Hi everyone. I just bought a 2012 Cruze (hatchback 1.8 gasoline/gpl). the car looks like new and I like it very much but I have a question. the car manual is not very clear about that.

What does the air- recirculation button do or maybe I should say how the air recirculation exactly works?

Usually I set the air recirculation always ON and the air fans on the windshield. like this


I noticed that all the bad smells outside the car reach the interior of the car.
When I push the air recirculation button I can hear some "electric motor" sound. Is there any reason the air gets inside the car anyway or may the car be defective?
I'm sorry for my bad english. thank you you all for any advice. have a nice day/evening

 

it does exactly what the name implies. Instead of blowing air from outside, it recycles interior air. But no matter the setting it will always take a small bit of fresh outside air to prevent drivers getting drowsy.

 

hi. thank you for your kind reply. I know my question seems quite dumb. I'm 53 yo and I had several cars in my life (Fiat, Rover, Audi, Renault and now Chevrolet). All my previous cars were shutting down outside air completely or almost completely. all the recirculation switch were manual except for Audi that was electronic like Chevrolet now. Some days ago I was driving with my wife and the car in front of us was blowing a thick black smoke. the feeling inside the car was that there was no recirculation active at all, I mean, not a small bit. That's why I started wondering if it's working or not. my mechanic says that some cars re open the ricirculation when the windshield is selected to use air without moisture. the user manual is not clear about that. I just don't want to waste time and money searching for a "non real" problem. do you think the air intake filter could be too dirty? I hope I have explained myself well. thank you for your help.

 

I have no idea if your filter is dirty. You should check it and see.