Air Recirculation In the Car Keeps Turning Off Automatically(I Got This Solution!)
The air recirculation button is installed in most cars these days. This button is used to control the flow of fresh air into your car from outside. When you turn on this air recirculation button, it will not use the fresh air from coming in and instead allow existing air inside the car cabin for recirculation.
So, why does air recirculation in the car keep turning off automatically? Air recirculation in the car turns off automatically to keep cabin air fresh, prevent stale air, and maintain comfort. It turns off when humidity levels could fog windows, except in MAX A/C mode. Some cars cycle recirculation on and off during hot weather to improve cooling. Also, defrost systems will cancel recirculation mode.
Read More: Car AC smells like vinegar
What You Will Learn:
Car Ac Recirculation Vs Fresh Air
The difference between the car ac recirculation and fresh air mode is that recirculation mode uses the existing air inside the vehicle’s cabin which helps help quickly cool down your car as compared to the fresh air pulled through vents on the dashboard.
Note: If your car’s A/C is not working properly, you can read my guide on AC clutch engages intermittently.
Using the recirculation mode to quickly cool down the car will require less work from the A/C compressor as the air inside the vehicle is already cooled down. Due to this reason, the A/C compressor does not need more power to reduce the temperature inside the car’s cabin.
If warm fresh air has to be replenished inside the vehicle, the compressor of your car’s A/C will have to do more work, and eventually will consume more fuel.
Recirculation mode in the car is turned on in the following conditions:
When Using Car A/C
Your car’s A/C works because of the compressor. The compressor uses the power produced by the engine for its operation. If the recirculation mode is off, the warm air from the outside is entered into the cabin of your vehicle.
To reduce the temperature of the outside warm air, the compressor has to do more work, due to which your vehicle consumes more gas (fuel) to provide more power to the compressor.
So, instead of reducing the temperature of hot outside air, the air recirculation mode keeps on circulating the existing cold air inside the cabin and helps maintain the cabin’s temperature. In this way, less work will be done by the compressor to cool down the cabin, which will also improve fuel efficiency.
Note: If your car is sitting in the hot sun for a while, the air inside your car’s cabin will be much warmer than the outside air. If you turn on the recirculation mode in such a case, the air conditioning system will be felt much hotter. That’s why when you first turn on the car A/C, keep the air recirculation mode off to help vent the hot air from the vehicle cabin.
When You’re Driving a Car in a Polluted Area
We are all aware of the dangers of breathing in polluted air. Air pollutants can enter through the mouth, nose, or lungs.
They include dust, soot, smoke, exhaust fumes, and chemicals. If there’s a lot of dust or pollen outside and you get stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, you will want to turn on the recirculation button so that the air from the outside could not enter the car’s cabin.
This is what a user says about recirculation mode:
“Recirculation mode is widely used in countries with terrible outdoor air to essentially recirculate and filter interior air to provide improved air quality for drivers. I tested a dramatic example of this: I ran my recirc function when driving past an oil refinery and the rotten egg smell remained very faint. When I switched to “fresh” air, the cabin filled with the rotten egg smell in less than 10 seconds.”
Causes of Recirculation Mode turning off Automatically
The automatic setting of the recirculation button turns it off after a few minutes so that the fresh air with a high level of oxygen can be brought into the car.
Moreover, recirculation mode also turns off automatically to prevent windows and the windshield of a vehicle when it is cold outside.
Another cause of automatically turning off of recirculation mode is to ensure the ventilation in the car by replacing the stale air inside the cabin with fresh air having high oxygen levels.
Air Recirculation Button Keeps Turning Off Hyundai
The air recirculation button keeps turning off in your Hyundai vehicle after every 5 minutes when the outside temperature falls below 59°F. This is done so that the windows of the car are not fogged up.
You can disable the automatic turning off of air recirculation button in Hyundai by following these steps:
- Turn the ignition switch to the ON
position. - Turn to the defrost button.
- Press the air intake control button (recirculating button) at least 5 times within 3 seconds.
- The indicator on the air intake button blinks 3 times at 0.5 seconds intervals. It indicates that the automatic turning off of air recirculation is disabled.
Note: If the vehicle is turned off, the vehicle will again default to the factory settings.
If your Hyundai car is not equipped with the defroster logic, you can do the following to cancel the automatic turning off of air-recirculation mode.
- Turn the ignition switch to the ON position.
- Select Face Level mode.
- While holding the air conditioning (A/C) button pressed, press the air intake control button (recirculated air position) at least 5 times, and release all within 3 seconds. If the battery has been discharged or disconnected, it will reset to the automatic ventilation status.
Apart from the above steps, also make sure that if your Hyundai vehicle has a sunroof, it should be fully closed. If the sunroof glass is a little bit in the open position, the air recirculation mode will be automatically off and the climate control automatically reverts to outside air after a few moments.Â
You should first fully open the sunroof glass and then completely close it. Hopefully, it will resolve the issue of automatically turning off of recirculation mode.
Air Recirculation Button Keeps Turning Off Mercedes
In Mercedes, the air recirculation mode turns off automatically after 30 minutes to bring in the fresh outside air and avoid interior window fogging. In Mercedes, air recirculation turns off automatically after approximately five minutes at outside temperatures below approximately 5°C. In Mercedes, air recirculation also turns off after approximately five minutes if the cooling with air dehumidification function is deactivated.
Air Recirculation Button Keeps Turning Off In Kia Seltos
In Kia Seltos, the air recirculation button keeps turning off to limit humidity and reduce the risk of drowsiness due to stale air. Continued use of the climate control system in the recirculated air position can cause drowsiness or sleepiness, and loss of vehicle control.
To cancel the automatic climate control system in Kia:
- Turn the ENGINE START/STOP button to the ON position.
- Press the defroster button
- While pressing the air conditioning (A/C) button, press the air intake control button at least 5 times within 3 seconds. The recirculation indicator blinks 3 times in 0.5 second of intervals. It indicates that the defogging logic is canceled or returned to the programmed status. If the battery has been discharged or disconnected, it resets to the defog logic status.