Auto Air Conditioning Not Strong Enough

[Kmcelroy82]

I live in Phoenix, and we are at the beginning of the hellscape known as summer here. I have noticed lately that starting the car when the cabin has risen to ovenlike temperatures, the A/C doesn't really put in that much effort. Even at Auto "3" the fan does not spin up. I have to manually select Max A/C to get the system cranking. All my previous vehicles have automatically engage Max A/C until the temperature is within range on a hot day. Hoping this is something that could be fixed with software. It's inconvenient to have to go through the two taps every time I get in my hot Mach-e

Sponsored

 

[Plutoman15]

agreed, it is not aggressive enough when the delta is so large in a hot car. Not even close. Auto 3 needs to be able to go max cool.

 

[methorian]

I agree as well. It's funny because from the outside you'd think it was cooling a 10,000 sq ft building from the sounds it's making...

 

[SnBGC]

I live in Phoenix, and we are at the beginning of the hellscape known as summer here. I have noticed lately that starting the car when the cabin has risen to ovenlike temperatures, the A/C doesn't really put in that much effort. Even at Auto "3" the fan does not spin up. I have to manually select Max A/C to get the system cranking. All my previous vehicles have automatically engage Max A/C until the temperature is within range on a hot day. Hoping this is something that could be fixed with software. It's inconvenient to have to go through the two taps every time I get in my hot Mach-e

That is interesting and a little different than how my car performs. My car usually DOES ramp up to Max A/C when in Auto "3" mode. Not always, but usually. In my previous BEV (2017 Focus Electric), I had to press the Max A/C button EVERY time I got in the car during the summer but with the Auto "3" setting in the MME, it usually does it all by itself. I wonder if that is something the car learns? When it first started getting warm here.....I had to tap a few times through the menus to get to Max A/C but then eventually the car started doing that all by itself.

One thing that is kinda funny is that I find myself waiting to make a phone call while also hoping nobody calls me for those first couple minutes after I start the car. If I make or receive a call, then the fan speed drops way down to reduce the background noise of the fans. Meanwhile....I am sweating it out a bit until I can end the call and then it automatically increases to Max A/C again.

 

[The Electric Duo]

That is interesting and a little different than how my car performs. My car usually DOES ramp up to Max A/C when in Auto "3" mode. Not always, but usually. In my previous BEV (2017 Focus Electric), I had to press the Max A/C button EVERY time I got in the car during the summer but with the Auto "3" setting in the MME, it usually does it all by itself. I wonder if that is something the car learns? When it first started getting warm here.....I had to tap a few times through the menus to get to Max A/C but then eventually the car started doing that all by itself.

One thing that is kinda funny is that I find myself waiting to make a phone call while also hoping nobody calls me for those first couple minutes after I start the car. If I make or receive a call, then the fan speed drops way down to reduce the background noise of the fans. Meanwhile....I am sweating it out a bit until I can end the call and then it automatically increases to Max A/C again.

I noticed the lowering of the fan speed also happens when using voice commands -- SYNC or Android Auto. Makes sense, but it confused me the first time.

It went like this:
- I jumped in the hot car, the fans ramped up
- I clicked the voice command button so I could tell it to navigate
- The fans lowered
- I didn't tell to navigate because I was trying to figure out what happened to the fans
- Google said it didn't hear me
- The fans resumed to blasting

Nice feature now that I know about it.

 

[Plutoman15]

Auto 3 I think should also ramp down to the lowest setting. Mine does not go to max and also does not ramp down very low on auto 3. It does go up and down some but not as big of a range as I would like.

To me, auto 3 should be max up and down, auto 2 and auto 1 should go max down but limit how high it can go depending on which auto is on. I hope a software update fixes this.

 

[SnBGC]

Auto 3 I think should also ramp down to the lowest setting. Mine does not go to max and also does not ramp down very low on auto 3. It does go up and down some but not as big of a range as I would like.

