AC automatically turning on (and Heat) when I start the car

[ljfe]

Is it possible to prevent these from going on when I start the car? I just want the fan to go on. Period. Someone please explain this like I’m 5 years old…preferably with photos. The “Auto” button above “AC” is turned off (no “bars”). I have “Remote Start” set to “Last Setting.” Is there anything else I can try? I even tried clicking the fan button in the Ford Pass app before entering and starting the car. It wasn’t my last setting because my last setting was the AC turned off.

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[Mach-Lee]

Ford uses an intelligent climate control and defog strategy. Which means the A/C will turn on when the car decides it’s necessary (such as when it’s too hot or humid in the cabin). Your HVAC commands are merely requests. It is not possible to leave the A/C off all the time.

You can try setting the temperature to LO and setting a manual fan speed if you want “fan only”. But there may still be times the A/C will automatically come on. Best not to fight it.

I should also explain that A/C running at a low level does not use very much energy. If you’re worried about efficiency, you’ll barely notice the difference unless it’s really cranking.

 

[E90alex]

You can’t. Best to just set the temperature you want and let it do its thing. No use in trying to micromanage or fight it.

 

[ChrisO]

This seems to keep coming up, and I don’t have a suggestion on how to make it right, but as I have said in the other thread it can work right and obey what the user selected. I know this because it works that way for me.

When I saw this post I thought I saw a new twist where remote start was on, and I didn’t use that. And maybe turning on the preconditioning would override my settings. But I tested that and what it did was turn on the air conditioning until I got in the car and started it, and then it went back to my settings where I had everything off.

 

[jav_eee]

Why? Very curious as to why you don’t want any kind of cooling or heating and just want the fan to circulate the stale air?

 

[cgorske]

My 2023 Mach-E never turned the AC automatically in the summer unless I pressed the button to turn it on. Most of the time, I prefer to just drive with my windows down and enjoy the summer. I love the heat, and Michigan summers are too short, and it'll be snowing soon again anyway.

But as soon as I picked up my 2025, I noticed that it turns the AC on every single time I start the car. So clearly, Ford has made a software change for 2025. As @Mach-Lee says above, the car apparently now determines when it's hot enough to run the AC. I just accept it and hit the button to turn it off as soon as I start the car, it's become as routine as putting on my seat belt. But the behavior is definitely different than the 2023 that I had through three summers.

I have faith that they'll eventually fix it, just like I hope they'll fix the other annoying problem on the 2025, turning the volume knob on the screen occasionally just turns the audio completely off. But there are plenty of threads on here about that, and nothing has changed yet

Ford does fix these things though...when I bought my 2023, if it was locked when you walked up to it, and you tried to open the rear liftgate, it just popped open slightly and you had to hit the button again for it to open completely. It took about a year and a half, but an OTA finally fixed it, even though there were dozens of posters on here trying to say that was how it was supposed to work. So just remember Ford's trademark...it'll be fixed soon.

 

[ChrisO]

Why? Very curious as to why you don’t want any kind of cooling or heating and just want the fan to circulate the stale air?

For me I don't like air blowing on me, not to mention I might have the windows open instead, which I prefer. I tolerate the fan blowing air on me when it is needed to really cool or heat the car, but most of the time here in my area it just isn't needed.

BTW, for my house, I have it setup so that if a door or window is open the A/C or heat will turn off because I don't want to cool or heat the outside. If I open the windows on the Mach-E I might have to adjust settings just to prevent it from doing the same. So, that is one thing that would be nice to have a setting for.

 

[Shayne]

Ford uses an intelligent climate control and defog strategy. Which means the A/C will turn on when the car decides it’s necessary (such as when it’s too hot or humid in the cabin). Your HVAC commands are merely requests. It is not possible to leave the A/C off all the time.

You can try setting the temperature to LO and setting a manual fan speed if you want “fan only”. But there may still be times the A/C will automatically come on. Best not to fight it.

I should also explain that A/C running at a low level does not use very much energy. If you’re worried about efficiency, you’ll barely notice the difference unless it’s really cranking.

Mine use to start in a/c all the time even thou seldom used but now for the last little while it does not (no light). I thought it was one of the updates but it will turn on if started and too much humidity in the cabin? The vents would open and the car fans scream when started and A/C turns on. I manually shut it down and fans stop.

 

[RickMachE]

My 2023 Mach-E never turned the AC automatically in the summer unless I pressed the button to turn it on. Most of the time, I prefer to just drive with my windows down and enjoy the summer. I love the heat, and Michigan summers are too short, and it'll be snowing soon again anyway.

But as soon as I picked up my 2025, I noticed that it turns the AC on every single time I start the car. So clearly, Ford has made a software change for 2025. As @Mach-Lee says above, the car apparently now determines when it's hot enough to run the AC. I just accept it and hit the button to turn it off as soon as I start the car, it's become as routine as putting on my seat belt. But the behavior is definitely different than the 2023 that I had through three summers.

