Steering wheel heating - change temperature with FORScan?

[imperator_37]

Hello Mach-E colleagues,

I have a question about the temperature of the heated steering wheel.

With my earlier Ford Edge was it able to change the temperature with Forscan, does this also work with the Mach-E?
Is there any experience here in the forum? Does anyone have the AS Built files for the different temperatures?
The steering wheel heating on my GT only gets very slightly warm, so I would like to change that
Thanks for your feedback....
Christian

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[tannerk89]

My steering wheel is not very warm too - interested if anyone finds out the answer to this.

 

[SprManKalEl]

Weird. My steering wheel automatically changes temperature. It is usually warmest when I get in after preconditioning and gets cooler but stays warm through my drive.

 

[ctenidae]

I always turn mine off after preconditioning because it's uncomfortably warm. Interesting.

 

[generaltso]

The steering wheel heating on my GT only gets very slightly warm,

My steering wheel is not very warm too - interested if anyone finds out the answer to this.

That's so weird. Mine gets blazing hot. I almost can't keep my hands on it.

 

[Kevin P]

Should find the link to the editable stuff for Mach E in this thread. I believe I recall seeing steering wheel heat settings.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...le-honk-with-mach-e-running-in-forscan.11374/

 

[Jimrpa]

Maybe they should turn the steering wheel heat into a slider, like the seats, with an auto option?

 

[BTRYPWRDPONY]

I always turn mine off after preconditioning because it's uncomfortably warm. Interesting.

I do the same thing, mine get's very warm. I do notice if I do leave it on- it does lower the warmth after initial heat up.

 

[markboris]

The reason there is a variance in temperature between steering wheels has to do with how they were built. There is a very small thermistor about the size of a grain of rice that is at the bottom part of the wheel just under the glossy black trim. Depending on where this thermistor is placed when built, changes the max temp of the heater in the wheel. It is extremely sensitive and I played around with mine until I got the temp how I wanted it. When the thermistor senses a max temp of around 90˚ it starts cutting back the voltage on the heater. The closer the thermistor is placed to the heating wires, the faster it shuts off and you get very little heat.

On my premium, the wheel would heat up quite warm then slowly settle down to a low warm temp. It was perfect. When I got my GT, the wheel barely got warm. Sometimes I couldn't even tell if it was heating or not. I took apart the wheel and moved the thermistor just slightly further and further away from the heating wires until I got the temp I wanted. The issues is, not every wheel has the thermistor in an area easy to work with. Some are buried under the rubber vulcanized part of the wheel so it cannot be moved.

I've done a lot of work in FORScan and hadn't noticed a temp adjustment for the steering wheel but then I wasn't looking for it. I did see a cutoff time of one hour somewhere but I never changed anything.

 

[SprManKalEl]

I've done a lot of work in FORScan and hadn't noticed a temp adjustment for the steering wheel but then I wasn't looking for it. I did see a cutoff time of one hour somewhere but I never changed anything.

Does this mean it is supposed to turn off after an hour? I don't think mine works that way. My commute is usually an hour and 10 minutes (or more) and it stays on the whole time.

 

[markboris]

[/QUOTE]

Does this mean it is supposed to turn off after an hour? I don't think mine works that way. My commute is usually an hour and 10 minutes (or more) and it stays on the whole time.

When I was in FORScan awhile back, I had thought I saw a time limit of one hour for the heated steering wheel to shut down but I'm probably mistaken if yours stays on longer. I've never had mine on for longer than 30-45 min so haven't timed it. Maybe the shutdown was 90 min. Next time I am in FORScan I will check it out.

Unfortunately at this time I cannot open FORScan on my car because I updated the PCM and now FORScan does not recognize the car. I emailed the FORScan support team and they told me I would have to wait for the next version for it to be compatible with my updated PCM module.

