Ventilation without AC

[Charrua]

Does anyone know how to have the fan just blow outside air without heat or AC?

 

I think my car has a software bug (or is possessed). I press "auto" and "auto" and "ac" light up. I press "ac" and the "ac" light turns off. But the AC is NOT off. It's a warm day so it's easy to feel if AC is on or not. If I change the fan speed the "auto" light turns off but it still blows cold air.

 

How can something so simple not work?

[47Minutes]

The car is operating as designed, albeit what I consider a faulty design.

 

When the "auto" button is on the climate system is in full "auto". In this case the car decides, usually, to employ the AC to achieve the optimum interior climate. I will confirm that pressing the AC button does not result in the AC compressor going off. Nothing more happens than the light going out on that button. As far as the car is concerned, it is still in "auto" mode and it will continue to decide what is needed for optimum interior climate.

 

The workaround to get it out of "auto" and then be able to actually disable the AC is to change the airflow setting. On the touch screen choose floor or dash vents. Until you do this, the airflow options are grouped in a bracket with the title "auto". Once you've chosen the dash vents it will be out of full "auto" mode and you can turn off the AC with either the screen or button and it will stop.

 

I don't like this as an answer but it is, unfortunately, what we have. It has been covered by Energi owners here: http://www.fordfusionenergiforum.com/topic/680-ac-compressor-does-not-turn-off/

Edited May 9, 2013 by 47Minutes

[smr2112]

I confirm this as well and have gotten used to it, but still find it annoying and somewhat dangerous

to spend more time hitting touch screens buttons than I should have to.

 

I should also say that my 2010 FFH had this near identical behavior and I just got used to it.

When I detected that the A/C was still on, I would just hit the fan speed "down" until it was

at the lowest setting and then the A/C was off, it was fully off AUTO.

 

But this doesn't always work on the 2013, I have to hit one of the vent buttons (as you said) to get it off AUTO.

I don't know if I wait once putting the fan speed down if the A/C would shut off on its own shortly after.

 

The other trick I saw was hit "Max A/C" then hit "A/C" to force the "A/C" off. this seems to work, but

have only tried this once.

 

 

[47Minutes]

Strange, my 2010 FFH did not behave this way. In that car it would default to auto and I could simply hit the AC button to turn it off and it went off. That is why I was so bent out of shape by this in the 2013.

 

At least once you have it set for dash vents and no AC, if you just turn the climate off and back on it will come on at the last settings. From there you can turn AC on/off as you wish with the button or the touch screen. But if you hit that "auto" button or someone else uses auto then you're back to square one.

[hybridbear]

You can confirm if the A/C is on or off by putting the power meter on My View that shows "Climate" & "Other". Climate = A/C on that screen

[smr2112]

you're correct, it went off in the 2010 as soon as you hit the fan speed down. it always indicated

that the a/c was on, unlike the 2013. but I still found the multi-step process to blow air annoying.

[Charrua]

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

[acdii]

I have no problem knowing when the AC is on in my 10. Screeches like a banchee.

[Former Expedition owner]

There was a post in another thread indicating to do this in order to get to a "vent" setting:

 

1. Press A/C button (if not already lit up)
2. Press MAX A/C button
3. Press A/C button

After pressing these in succession, none of the A/C lights should be lit and you can use the fan buttons to increase/decrease the amount of air coming in from outside.

 

Not optimal, but works for me.

Edited May 11, 2013 by Former Expedition owner

[B25Nut]

There was a post in another thread indicating to do this in order to get to a "vent" setting:

 

1. Press A/C button (if not already lit up)
2. Press MAX A/C button
3. Press A/C button

After pressing these in succession, none of the A/C lights should be lit and you can use the fan buttons to increase/decrease the amount of air coming in from outside.

 

Not optimal, but works for me.

This is the most annoying feature I have with my FFH. Using the above proceedure, the Temperatures will then be set at LO so you have to hit the My Temperature to get it back where you want it. This all results in too much time with eyes off the road, and Ford needs to change it with an update. Also, when on fan only, the speed rarely returns to the same setting that you previously set it at.

[hybridbear]

I agree about it being annoying. Since we didn't spring for the MFT package we don't have this "My Temp" you can use to bring it back. Instead after it goes to "LO" we have to turn the knob back up to the correct temperature

[brcd131]

What I found that works is to first turn on the upper vents, then if needed the floor vents. It appears that using the floor vents alone is what triggers the use of the AC.

[dalesky]

The car is operating as designed, albeit what I consider a faulty design.

