lexusfan05

I recently noticed that my wife's 05 rx330 does not completely stop external bad smell when on recirc. The dealer advisor says that it's normal, which does not sound right to me. I can even hear a whistling sound on a quiet road coming through the duct when recirc is on (even with fan off) and it goes away when I turn off recirc.

I am thinking it is a bad recirc "door" in the vent system that is not closing all the way. It is hard to show to the dealer and I am not willing to spend $100 in "diagnostic fee" to know that it is not covered by CPO warranty. Does anyone have experience accessing this mechanism? I know this is controlled by a stepper motor which has known issues but I don't hear any ticking noise that is associated with a bad motor.

lexus114

That is definitely not right. When I have mine on recirc. I don't smell anything from the outside. From Skunk`s to a Mushroom factory.

lexusfan05

Yeah, the advisor gave me this explanation that 20% air comes from outside even if recirc is on - sounds bogus to me. Plus I never noticed it in any of my other cars. Problem is, it's hard to reproduce without driving on a quiet freeway, or in a wind tunnel. Looks like I have start taking it apart.