Flashing Air Recirculation ?

paN1k · 01-10-2011, 11:16 AM

Hey guys, I have noticed for the 2nd time my Air Recirculation light flashing. It does it for about 5 seconds sometimes. Does anyone know what this means? I was running the heater earlier and wasn't trying to recirculate the hot air.

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09rexwagon · 01-10-2011, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paN1k

Hey guys, I have noticed for the 2nd time my Air Recirculation light flashing. It does it for about 5 seconds sometimes. Does anyone know what this means? I was running the heater earlier and wasn't trying to recirculate the hot air.

I've seen that a few times. Couldn't find any documentation on it though. The outdoor temperature flashes at 37 degF as a warning and the OM outlines that, but nothing for the recirc light blinking.

paN1k · 01-10-2011, 11:32 AM

The only thing I can think of is that it's warning you that the air is hot? I will bring it up when I get my oil changed next time. Yeah I've seen the flashing 37 degrees but no documentation on the flashing light on the air recirc. Thanks for the response.

09rexwagon · 01-10-2011, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paN1k

The only thing I can think of is that it's warning you that the air is hot? I will bring it up when I get my oil changed next time. Yeah I've seen the flashing 37 degrees but no documentation on the flashing light on the air recirc. Thanks for the response.

Please update this thread if they say anything, thanks.

echardcore · 01-24-2011, 09:09 AM

This happened to me today in my 2011. First there was a short squeal sound from the engine. Then the recirculate light flashed about 3 or 4 times. This was on the first start and it is extremely cold today.

JordanM9 · 02-23-2011, 08:41 AM

Mine did the same thing last night and it is not cold here in Florida, it was 63 when I started it and it did not do it this morning. Anyone find out yet?

wrx2011dreamer · 03-16-2011, 07:57 PM

My 2011 just did it this afternoon. I drove for about 30mins...parked for about 5 mins...started car with all electronics off and in neutral.....recirculation light flashed about 5 times and than stopped. Car started up and drove fine....does anyone know what this means? It was 55 degrees outside and mostly Sunday. Can't think of any reason this would happen on my 2011 wrx with 7200 miles on it.

wrx2011dreamer · 03-18-2011, 04:18 PM

Bump!

wrx2011dreamer · 05-24-2011, 04:35 PM

Happened again today. About 80 degrees, drove the car for about an hour, stopped and turned of car/all electronic components. 15 mins later, started car and the recirculation light flashed about 4 times. Anyone know why it did this?

Uncle Scotty · 05-24-2011, 06:37 PM

is this in the owners manual???

09rexwagon · 05-24-2011, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Scotty

is this in the owners manual???

Nope. The only 'flashing' reference in the OM/FSM is to the temperature gauge which flashes when it hits 37 degF to warn of potentially slippery bridges.

hardball75006 · 05-24-2011, 07:52 PM

I don't know if this would apply to the WRX but I found this on a Forester forum:

Hey everyone, I had an issue last week where when starting my '09 Subaru Forester the recirculation light blinked several times after starting up the vehicle. I did a web search but couldn't find any explanation for it so I emailed Subaru and got a reply from them a day or two later. I figured since I didn't find an answer when searching for it, I'd share the info here so if someone else does a search for the info they'll hopefully find it.

In their reply, Subaru explained that the recirculate light blinks if it detected a problem during the system self check. They went on to say that since it only occurred the one time that it's not an ongoing issue and that nothing needs to be done at this time. However, if it occurs again in the future (even just momentarily), then I would need to bring the car in.

Anyways, if anyone needs this info I hope they find it.

Uncle Scotty · 05-24-2011, 09:55 PM

filter may need to be cleaned

jonklein611 · 05-25-2011, 08:12 AM

FSM:

Short circuit: FRESH/ RECIRC switch LED blinks (Illuminates for 0.2 sec. ***8660; turns off for 0.2 sec.)

Open circuit: FRESH/ RECIRC switch LED blinks (Illuminates for 1 sec. ***8660; turns off for 1 sec.)

wrx2011dreamer · 05-25-2011, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hardball75006

In their reply, Subaru explained that the recirculate light blinks if it detected a problem during the system self check. They went on to say that since it only occurred the one time that it's not an ongoing issue and that nothing needs to be done at this time.