 

When the "auto" button is on the climate system is in full "auto". In this case the car decides, usually, to employ the AC to achieve the optimum interior climate. I will confirm that pressing the AC button does not result in the AC compressor going off. Nothing more happens than the light going out on that button. As far as the car is concerned, it is still in "auto" mode and it will continue to decide what is needed for optimum interior climate.

 

The workaround to get it out of "auto" and then be able to actually disable the AC is to change the airflow setting. On the touch screen choose floor or dash vents. Until you do this, the airflow options are grouped in a bracket with the title "auto". Once you've chosen the dash vents it will be out of full "auto" mode and you can turn off the AC with either the screen or button and it will stop.

 

I don't like this as an answer but it is, unfortunately, what we have. It has been covered by Energi owners here: http://www.fordfusionenergiforum.com/topic/680-ac-compressor-does-not-turn-off/

Great info. Thanks for posting this. I will give it a try today.

[milleron]

This has been frustrating. It's the first and only car I've had that doesn't allow the AC to disengage when you hit the AC on/off button. As this method of turning off the AC while still allowing the automatic feature to control fan speed is universal, it could not possibly have been the intention of the designers for it to work this way. I'm therefore hoping that Ford might issue a firmware update that will fix it.

[Charrua]

You're absolutely right. If the AC light doesn't indicate the AC on/off status, then what the heck is it there for?

[milleron]

What I found that works is to first turn on the upper vents, then if needed the floor vents. It appears that using the floor vents alone is what triggers the use of the AC.

 

I haven't had a chance to test this, but it sounds like you're saying that setting the climate control to use the floor vents alone will turn on the AC. Is that correct?

[brcd131]

 

I haven't had a chance to test this, but it sounds like you're saying that setting the climate control to use the floor vents alone will turn on the AC. Is that correct?

That's correct. It's easy to test, just set the MyView screen to view the Climate energy usage and with the climate system off, turn on the floor vents and bring the fan speed up a bit if needed. You'll start to see energy usage on the climate graph. If the AC light came on, turn it off and the energy usage will not stop. Then turn on the upper vent and the energy usage will stop.

 

As I said in another thread, I showed this to the dealer who reported this to Ford and Ford said they designed it this way.

Edited May 18, 2013 by brcd131

[ltzgtr2r]

No wonder I thought that outside air was always so cool, weird design, thankx

[Quickdraw95]

There was a post in another thread indicating to do this in order to get to a "vent" setting:

 

1. Press A/C button (if not already lit up)
2. Press MAX A/C button
3. Press A/C button

After pressing these in succession, none of the A/C lights should be lit and you can use the fan buttons to increase/decrease the amount of air coming in from outside.

 

Not optimal, but works for me.

 

Thank you for posting this! This has been driving me crazy all spring - I have a 2013 with MyFord Touch, and I even asked at the Ford dealership today, but they said that the inability to turn off the AC compressor was just a "feature", not a bug - their solution was turning it off completely, which misses the point. I just went out and tested the "A/C on - Max A/C - A/C off" process, and it works! Still more annoying than just turning off the AC by hitting the button, but now at least I get fresh air without using AC or rolling down the windows. I hope Ford actually fixes the buttons one day. Until then, thank you!!!

[SteveB_TX]

I like to just go to climate control screen, select vent and floor (gotta cool the tootsies!), then turn off A/C. This method keeps the fan speed on AUTO, but turns off the A/C compressor. Also, the temp does not switch to LO as would be the case if you selected Max A/C. :dance:

[kbailey990]

Good tip!! I was pressing max AC , and then the temp went to LO automatically. I'll use your option next time.

[TX NRG]

Remember to also do this to turn off the AC compressor after using the windshield defroster.

[Charrua]

The temp going to LO automatically is actually an advantage sometimes. If the outside temperature is less than the car temperature setting then the heater kicks in. That annoys me as well.

 

It happened to me yesterday. The outside temp was finally a nice 60 something. I wanted just to get some outside air vented into the car. I did the touch screen approach. After a while I put my hand by the vent and the air felt quite warm. My temp was set to 72. To get non-heated air I had to press the temp - a bunch of times until it was less than the outside temp.

[SteveB_TX]

I guess which method you use depends on the expected outside temps. :)

[DeadButDreaming]

ok what about the recirculation button I think what ever the setting I have as long as the vents are on the face it doesn't open(outside air) it is always closed I think its broken .because in al the cars I have owned before MB & BMW & Toyota it all had this button and when I press while AC on I am able to smell out side ambient air not in the ford..

 

and it is very important to have the outside air come through the system from time to time in order for your AC system not to stink..

 

any one please tell me is my system faulty or just im doing it wrong??