Possible diy “fix” for whistling noise coming from AC recirculation

[DuoRivians]

I think I found a possible “fix” for the whistling noise that comes from the AC when recirculation is on. I quote “fix” because it gets rid of the whistling at the possible sake of not creating a perfect seal (when recirc is on).

What to buy:
- Foam strip from Home Depot. I like this one because the foam is super soft and conforms to varying pressure on it:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/M-D-Bui...e-Weatherseal-for-Uneven-Gaps-03110/313961254

Steps:
1. Set AC on like this. Level 1, recirculation OFF.

2. Enable camp mode, so the AC stays on, while you’re outside of the car.

3. Open the hood and take off the plastic panel to reveal the air filter.

4. Lift up air intake plastic cover and take out the air filter. Then, place the air filter holder frame back in its place. Should look like this:

5. Careful here. Cut out strips of the foam, and stick them into the three sides as shown in red here. There will be a plastic ridge. The picture shows the results after I’ve placed the foam. Try to be clean and not have any sticky backside of the foam exposed

The AC fan is adjacent. Be careful of your fingers!

6. Go back into the car, and turn recirculation ON. You should notice the plastic piece rotate to close the vent from the outside. This is just an FYI.

7. Put air filter back, vent plastic in its place, and cover back.

This got rid of the whistling noise for me! So relieved!

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[teacherdoc]

Thanks for posting. Did the Service Center offer to do a fix like this for you as well?

 

[DuoRivians]

Thanks for posting. Did the Service Center offer to do a fix like this for you as well?

I didn’t bother with the service center. This fix worked and it looked like the entire front dash would need to be removed to get to this part. More worried about entire disassembly and reassembly, and something further going wrong.

For this project, I’ve actually revisited. Only the vertically placed foam stripe is necessary. That got rid of the noise entirely too. I wanted to do the minimal adjustment and still achieve my goal here.

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[teacherdoc]

Thanks! Can you post a picture of that? Or use the old one and highlight what you did ?
any theoretical risk of the strip breaking off and getting into your hvac system?
appreciate your help!

 

[DuoRivians]

Thanks! Can you post a picture of that? Or use the old one and highlight what you did ?
any theoretical risk of the strip breaking off and getting into your hvac system?
appreciate your help!

In my picture above with the red highlights, just apply the foam strip on the vertical red line. Ignore the two horizontal ones.

You’ll feel a ridge inside. Use that as your guide.

I don’t think there’s a risk of something getting into the hvac system after properly putting the foam on.

But, during the foam attachment, be careful to avoid small pieces of the foam getting loose. Eg.Apply a clean cut using scissors with one go.

 

[Aag12]

Fwiw I just completed my mobile service for the whistling and it sounded like they did something similar to fix it. Tech says hvac fan sucks air through the system somewhere and creates a whistling.

The tech also removed the cover on top of the air filter.

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