Thanks for the good info! Crazy that this is not stated in the manual. It's happened maybe 3 or 4 times in the past 6 months. I wonder if it's worth the trip to the dealer. I thought that was the purpose of the CEL.

09rexwagon · 05-25-2011, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonklein611

FSM:

Short circuit: FRESH/ RECIRC switch LED blinks (Illuminates for 0.2 sec. ***8660; turns off for 0.2 sec.)

Open circuit: FRESH/ RECIRC switch LED blinks (Illuminates for 1 sec. ***8660; turns off for 1 sec.)

You sir are a better searcher of the FSM than me

. I searched for 'flash' and 'flahing' but not 'blinks'

.

It happened to my 09 once in the 15k I owned it.

wrx2011dreamer · 05-25-2011, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonklein611

FSM:

Short circuit: FRESH/ RECIRC switch LED blinks (Illuminates for 0.2 sec. ⇔ turns off for 0.2 sec.)

Open circuit: FRESH/ RECIRC switch LED blinks (Illuminates for 1 sec. ⇔ turns off for 1 sec.)

What does this actually mean regarding my situation?

jonklein611 · 05-25-2011, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 09rexwagon

You sir are a better searcher of the FSM than me

. I searched for 'flash' and 'flahing' but not 'blinks'

.

It happened to my 09 once in the 15k I owned it.

The diagnostics section is a tough one, but the new manual is actually easy to dive through.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrx2011dreamer

What does this actually mean regarding my situation?

It's the error code that it's throwing. So if the blink is faster, it's the one, and so on. You may want to bug your friendly dealership to have them check it out with their diagnostics software.

02fastWRBLUE · 10-06-2011, 01:19 PM

just installed 4 sets of lights on my 2008 STi last night(previously had 3 installed with no issues). Lights are all PIAA(2 sets of 510s, 1 set of 520s and 1 set of CC HIDs). Instructions say to wire them into a 15A light source, so I spliced from 4 fuse wires into 2 and plugged them in with my 15A lighting fuse in the fusebox.

Didn't start the car last night because all 4 switches lit up green ready to go.

Went to start the car this AM and at first try it hesitated to start. After 5 seconds of cranking I stopped. Went to go start it again and it fired right up, but the Air Recirc light flashed. It flashed about 5-10 times. I didn't count how long it was illuminated each time, but it was likely .2s signalling a short.

figured this might be useful for someone searching the future. yay, time to troubleshoot!

echardcore · 10-06-2011, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 02fastWRBLUE

just installed 4 sets of lights on my 2008 STi last night(previously had 3 installed with no issues). Lights are all PIAA(2 sets of 510s, 1 set of 520s and 1 set of CC HIDs). Instructions say to wire them into a 15A light source, so I spliced from 4 fuse wires into 2 and plugged them in with my 15A lighting fuse in the fusebox.

Didn't start the car last night because all 4 switches lit up green ready to go.

Went to start the car this AM and at first try it hesitated to start. After 5 seconds of cranking I stopped. Went to go start it again and it fired right up, but the Air Recirc light flashed. It flashed about 5-10 times. I didn't count how long it was illuminated each time, but it was likely .2s signalling a short.

figured this might be useful for someone searching the future. yay, time to troubleshoot!

I feel that when this happens, the car is not starting right up for whatever reason. It has happened in hot and cold weather which is odd.

L.P. · 02-13-2012, 09:59 PM

did anybody ever figure out what really caused this? I have had this happen to me on a couple of occasions does not seem to effect the car in any way really though.

WhiskeySandwich · 04-11-2014, 04:35 PM

Bump. What's the word?

Reezo · 03-23-2015, 09:21 PM

bump again This happens to me once in a while as well, i'd probably say about once a month maybe once every couple months ? Still no one as true answer to the cause ?

Sp2Pilot · 11-18-2015, 09:17 AM

Did you guys that had this problem happen to have the recirc button enabled, along with having where the air comes out from (head, head/feet, feet etc etc) set to auto?

Or possibly even the fan set to auto with the recirc button enabled? <--- I don't think that's the cause.

