No heat in -15c and colder temps (partially fixed with the HVAC update)

[shadowchan454]

Hi all,

Trying to get a baseline of information for those in the colder areas of the world as I have an open customer care case with Ford Canada and my vehicle is still trying to be diagnosed at the dealership. Tech helpline is trying to flag a plugged heater core but I'm disagreeing with this.

-12c to -15c I get lukewarm/tepid heat when on max defrost setting only.
-16c and colder I get ice cold air on any setting leaving the vehicle partially undriveable as the interior fogs up.

They allowed me to take a new MME identical to mine home to test it as they keep getting customers in for this issue, this one was built in October 2022, Mine was built in March 2022. Same situation even with preconditioning and plugging it in.

I was told by the dealership that everyone that experiences these issues should make a customer care case as they provide you with a free rental, and if they cant find another EV for you to drive they reimburse your fuel spent. Just save the receipts and submit to your customer care rep.


*EDIT: I totally forgot to state the recall/HVAC update was done on my vehicle. They did it twice to no avail.

Let me know your experiences!


EDIT 2:
Tough luck for me and everyone else with this issue.

My shop foreman just reached out saying the field service Engineer said, in shorter terms, "too bad." That this is how the vehicle is supposed to work. Even after the supposed recall that I was told only slowed down the coolant in the system so it heated up more.

The shop foreman said the FSE is entertaining suggestions from techs on fixes for this as they are as stumped as we all are.

This is a design flaw. Through and through. This is not able to be mended by a software update. And to suggest lowering my fan speed and praying my front windshield doesn't fog up is not a fix.

I will be reaching out to Transport Canada on this and I implore others to do so as well. This recall did not fix the issue.

EDIT 3:

I've made my Transport Canada claim. They want to come out when the FSE comes to look at my car but I doubt the FSE will actually make the trip as its now warm out for a bit.

Anyone who has these issues, whether driving on the highway or not should be making a TC claim to note it. Fords recall did not fix it. They should not be getting away with this, especially if they knowingly installed a subpar heating system for cold climates.

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[the golden eel]

I'm not overly impressed with the cabin heat when it gets really cold outside, but I'm definitely not having any issues like what you're saying.

Last night I was in the car for roughly 35 minutes. Outside air temp bounced around between -9 and -13 F. So -22 to -25 C.

The heater kept the cabin warm, but barely. I was wearing a sweatshirt and no gloves and I was ok, but I felt if it gets another 5-10 degrees colder and the cabin heater might not be able to keep up.

I did not have the defrost on (I just don't fog up the windows like some people do) but had the heat on high and the fan on 3.

My car shows a date of 9/22 on the door sticker.

 

[the golden eel]

Actually now that I think about it...

I got the car washed the other day and when I got in to leave they had the max defrost button on. I pulled out of the car wash and sat for a couple minutes while I readjusted my mirror, various settings, etc. By the time I was ready to drive away I noticed the air was not warm at all from the heating system. I turned off the max defrost and then it got warmer in the cabin. I didn't think much of it because I never use the max defrost.

I don't know the exact outside temp, but it was pretty cold. I'm guessing around 0 F.

edit - Yes, I should mention I have the 3.6.1 HVAC update.

 

[snowy_91]

My jan built GT with the HVAC update stays pretty comfortable even at this mornings low of -21F.

 

[KadeBR]

Try using vent with recirc(not on your feet and defroster)for a few mins first also I wouldn't put the fan speed above 3 or 4 when it's not recirculating it's pulling in that cold air and the heater can't keep up if you have it blowing hard.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

Of the 3 Mach-E I have had or still had, heated very well at -15F without preconditioning.

 

[DanoiZ]

We've been having a cold snap (0-10 F) and while definitely not as comfortable in normal winter weather, the heater stills works well, although it has to work harder...duh. I precondition before most drives and I've been pleased with that option. My only gripe is that I wish they would have put heat warmers in the rear passenger seats. My daughter recently rode in our friends Model Y and she was raving about having heated seats in the rear. BUT...no rear wiper for the Tesla, which is a must for Northern Utah winters. I can add rear seat warmers. Model Y owners can't add a rear wiper.

 

[Maquis]

Since no one has mentioned this yet:
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/csp-22b28-reprogram-hvac-control-module.23680/

 

[shadowchan454]

Hey all I should clarify the HVAC update WAS done on my car. They did it twice just to see if there was an issue with the original. Nothing worked.

 

[shadowchan454]

Actually now that I think about it...

I got the car washed the other day and when I got in to leave they had the max defrost button on. I pulled out of the car wash and sat for a couple minutes while I readjusted my mirror, various settings, etc. By the time I was ready to drive away I noticed the air was not warm at all from the heating system. I turned off the max defrost and then it got warmer in the cabin. I didn't think much of it because I never use the max defrost.

I don't know the exact outside temp, but it was pretty cold. I'm guessing around 0 F.

edit - Yes, I should mention I have the 3.6.1 HVAC update.

Honestly that's what I intitially thought, that I froze something or maybe the antifreeze was gelling up, so I brought it inside the shop overnight which is heated, then turned it on which it blew hot hot air no matter the setting I set it up on, and then took it outside to -29c weather. In the span of 3 minutes I lost all the heat it was blowing out. so I really don't know what to think at this point.

