ISG is active and all of the parameters are met - it may let the engine cycle down. That would explain the A/C dropping for a short time. Another reason to always disengage the Idle, Stop & Go.

Anyone else think this is a possibility?

 

[HillCountry]

Check to see if your sunroof is completely closed.

Thx for the tip and the links! I missed those threads when I searched.

The moonroof was closed, I think. (When I tried to close it further, it didn’t shift.) So I opened it all the way, then closed it fully. Now the AC is working again as I expect. Thx again!

______________________________

 

[HillCountry]

Are you sure this just is not the ISG System? If your coming to a stop and dropping the kids off, maybe its just cycling off until you start to travel again. Same as stopping at an extended traffic light. If the ISG is active and all of the parameters are met - it may let the engine cycle down. That would explain the A/C dropping for a short time. Another reason to always disengage the Idle, Stop & Go.

Anyone else think this is a possibility?

Thx, I don’t think the ISG is a factor because the recirculation would cancel even when the car was in motion. Though it would be easy for me to test next time by turning off ISG.

I was able to reset the system by opening and closing the moonroof fully. Now I have glorious AC again (desperately needed here in TX)!

 

[G-229543]

Thanks for that thread! Saved me a trip to the dealership! Who would have figured it could have been that! Safe travels!!