This happened to me once the other day. I noticed that the dial that controls where the air is distributed was set to auto.
Before I shut the car down, I set all the dials to "off" with recirc still enabled, started the car and I have not seen this happen since then.

darkstarmoto · 12-14-2016, 10:07 AM

Thread necro. Had the flashing Ricirc button a few days ago and have been researching the issue. To expand on jonklein611 post...a bit more detail of what the flashes mean, only problem is you need to be plugged into the Subaru Select monitor to enter the diagnostics mode on the HVAC system. They can narrow down which sensor is acting up.

01-10-2011, 11:16 AM	#1
paN1k Scooby Newbie Member#: 218607 Join Date: Jul 2009 Chapter/Region: SCIC Location: EsconDooDoo Vehicle: 2013 WRX Ice Silver	Flashing Air Recirculation ? Hey guys, I have noticed for the 2nd time my Air Recirculation light flashing. It does it for about 5 seconds sometimes. Does anyone know what this means? I was running the heater earlier and wasn't trying to recirculate the hot air. * Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

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01-10-2011, 11:32 AM	#3
paN1k Scooby Newbie Member#: 218607 Join Date: Jul 2009 Chapter/Region: SCIC Location: EsconDooDoo Vehicle: 2013 WRX Ice Silver	The only thing I can think of is that it's warning you that the air is hot? I will bring it up when I get my oil changed next time. Yeah I've seen the flashing 37 degrees but no documentation on the flashing light on the air recirc. Thanks for the response.

01-24-2011, 09:09 AM	#5
echardcore Scooby Newbie Member#: 260638 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NJ Vehicle: 2011 WRX Sedan Spark Silver Metallic	This happened to me today in my 2011. First there was a short squeal sound from the engine. Then the recirculate light flashed about 3 or 4 times. This was on the first start and it is extremely cold today.

02-23-2011, 08:41 AM	#6
JordanM9 Scooby Newbie Member#: 273214 Join Date: Feb 2011 Chapter/Region: MWSOC Location: Columbus,OH Vehicle: 2013 WRX Limited CBP	Mine did the same thing last night and it is not cold here in Florida, it was 63 when I started it and it did not do it this morning. Anyone find out yet?

03-16-2011, 07:57 PM	#7
wrx2011dreamer Scooby Newbie Member#: 263614 Join Date: Nov 2010 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: Eldersburg, MD Vehicle: 2011 WRX 5-Door Satin White Pearl	My 2011 just did it this afternoon. I drove for about 30mins...parked for about 5 mins...started car with all electronics off and in neutral.....recirculation light flashed about 5 times and than stopped. Car started up and drove fine....does anyone know what this means? It was 55 degrees outside and mostly Sunday. Can't think of any reason this would happen on my 2011 wrx with 7200 miles on it.

03-18-2011, 04:18 PM	#8
wrx2011dreamer Scooby Newbie Member#: 263614 Join Date: Nov 2010 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: Eldersburg, MD Vehicle: 2011 WRX 5-Door Satin White Pearl	Bump!

05-24-2011, 04:35 PM	#9
wrx2011dreamer Scooby Newbie Member#: 263614 Join Date: Nov 2010 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: Eldersburg, MD Vehicle: 2011 WRX 5-Door Satin White Pearl	Happened again today. About 80 degrees, drove the car for about an hour, stopped and turned of car/all electronic components. 15 mins later, started car and the recirculation light flashed about 4 times. Anyone know why it did this?

05-24-2011, 06:37 PM	#10
Uncle Scotty * Banned * Member#: 16200 Join Date: Mar 2002 Vehicle: OK buy Nates beans westcoastroasting.com	is this in the owners manual???

05-24-2011, 07:52 PM	#12
hardball75006 Scooby Newbie Member#: 214319 Join Date: Jun 2009 Chapter/Region: TXIC Location: Carrollton, TX Vehicle: 2009 Legacy 2.5 NA Diamond Grey Metallic	I don't know if this would apply to the WRX but I found this on a Forester forum: Hey everyone, I had an issue last week where when starting my '09 Subaru Forester the recirculation light blinked several times after starting up the vehicle. I did a web search but couldn't find any explanation for it so I emailed Subaru and got a reply from them a day or two later. I figured since I didn't find an answer when searching for it, I'd share the info here so if someone else does a search for the info they'll hopefully find it. In their reply, Subaru explained that the recirculate light blinks if it detected a problem during the system self check. They went on to say that since it only occurred the one time that it's not an ongoing issue and that nothing needs to be done at this time. However, if it occurs again in the future (even just momentarily), then I would need to bring the car in. Anyways, if anyone needs this info I hope they find it.

