HVAC “Huffing and Puffing”

[Outagas]

So here’s an odd one…. (Actually a better title would be “HVAC Wheeze)

My 2021 SE occasionally makes a long slow huffing noise through the vents - it sounds for all the world like a medical ventilator - emitting a rhythmic “wooooosh” that lasts a few seconds then dies off only to do it again a few seconds later.

This can last just a minute or two or an entire drive of an hour or more. Frankly it’s creepy and annoying considering the rest of the car is so quiet. Feels like I’m in an ICU listening to a patient on life support...

It seems unrelated to the AC indication being on or not (although I understand AC may be on without the green light in some cases). What will kill it for sure is turning the entire system off.

Dealer can find nothing amiss but because the issue is the dreaded “intermittent problem not observed at time of visit” that’s no help.

Anyone else experience this?

 

[Zim]

So here’s an odd one…. (Actually a better title would be “HVAC Wheeze)

My 2021 SE occasionally makes a long slow huffing noise through the vents - it sounds for all the world like a medical ventilator - emitting a rhythmic “wooooosh” that lasts a few seconds then dies off only to do it again a few seconds later.

This can last just a minute or two or an entire drive of an hour or more. Frankly it’s creepy and annoying considering the rest of the car is so quiet. Feels like I’m in an ICU listening to a patient on life support...

It seems unrelated to the AC indication being on or not (although I understand AC may be on without the green light in some cases). What will kill it for sure is turning the entire system off.

Dealer can find nothing amiss but because the issue is the dreaded “intermittent problem not observed at time of visit” that’s no help.

Anyone else experience this?

I haven't noticed any abrupt noises with ours, aside from the noisy pedestrian warning. The only other apparent noise is from the heat pump compressor, and that will vary significantly in RPM for both heat (AC off) and air conditioning when needed. I wouldn't call the compressor a huffing noise though.

Our home mini split heat pump does make frequent huffing or whooshing sounds in between cycles or when shut off.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

 

[Outagas]

Thanks for the reply - forgot about the heat pump aspect.

Perhaps this is a “normal” sound, much as my nitpicking OCD doesn’t like the sound much.

Guess I can always just crank the tunes and drive on…

 

[SameGuy]

On “Auto” it will definitely vary the fan and compressor speeds depending on conditions and if it decides it needs to kick up a notch as it senses conditions changing. I don’t know if we can hear the coil defrost cycle though.