 

[imperator_37]

When I was in FORScan awhile back, I had thought I saw a time limit of one hour for the heated steering wheel to shut down but I'm probably mistaken if yours stays on longer. I've never had mine on for longer than 30-45 min so haven't timed it. Maybe the shutdown was 90 min. Next time I am in FORScan I will check it out.

Unfortunately at this time I cannot open FORScan on my car because I updated the PCM and now FORScan does not recognize the car. I emailed the FORScan support team and they told me I would have to wait for the next version for it to be compatible with my updated PCM module.
[/QUOTE]


the running time of the steering wheel heater is not the problem, my problem is the temperature - this temperature is too low. Maybe this is a problem with the position of this sensor. How can I remove this black bezel on the underside of the steering wheel? ...breaks it easily

 

[imperator_37]

the running time of the steering wheel heater is not the problem, my problem is the temperature - this temperature is too low. Maybe this is a problem with the position of this sensor. How can I remove this black bezel on the underside of the steering wheel? ...breaks it easily

 

[markboris]

The running time of the steering wheel heater is not the problem, my problem is the temperature - this temperature is too low. Maybe this is a problem with the position of this sensor. How can I remove this black bezel on the underside of the steering wheel? ...breaks it easily

I knew this question might come up and it is NOT all that simple to remove that gloss black bezel. Besides, if you were to remove it, you might find that the thermistor (heat sensor) is positioned in such a way that it is actually molded into the rubber part of the wheel and you would have to dig to find it and could damage it. I've seen some wheels were it was accessible and some not. For me I am very use to modifying just about anything however, this is something I would not recommend to do unless you want to risk damaging trim or even the heating part of the wheel.

That said, first you have to disconnect the LVB and wait at least 30 minutes so everything is powered down. Make sure you keep your driver door window down or door open so you can get in the car since the battery will be disconnected. Next you have to separate the top and bottom shroud of the steering wheel column so you can get to the back of the steering wheel to remove the center air bag. If you have never removed an air bag on a steering wheel, it is not the easiest thing to do and you have to be very delicate in doing it. I am not going to go into the exact procedure to remove the air bag here. Once the air bag is removed, you can remove the entire gloss black bezel which is also connected to all of the switches and you have to be really careful as it is all plastic. The switch assembly and gloss plastic trim are only held together by small melted plastic numbs which can break easily. Once you have it off, then you can locate the small black wires at the bottom of the wheel that go to the thermistor and hopefully they are visible.

If they are visible, which they were in the wheel I have now, I was able to move it further away from the larger white wires which are the heat wires. If they are not visible you have some surgery to do. I have had several heated steering wheels for the Mach-E (and Focus RS, F-150) because I've had them custom made with leather, Alcantara suede and in different colors so I've seen it all.

Personally, I think if your steering wheel does not get very warm at all, you should bring it to the dealer and see if they can change out your wheel and hopefully the next one you get heats up warmer. There is definitely a variance between the heat temps on these wheels. I have seen it and members here have too. I've had quite a few vehicles with heated steering wheels (even multiple Mach-E's) and none of them heated to the same temp.

Below is my Mach-E Premium steering wheel I had made in super soft leather, heavily padded and with white leather trim to match the white interior. This steering wheel heated perfectly from the factory. Sometimes when you have a wheel custom made, the people doing it mess up the heating wires and when you get it back, you have to fix and reposition the thermistor to get it to heat properly again which is what I had to do on this one.

Below you can see the inside bottom part of the wheel where the thin black thermistor wires are going into the vulcanized rubber part. The white wires on either side of the thermistor wires are the actual heat wires. Thankfully this wheel heated up ok so no modification to the thermistor was necessary.

This is my current customized wheel with black leather and gray Alcantara at the top and lower inserts to match the interior. This one was a real pain as it was all messed up when I got it back with broken wires and took a bit to get it working properly again. Unfortunately I did not take photos of my wiring fix.

 

[HuntingPudel]

Boy, am I glad that my steering wheel heat is in the Goldilocks Zone. ??

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