Recirc turns off automatically

[BigMach-E]

I haven't tested this since last winter, but at that time, I took a longish night drive. Was a little chilly outside, at least by California standards (45 degrees). Turning e-heat on, setting to recirc, the HVAC kept turning recirc off by itself, letting cold air back into the cabin, causing me to repeatedly turn recirc back on, and this seems inefficient at best, having to reheat up the cabin over and over again. Also, kind of irritating. I know there have been software improvements since that time, but does this still happen?

I haven't tested with similar parameters recently, so I don't know if this has been fixed, and I probably won't know until next winter.

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[Neil4Real]

Recirc does seem to stat on longer, but as you say, winter will be the true test. At present, mine no longer turns off on long drives when it used to after about 10 minutes.

This is just how Ford chose to do it to help reduce fogging, I guess they feel people can’t manage it for themselves.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Update your HVAC module, it seems to increase the time recirc will stay on. If the the humidity inside the cabin gets too high, the recirc may shut off to prevent window fogging.

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

It's winter in San Francisco. And sadly the recirc still cycles off far too often. As Lee says, if the car gets too humid, recirc gets turned off. And of course here in cold and foggy SF (today's high temp was 65° and the lowest the humidity got was 80%), recirc is constantly being turned off.

Hey @Ford Motor Company, I sure would be nice if the recirc button could go on the Home Screen at the bottom along with a status indicator!

 

[KevinS]

If the the humidity inside the cabin gets too high, the recirc may shut off to prevent window fogging.

This. This is why turning A/C on in the winter is the best way to fix a fogged windshield. It's the dew point that's the problem.

 

[Aramis76]

I think all cars i've driven in the past 15 years have this behavior where recirculation will turn off after a while.
I think it has to do with drawing fresh air and not constantly breathing the same air.
There may have been an exhaust contamination risk back then that no longer applies here but was carried over anyway...

 

[Mach-Lee]

I think all cars i've driven in the past 15 years have this behavior where recirculation will turn off after a while.
I think it has to do with drawing fresh air and not constantly breathing the same air.
There may have been an exhaust contamination risk back then that no longer applies here but was carried over anyway...

CO2 levels from your breath can build up in the cabin without any fresh air, and that can make you sleepy if the levels get too high. You want some fresh air every so often so you don't suffocate.

 

[Aramis76]

CO2 levels from your breath can build up in the cabin without any fresh air, and that can make you sleepy if the levels get too high. You want some fresh air every so often so you don't suffocate.

Yep, hence the recirc turning off. It's annoying, but I always knew there was a good reason!

 

[TD1273]

I haven't tested this since last winter, but at that time, I took a longish night drive. Was a little chilly outside, at least by California standards (45 degrees). Turning e-heat on, setting to recirc, the HVAC kept turning recirc off by itself, letting cold air back into the cabin, causing me to repeatedly turn recirc back on, and this seems inefficient at best, having to reheat up the cabin over and over again. Also, kind of irritating. I know there have been software improvements since that time, but does this still happen?

I haven't tested with similar parameters recently, so I don't know if this has been fixed, and I probably won't know until next winter.

We had a 2020 Subaru Outback was same way I asked Subaru about that and they told me there program that way So I check our 2017 F350 ford operates same way on for maybe 8 - 10 minutes then off it goes

 

[MachTee]

My car stays on recirculate after an update. I *think* it was 2.8.3. It goes back to outside air after restarting the car, but it stays on recirculate while driving.

 

[Maquis]

My car stays on recirculate after an update. I *think* it was 2.8.3. It goes back to outside air after restarting the car, but it stays on recirculate while driving.

My recirc stays where I left it, even after restart.

 

[mkhuffman]

It is not as big a deal in an ICE car that generates a lot of excess heat with just the engine running.

A BEV should have different behavior to conserve heat. I wonder if Ford just defaulted to the ICE programming. It would make sense.

A combination of A/C and E-Heat with recirculate on would reduce fogging and would probably be more efficient compared with sucking in -10 F air. But compared with sucking in 40 F air? Maybe not.

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