A/C problems anyone?

[callawassie]

My 2010 FFH has under 2,000 miles on it. Coming back home from first road trip yesterday when the A/C quit working. I live in the South, so it was hot, maybe 94 degrees, and I had been on the interstate for over 3 hours. The wife and I noticed that the cabin was getting warmer, and I kept trying to increase the airflow, the temp, but nothing worked. Almost no air coming out of the vents at all, and certainly not cold air. We were forced to open the windows. I shut the A/C off, and drove for about 15-20 minutes, then when I turned it back on, it seemed to work OK for the rest of the trip. Of course we then drove into an afternoon thunderstorm, so the temp dropped from 94 to 74! Back in the "old days", we would just say that the A/C froze up - does that still happen now? Thing I'll ask the dealer to check it over, but wanted to check with forum readers as well. Thanks for any input or suggestions.

[lrymal]

Thing I'll ask the dealer to check it over, but wanted to check with forum readers as well. Thanks for any input or suggestions.

I thnk this could be a normal occurrence but really should be checked. I have a couple of new window units that are doing that, and was surprised, thinking there would be some sensors...

 

Could be with the high humidity, the conditions were just right for ice forming. We have been hitting 85% humidity at nearly 100 degrees and have had my AC set at 68 degrees. Air flow has been about "medium". I used to keep the temperature at 60 with low air flow, but I thought about ice forming and decided against that combination.

 

Also, I have not been using ''recirculate''. The cabin seems cold with this combo.

 

If the problem just doesn't do it often, I would just add that to a list of any warranty issues and have it serviced at the same time as the first oil change.

[Oman]

The FFH has a variable speed electric compressor, so the old logic of setting the temp lower than wanted with a low fan speed is not applicable. You risk coil freeze up and waste power that could be used by the power train. In any case if the air stops flowing then you want the car checked out. Either the coil froze, the fan crapped out, or the controller went out. In any of those cases you need to have it fixed. I get by far the best mileage from a reasonable cabin temp, auto, and recirculate (after the cabin initially cools off). In this mode I get better mileage than having the windows cracked 1 inch.

 

Jon

 

 

 

 

 

I thnk this could be a normal occurrence but really should be checked. I have a couple of new window units that are doing that, and was surprised, thinking there would be some sensors...

 

Could be with the high humidity, the conditions were just right for ice forming. We have been hitting 85% humidity at nearly 100 degrees and have had my AC set at 68 degrees. Air flow has been about "medium". I used to keep the temperature at 60 with low air flow, but I thought about ice forming and decided against that combination.

 

Also, I have not been using ''recirculate''. The cabin seems cold with this combo.

 

If the problem just doesn't do it often, I would just add that to a list of any warranty issues and have it serviced at the same time as the first oil change.

[pcsgrp35se]

I had the exact same thing happen, I set the ac temp low with low fan speed on a very humid morning and after about 3 hours, nothing out of the a/c ducts. Used sync to find a ford dealer and by the time I got ther, the coil started to melt. After about 20 minutes, there was a huge pool of water under the car and the a/c was working fine. I now just set the temp control and leave the fan on automatic rather then manually adjusting the speed and I haven't had another problem. I don't have a FFH but a sport

[goody1926]

I am closely monitoring my AC. It is working but it does seem to struggle with keeping a nice even temp. I seem to notice a shift of 2 or 3 degrees once it thinks it has reached the setpoint. Now I am only comparing this to my truck which keeps it very even. However they say in my truck there is a little fan right above me in the headliner that draws in air to gauge where to go with the temp. Perhaps the FFH has its sensor more waist or leg level.

[Oman]

I noticed something interesting last week...

 

We finally got some more warm (hard to call 80 hot in August) weather and while I was driving home with the A/C on I noticed something interesting happen. I was driving on the highway so I had the A/C on, which seems to get me better mileage than having the windows cracked, and it started getting warm in the cabin. Just as I was about to kick down the temp a degree or two the sun came out from behind a fairly heavy cloud and the A/C fan kicked up a notch. I didn't think about it until the sun went back behind a cloud and - unintuitively - the cabin started to get warm again. This repeated 4 or 5 times as I went home and it kept happening. My best guess without looking at the service manual for the climate control is that there is an IR temperature sensor in the cabin or possibly a dash sun sensor that attempts to compensate for the effect that direct sunlight has on the occupants. It is well known that the temperature we "feel" is not really just the air temperature. I think however that they may have programmed some amount of an overreaction into the system.

 

My truck had two slots in the dash that contained IR temperature sensors. If you held a cold or hot beverage just at the wrong spot it would confuse the heck out of the climate control system.

 

Jon

 

 

I am closely monitoring my AC. It is working but it does seem to struggle with keeping a nice even temp. I seem to notice a shift of 2 or 3 degrees once it thinks it has reached the setpoint. Now I am only comparing this to my truck which keeps it very even. However they say in my truck there is a little fan right above me in the headliner that draws in air to gauge where to go with the temp. Perhaps the FFH has its sensor more waist or leg level.

[rpreuss]

I noticed something interesting last week...

 

We finally got some more warm (hard to call 80 hot in August) weather and while I was driving home with the A/C on I noticed something interesting happen. I was driving on the highway so I had the A/C on, which seems to get me better mileage than having the windows cracked, and it started getting warm in the cabin. Just as I was about to kick down the temp a degree or two the sun came out from behind a fairly heavy cloud and the A/C fan kicked up a notch. I didn't think about it until the sun went back behind a cloud and - unintuitively - the cabin started to get warm again. This repeated 4 or 5 times as I went home and it kept happening. My best guess without looking at the service manual for the climate control is that there is an IR temperature sensor in the cabin or possibly a dash sun sensor that attempts to compensate for the effect that direct sunlight has on the occupants. It is well known that the temperature we "feel" is not really just the air temperature. I think however that they may have programmed some amount of an overreaction into the system.