05-24-2011, 09:55 PM	#13
Uncle Scotty * Banned * Member#: 16200 Join Date: Mar 2002 Vehicle: OK buy Nates beans westcoastroasting.com	filter may need to be cleaned

05-25-2011, 08:12 AM	#14
jonklein611 Scooby Specialist Member#: 117776 Join Date: Jun 2006 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: Moon Twp, PA Vehicle: 2011 WRX Limited 5dr WR Blue Pearl	FSM: Short circuit: FRESH/ RECIRC switch LED blinks (Illuminates for 0.2 sec. *8660; turns off for 0.2 sec.) Open circuit: FRESH/ RECIRC switch LED blinks (Illuminates for 1 sec. *8660; turns off for 1 sec.)

10-06-2011, 01:19 PM	#19
02fastWRBLUE Scooby Specialist Member#: 52590 Join Date: Jan 2004 Chapter/Region: Tri-State Location: PA	just installed 4 sets of lights on my 2008 STi last night(previously had 3 installed with no issues). Lights are all PIAA(2 sets of 510s, 1 set of 520s and 1 set of CC HIDs). Instructions say to wire them into a 15A light source, so I spliced from 4 fuse wires into 2 and plugged them in with my 15A lighting fuse in the fusebox. Didn't start the car last night because all 4 switches lit up green ready to go. Went to start the car this AM and at first try it hesitated to start. After 5 seconds of cranking I stopped. Went to go start it again and it fired right up, but the Air Recirc light flashed. It flashed about 5-10 times. I didn't count how long it was illuminated each time, but it was likely .2s signalling a short. figured this might be useful for someone searching the future. yay, time to troubleshoot!

02-13-2012, 09:59 PM	#21
L.P. Scooby Newbie Member#: 236129 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Virginia Vehicle: 2009 WRX Satin White	did anybody ever figure out what really caused this? I have had this happen to me on a couple of occasions does not seem to effect the car in any way really though.

04-11-2014, 04:35 PM	#22
WhiskeySandwich Scooby Newbie Member#: 364126 Join Date: Aug 2013 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: Maryland Vehicle: 2007 WRX Wagon CGM	Bump. What's the word?

03-23-2015, 09:21 PM	#23
Reezo Scooby Newbie Member#: 404929 Join Date: Oct 2014 Chapter/Region: VIC Location: Burnaby Vehicle: 2010 Subaru STI H/B White	bump again This happens to me once in a while as well, i'd probably say about once a month maybe once every couple months ? Still no one as true answer to the cause ?

11-18-2015, 09:17 AM	#24
Sp2Pilot Scooby Newbie Member#: 267212 Join Date: Dec 2010 Chapter/Region: RMIC Location: SL,UT Vehicle: 2015 FXT	Did you guys that had this problem happen to have the recirc button enabled, along with having where the air comes out from (head, head/feet, feet etc etc) set to auto? Or possibly even the fan set to auto with the recirc button enabled? <--- I don't think that's the cause. This happened to me once the other day. I noticed that the dial that controls where the air is distributed was set to auto. Before I shut the car down, I set all the dials to "off" with recirc still enabled, started the car and I have not seen this happen since then.

12-14-2016, 10:07 AM	#25
darkstarmoto Scooby Specialist Member#: 44681 Join Date: Oct 2003 Chapter/Region: Tri-State Location: SouthEastern, PA Vehicle: 2011 WRX SWP Hatch www.48hrs.info	Thread necro. Had the flashing Ricirc button a few days ago and have been researching the issue. To expand on jonklein611 post...a bit more detail of what the flashes mean, only problem is you need to be plugged into the Subaru Select monitor to enter the diagnostics mode on the HVAC system. They can narrow down which sensor is acting up.