To me, auto 3 should be max up and down, auto 2 and auto 1 should go max down but limit how high it can go depending on which auto is on. I hope a software update fixes this.

Yeah that does sound different than what I am experiencing. As best as I can tell.....all 3 of the Auto settings can slow the fan speed way down but the upper limit is greater in 3 compared to 1 with 2 somewhere in the middle.

I normally use 3 during the days and 2 during the evenings. That seems to be most comfortable for me and my passengers.

 

[dml105]

I agree as well. It's funny because from the outside you'd think it was cooling a 10,000 sq ft building from the sounds it's making...

that's because there's no ICE engine drowning it out. I was shocked at just how much noise my A4's AC made when idle. They be loud!

 

[macchiaz-o]

I have to manually select Max A/C to get the system cranking. All my previous vehicles have automatically engage Max A/C until the temperature is within range on a hot day.

Even though it's just two taps, I find getting to the Max A/C and other hvac controls to be frustrating. It's hard (and often unreliable) to get to that second-level hvac controls screen because of waiting for the animations and due to all the apps (and Android Auto etc) that are busy with their own initializations during the vehicle standy and key-on phases.

As a workaround, while I'm already using Auto-3 and finding that the fan speed is too slow, I'll drop the set temperature way down and then when it's finally cooled off in the cabin, I'll raise the set temp back to where I want it.

 

[methorian]

that's because there's no ICE engine drowning it out. I was shocked at just how much noise my A4's AC made when idle. They be loud!

I agree, though my i3 has never been half as loud as the Mach-E, even with the AC blasting on the inside.

 

[MachHI]

I'm finding my AC to be pretty buggy, I set the temp for 74 and Auto is on "3" but when I first get in the car no air blows, if anything I feel a soft warm air come out. I have to lower the temp, to get the AC to kick in, then reset it to 74 for it to work as expected. One time I got in the car after running a quick errand and AC stated "OFF" even though I didn't do anything to it 15 min earlier when I got out.
Anyone else?

 

[macchiaz-o]

I'm finding my AC to be pretty buggy, I set the temp for 74 and Auto is on "3" but when I first get in the car no air blows, if anything I feel a soft warm air come out. I have to lower the temp, to get the AC to kick in, then reset it to 74 for it to work as expected.

On very hot days (e.g. 113+ F) when the battery and other electronics are heat soaked, I've noticed that cold air is a lot less cold while the car is apparently diverting its efforts to the battery. If I keep dropping the set temperature, the fan speed will increase, which helps a bit, but it also seems to increase the odds of the vehicle reducing drivetrain power and locking me out of drive modes. (No drive modes will be selectable and the UI theme will look like Engage mode.)

I've not noticed warm air when expecting cool air, though.

One time I got in the car after running a quick errand and AC stated "OFF" even though I didn't do anything to it 15 min earlier when I got out.
Anyone else?

The only time I've noticed the AC modes changing from where I'd left them, other than Recirculation which has a mind of its own, is if I've used Remote Start to start the vehicle.

 

[SteveUk]

Yeah is the issue that the aircon is diverting effort to cooling the battery?

 

[Logal727]

One time I got in the car after running a quick errand and AC stated "OFF" even though I didn't do anything to it 15 min earlier when I got out.
Anyone else?

Yep, just another quirk

 

[Ford Motor Company]

I'm finding my AC to be pretty buggy, I set the temp for 74 and Auto is on "3" but when I first get in the car no air blows, if anything I feel a soft warm air come out. I have to lower the temp, to get the AC to kick in, then reset it to 74 for it to work as expected. One time I got in the car after running a quick errand and AC stated "OFF" even though I didn't do anything to it 15 min earlier when I got out.
Anyone else?

Hello! Send us a private message with your Mache's VIN and name & location of dealership. I’d be happy to see what I can do to assist with your air conditioning concern. Thanks!

Sponsored