 

My truck had two slots in the dash that contained IR temperature sensors. If you held a cold or hot beverage just at the wrong spot it would confuse the heck out of the climate control system.

 

Jon

 

Jon, this is really weird. I've had the FFH for a month. Just today, we were on a vacation trip and put on 300 miles. Day was mostly sunny. I noticed that when I was going down a shady country road, or a large cloud blocked the sun, the car got warm (well it was not cooling as much), and as soon as we got into bright sun, it cooled down right away. My conclusion was exactly the same as yours. It seemed the system was actually trying to compensate before it actually got warmer from the bright sun. Because of the long trip, today was the first I noticed this. There must be some kind of sensor in the system besides a cabin temperature thermostat.

 

Anyone else notice this

[Oman]

The nice thing about the new cars these days is that software runs all of this stuff. Assuming that the climate control system has up-datable firmware then if enough people report this as an issue then Ford can add it to their bug fix list.

 

Jon

 

 

Jon, this is really weird. I've had the FFH for a month. Just today, we were on a vacation trip and put on 300 miles. Day was mostly sunny. I noticed that when I was going down a shady country road, or a large cloud blocked the sun, the car got warm (well it was not cooling as much), and as soon as we got into bright sun, it cooled down right away. My conclusion was exactly the same as yours. It seemed the system was actually trying to compensate before it actually got warmer from the bright sun. Because of the long trip, today was the first I noticed this. There must be some kind of sensor in the system besides a cabin temperature thermostat.

 

Anyone else notice this

[goody1926]

Jon, this is really weird. I've had the FFH for a month. Just today, we were on a vacation trip and put on 300 miles. Day was mostly sunny. I noticed that when I was going down a shady country road, or a large cloud blocked the sun, the car got warm (well it was not cooling as much), and as soon as we got into bright sun, it cooled down right away. My conclusion was exactly the same as yours. It seemed the system was actually trying to compensate before it actually got warmer from the bright sun. Because of the long trip, today was the first I noticed this. There must be some kind of sensor in the system besides a cabin temperature thermostat.

 

Anyone else notice this

 

Going in and out of sun could have been exactly what mine was doing but I did not put 2+2 together. I'll have to admit the day I picked it up it was stormy and by the end of the transaction it was starting to clear up thus in and out of clouds. The last couple days its been 100% sunny and I'll admit I have noticed better performance. I will certainly take notice when the next day is partly sunny.

[hevengineer]

My 2010 FFH has under 2,000 miles on it. Coming back home from first road trip yesterday when the A/C quit working. I live in the South, so it was hot, maybe 94 degrees, and I had been on the interstate for over 3 hours. The wife and I noticed that the cabin was getting warmer, and I kept trying to increase the airflow, the temp, but nothing worked. Almost no air coming out of the vents at all, and certainly not cold air. We were forced to open the windows. I shut the A/C off, and drove for about 15-20 minutes, then when I turned it back on, it seemed to work OK for the rest of the trip. Of course we then drove into an afternoon thunderstorm, so the temp dropped from 94 to 74! Back in the "old days", we would just say that the A/C froze up - does that still happen now? Thing I'll ask the dealer to check it over, but wanted to check with forum readers as well. Thanks for any input or suggestions.

This sounds like you froze your EVAP. You can take your HEV into your Dealership and get a new level of software (R12) that was developed for this issue.

[lrymal]

This sounds like you froze your EVAP. You can take your HEV into your Dealership and get a new level of software (R12) that was developed for this issue.

You've been responding to some old messages. ;>) Check the dates of the messages before replying...

[smr2112]

There are at least 3 TSBs relating to the A/C and one specifically about freezing up.

Nothing about the display losing the mileage settings.

 

09-18-11

A/C SYSTEM LOSES AIR FLOW/INOPERATIVE - MODERATE AMBIENT TEMPERATURES - EXTENDED DRIVE

 

09-18-9

A/C SYSTEM LOSES COLD AIR FLOW - EXTREME AMBIENT TEMPERATURES - SITTING AT IDLE - DRIVING UNDER 4 MPH (6 KM/H) - BUILT ON OR BEFORE 8/2/2009

 

09-17-4

DUAL AUTOMATIC TEMPERATURE CONTROL (DATC) - PASS - TEMPERATURE BLEND DOOR STUCK IN HOT MODE - BUILT BEFORE 6/1/2009

[lolder]

As Oman says, I think this is a software problem. My system occasionally seems uncertain in what to do when its cloudy, high humidity or the OAT is near cabin temperature selected. It has occurred immediately in the first drive of the day so its not "freezing coils". Sometimes its OK in these conditions. When its hot and sunny, it never has a problem. I wonder if this could be connected to the designed sluggish OAT indication?

[smr2112]

This is the AC freeing issue - TSB 09-18-11

 

The solution is a reprogramming/recalibration of the control module

This is cut from the PDF, but you get the idea.

 

A/C SYSTEM LOSES AIR FLOW/INOPERATIVE— TSB 09-18-11

MODERATE AMBIENT TEMPERATURES—EXTENDED

DRIVE

 

A/C SYSTEM LOSES COLD AIR FLOW—EXTREME TSB 09-18-9

AMBIENT TEMPERATURES—SITTING AT IDLE—

DRIVING UNDER 4 MPH (6 KM/H)—BUILT ON OR

BEFORE 8/2/2009

 

TSB 09-18-9 - is also programming related for the A/C, but for the 3.0L engine - but not freezing.

Some reason it comes up in a TSB search even for 2010 FFH