 

[camdenlake]

If you can data log what you will find is below about -12c temp at the battery the battery starts to steel heat. This is what myself and my mechanic have tracked down via dataloging. Absolutely zero help or attention from @Ford Motor Company or @Ford of Canada Shameful. My dealer had cases open last winter replaced the heater ran a bunch of tests told a software update was in the works. This winter dealer I purchased from did 2nd update and no change they have had a engeering ticket open for weeks with no response and no word on a field engineer coming to see it. Crazy.

 

[shadowchan454]

If you can data log what you will find is below about -12c temp at the battery the battery starts to steel heat. This is what myself and my mechanic have tracked down via dataloging. Absolutely zero help or attention from @Ford Motor Company or @Ford of Canada Shameful. My dealer had cases open last winter replaced the heater ran a bunch of tests told a software update was in the works. This winter dealer I purchased from did 2nd update and no change they have had a engeering ticket open for weeks with no response and no word on a field engineer coming to see it. Crazy.

To have the same issues in a 2021 to a 2022 is concerning for sure. and I know Kingston isnt as cold as where I'm at but if yours is doing the same thing in warmer climates we have a larger issue on our hands. I wonder if the dealer would let me take a different one to test on my route as well. I'm trying to see if this is a broader issue than just a handful.

If this is like the Focus with the TCU/transmission where it became a class action to get support then we're in for a rollercoaster.

 

[HuntingPudel]

Waaaay back in May, my car turned OFF the e-heat during the snow that we drove through. It wasn’t that cold, only about 25F (-3 or so C). ?‍?

 

[Mopey]

Hi all,

Trying to get a baseline of information for those in the colder areas of the world as I have an open customer care case with Ford Canada and my vehicle is still trying to be diagnosed at the dealership. Tech helpline is trying to flag a plugged heater core but I'm disagreeing with this.

-12c to -15c I get lukewarm/tepid heat when on max defrost setting only.
-16c and colder I get ice cold air on any setting leaving the vehicle partially undriveable as the interior fogs up.

They allowed me to take a new MME identical to mine home to test it as they keep getting customers in for this issue, this one was built in October 2022, Mine was built in March 2022. Same situation even with preconditioning and plugging it in.

I was told by the dealership that everyone that experiences these issues should make a customer care case as they provide you with a free rental, and if they cant find another EV for you to drive they reimburse your fuel spent. Just save the receipts and submit to your customer care rep.


Let me know your experiences!

Here in central Alaska, I experience the same climate control issues you are seeing at very cold temps, and that's with two different Mach Es over approx. two years. And, yes, I too have received the climate control updates.

I do one major thing that largely mitigates the problem. I try to NEVER use the climate fan at its max speed in very cold temps. If the auto defrost comes on, I immediately deselect it. Since the auto defrost seems to come on even when the windows aren't fogged, immediately deselecting it doesn't impact my visibility. When the windows do start to fog, I manually selected defrost for 15-20 seconds or just long enough to clear the windows. I also manually cycle between the windscreen and floor and dash vents.

For normal heating, I use manual climate control and keep the fan as low as possible - until the temps drop below -10 to -15F the heater does a good job of keeping the interior warm.

I would be surprised if your dealer actually finds a component that needs replacing. I believe Ford may want to offer a larger heater option for far north deliveries.

My Lightning heater's performance is better, although still not perfected. I think the reason may be that Lightning may have a larger inline heater due to the larger battery pack. Using the Car Scanner app, I've seen a peak heater output of 10kW in the Lightning, but have never seen more than 8kW in the Mach E. Those numbers make sense since the Lightning's battery pack is ~33% larger. That's just speculation, though.

One other possibility is the coolant is starting to have ice crystal growth and those crystals are inhibiting the flow in the coolant\heating hoses and associated bends and junctions. I read somewhere the coolant in the Mach E is only formulated to -25 or -30F (I don't remember the exact number the dealer told me). I don't know about MB, but standard delivery procedure for new ICE vehicles here in AK is to flush and refill the vehicle's system with a -50 or -60 formulation for the vehicle fluids. I asked my dealer about doing that to my Mach E, but after checking with Ford they said it would cost some crazy amount to do (like $400) because of the size and complexity of EV cooling systems. Also, if Ford EV's system work like I've been told they do, the vehicle should automatically heat the coolants to prevent it from getting too cold to ice up and burst hoses like ICE vehicles experience here.

 

[camdenlake]

To have the same issues in a 2021 to a 2022 is concerning for sure. and I know Kingston isnt as cold as where I'm at but if yours is doing the same thing in warmer climates we have a larger issue on our hands. I wonder if the dealer would let me take a different one to test on my route as well. I'm trying to see if this is a broader issue than just a handful.

If this is like the Focus with the TCU/transmission where it became a class action to get support then we're in for a rollercoaster.

Yeah mine was way worse initially then they put a new heater module in which improved heat to around till about -12c. Then some updates since last winter totally ruined the heat I have data logs showing it. Then got the 3.6.2 - 4.1.2 and hest is back to how it was after the new heater module. So good till it gets kind of cold. We usually get -20 to -30c or so in dec and jan but not much this year.

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