Heater Does Not Activate

[Peyole]

I have had an issue with the performance of the heater for at least six months and unfortunately it is intermittent so I cannot duplicate it on command, though it is happening more frequently. When I am driving, regardless of the outside and cabin temperature, I must set the temperature to at least 81 for the heater to activate. 81 seems to be some sort of magic number. Some days like today with an outside temperature in the 50's I had to set it to the max (Past 85) for it to activate, and even then, it was merely a warm breeze. I have grabbed a thermometer and set it in the car and even when the cabin is in the 60's it will not activate, or when it does it outputs low heat.

In search through the existing topics I mainly saw issues from those in sub-freezing climates, but here it is usually 40’s minimum, and the car sits in a garage overnight, so I don’t think their problems would be applicable to me, especially since it is intermittent.

Are there those that have had a similar issue, or mechanical savvy, that can help me with information on the heater as I would rather not get a dealership service center involved with an intermittent problem. My model is a 2022 Premium.

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[AKgrampy]

I know I really can’t help but for others that may are you in Auto? And if so does it behave the same if you manually control the heat?

 

[Mach-Lee]

I have had an issue with the performance of the heater for at least six months and unfortunately it is intermittent so I cannot duplicate it on command, though it is happening more frequently. When I am driving, regardless of the outside and cabin temperature, I must set the temperature to at least 81 for the heater to activate. 81 seems to be some sort of magic number. Some days like today with an outside temperature in the 50's I had to set it to the max (Past 85) for it to activate, and even then, it was merely a warm breeze. I have grabbed a thermometer and set it in the car and even when the cabin is in the 60's it will not activate, or when it does it outputs low heat.

In search through the existing topics I mainly saw issues from those in sub-freezing climates, but here it is usually 40’s minimum, and the car sits in a garage overnight, so I don’t think their problems would be applicable to me, especially since it is intermittent.

Are there those that have had a similar issue, or mechanical savvy, that can help me with information on the heater as I would rather not get a dealership service center involved with an intermittent problem. My model is a 2022 Premium.

So to cover our bases, set the temp to 78ºF, then press the AUTO button and nothing else (don't change any settings). Wait a minute or two and you should feel warm air coming out of the defrost vents and the floor vents.

Air will not come out of the panel/face vents in heat mode.

If you still don't have heat, you could have a PTC heater failure and should bring it to dealer. There have been a few failures that cause weak or intermittent heat output.

 

[Peyole]

So to cover our bases, set the temp to 78ºF, then press the AUTO button and nothing else (don't change any settings). Wait a minute or two and you should feel warm air coming out of the defrost vents and the floor vents.

Air will not come out of the panel/face vents in heat mode.

If you still don't have heat, you could have a PTC heater failure and should bring it to dealer. There have been a few failures that cause weak or intermittent heat output.

Unfortunately, I cannot use AUTO as I have a large battery pack below my seat near the vent that powers my dash cam while the car is parked, and the heater would make it too hot as it charges while the car is running from a fuse tap. It is tapped to a fuse that turns off when the car turns off and activates the battery. After being the victim of two separate hit and run fender benders years ago I have used one in the Mustang and my previous car.

If it is a heater failure as you suggested then it looks like I indeed have to make a trip to the dealer. I don’t have any warnings on my car for recalls and Customer Satisfaction Programs on the Ford Dashboard website, but since I have had the “Not Completed” on the re-released 6.2.0 OTA since November I probably have not been flagged by Ford for an urgent or emergency OTA.

Are there any potential flags that could indicate that PTC heater failure as the issue, or is that something that would require a tech to open up the car and inspect the hardware? I had to look it up online and looks like a fairly simple part but then again in a car cupholders probably take hours and a hundred pieces to repair.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Unfortunately, I cannot use AUTO as I have a large battery pack below my seat near the vent that powers my dash cam while the car is parked, and the heater would make it too hot as it charges while the car is running from a fuse tap. It is tapped to a fuse that turns off when the car turns off and activates the battery. After being the victim of two separate hit and run fender benders years ago I have used one in the Mustang and my previous car.

If it is a heater failure as you suggested then it looks like I indeed have to make a trip to the dealer. I don’t have any warnings on my car for recalls and Customer Satisfaction Programs on the Ford Dashboard website, but since I have had the “Not Completed” on the re-released 6.2.0 OTA since November I probably have not been flagged by Ford for an urgent or emergency OTA.

Are there any potential flags that could indicate that PTC heater failure as the issue, or is that something that would require a tech to open up the car and inspect the hardware? I had to look it up online and looks like a fairly simple part but then again in a car cupholders probably take hours and a hundred pieces to repair.

Well you could try AUTO for a couple minutes as a test, that won't hurt your battery. I can tell you're from California if you can get away without using floor heat, that's a necessity here.

Tech will need to look at some things with the scan tool to verify power usage and measure temps in the coolant loop.

The PTC heater is located under the hood, not in the dash.

 

[Peyole]

Well you could try AUTO for a couple minutes as a test, that won't hurt your battery. I can tell you're from California if you can get away without using floor heat, that's a necessity here.

Tech will need to look at some things with the scan tool to verify power usage and measure temps in the coolant loop.

The PTC heater is located under the hood, not in the dash.

Thank you for the troubleshooting information, you have always been such a good source of information in this forum. It is surprising how chilly it can get in Southern California in the early morning since I often leave the house before sunrise for work. I go camping in the high desert in March and it gets below freezing at night. Unfortunately, I won’t make it to King of the Hammers next week in the desert where it is sure to be quite cold. The Ford Broncos took first, second and third place in the main event in 2022. Not sure how well a Mach-E would do.

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