I have faith that they'll eventually fix it, just like I hope they'll fix the other annoying problem on the 2025, turning the volume knob on the screen occasionally just turns the audio completely off. But there are plenty of threads on here about that, and nothing has changed yet

Ford does fix these things though...when I bought my 2023, if it was locked when you walked up to it, and you tried to open the rear liftgate, it just popped open slightly and you had to hit the button again for it to open completely. It took about a year and a half, but an OTA finally fixed it, even though there were dozens of posters on here trying to say that was how it was supposed to work. So just remember Ford's trademark...it'll be fixed soon.

My 2022 automatically turns it on, so does my Lightning.

 

[tntschiff]

I too have the same "issue" even though some keep saying it supposed to do that. Every car I have ever owned including my 2021 MME I just traded in for a 2025 model allowed me to open the vents, fan on low (or any speed for that matter), and NO AC automatically coming on.

And BTW, the messaging from Ford that the "AC will automatically come on in certain circumstances", it ALWAYS comes on no matter what indoor temp or humidity, outside temp or humidity...I would like someone to tell me in short what conditions have to be for it NOT to turn on automatically.

I have printed labels marked AC on the top of the control center and dash to remind me to turn it off. For everyone who likes this "feature", fine. But not giving the option to the rest of us to disable this seems to be a design oversight.

 

[E90alex]

I have printed labels marked AC on the top of the control center and dash to remind me to turn it off. For everyone who likes this "feature", fine. But not giving the option to the rest of us to disable this seems to be a design oversight.

If you need a label to remind you, meaning you would otherwise not notice it, why do you feel the need to turn it off?

 

[ChrisO]

I'm of the opinion as a customer and as a programmer with 40+ years of experience, that unless there is some kind of condition that poses a "risk" to the car, then the controls should do what the driver wants. And I find it very hard to believe there is anything in cabin of the car that has to be turned on to protect the car. If there is, then that sounds like poorly designed car.

And frankly, trying to justify it with statements like "well what's harm?" or "that is just the way it is." Are meaningless. Clearly it does bother some people, and that is all that is needed to justify it allow it. It is their car, not yours of even Ford's.

Now saying that I have certainly had software that was designed in a way that didn't line up with what the customer wanted, and it didn't get changed for various reasons, one being that the developers didn't have the time to work on it because their time was used for something that was considered more important.

But the very fact that some cars are doing one thing and others are doing another thing, sounds like a bug to me. I might also add when you have settings in the remote start that say to go back to the last setting and it then goes into "automatic" when the last setting isn't automatic, then someone should either fix the description or the functionality.

 

[ljfe]

I just received a potential fix from /u/Ledgem on Reddit. I haven’t tested it yet:

“To turn off "auto" and make sure the settings stick, set the fan speed manually (press the fan button and either press it again, or rotate the volume dial to change the speed). The part that most people seem to miss is that you need to set the vent settings. To do this, go into the main climate setting (located to the lower right of the volume dial), and tap on the vent you want (usually you'll want upper vents, and not foot vents). Whether heat or AC is on or off doesn't matter - now if you have AC off, the car will start with it off. If you leave the AC on, the car will start with it on.

If anyone touches the auto button to turn "auto" back on, you'll need to repeat the steps of setting the fan speed and the vent in order to keep "auto" off.

I've done this for over a year and the settings reliably stick with what ever I was using before I turned the car off. It's a bit of a nuisance, but there you have it.”

 

[Shayne]

I just received a potential fix from /u/Ledgem on Reddit. I haven’t tested it yet:

“To turn off "auto" and make sure the settings stick, set the fan speed manually (press the fan button and either press it again, or rotate the volume dial to change the speed). The part that most people seem to miss is that you need to set the vent settings. To do this, go into the main climate setting (located to the lower right of the volume dial), and tap on the vent you want (usually you'll want upper vents, and not foot vents). Whether heat or AC is on or off doesn't matter - now if you have AC off, the car will start with it off. If you leave the AC on, the car will start with it on.

If anyone touches the auto button to turn "auto" back on, you'll need to repeat the steps of setting the fan speed and the vent in order to keep "auto" off.

I've done this for over a year and the settings reliably stick with what ever I was using before I turned the car off. It's a bit of a nuisance, but there you have it.”

This is what I have no auto, fan set manually and hvac set to feet and face. Maybe that is the trick?

Lots of people roll down the windows and drive a bit to air out the car before starting the air conditioning. Being met with screaming fans every time you start an EV is not the best.

 

[tntschiff]

If you need a label to remind you, meaning you would otherwise not notice it, why do you feel the need to turn it off?

It starts blowing cold air on my feet which is annoying and range is impacted. Why do people keep justifying this behavior as "just deal with it"???

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