2001 QX4 recirculating air smells

[eric59]

Hey Guys,
I was wondering if anyone could help me out with my issue. I changed my in cabin air filter with a factory OEM and since then my in cabin air doesn't circulate like it used to. Before if I drove next to a car that was smoking I couldn't smell a thing - but now I can smell everything outside. Also, before if I put the heater on it wouldn't come through the vent's until it was warm - but now it comes out as soon as I turn the heater on no matter what temperature I set it to.
Thanks in advance for your help or suggestions.

[barnaclebob]

How dirty was the old one? Either way I wouldn't expect a new filter to change anything. If you look at the FSM to see how the climate control system works, you'll see that all air passes through the filter whether recirc is on or not and that the door to control this has nothing to do with the filter.

I think in auto it wont move the air through the vents until its warm but if you manually set it to, it will.

[eric59]

How dirty was the old one? Either way I wouldn't expect a new filter to change anything. If you look at the FSM to see how the climate control system works, you'll see that all air passes through the filter whether recirc is on or not and that the door to control this has nothing to do with the filter.

I think in auto it wont move the air through the vents until its warm but if you manually set it to, it will.

Thanks for your response. The filter wasn't dirty at all. I just changed it last year. But before that I never had this problem.

[eric59]

So a quick update. Even if I have it on "Auto" if still blows out cold air if it's set at say 75°. It takes a few minutes but it does get warm.