Steering wheel heating - change temperature with FORScan?

[Kvothe]

Adding my experience after @Mach-Lee pointed me here.

My steering wheel has gone from the blazing hot almost too hot to hold level to now being only comfortably warm. The heater also starts to cool down after 15-20 minutes of use without cycling back on. I’m talking completely cool feeling steering wheel.

I don’t understand what would have caused the drastic change in only 2-3 months of using the heater unless I somehow inadvertently moved the thermistor location just by holding the steering wheel.

I am debating taking it to the dealer to get checked out.

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[Ford Motor Company]

Adding my experience after @Mach-Lee pointed me here.

My steering wheel has gone from the blazing hot almost too hot to hold level to now being only comfortably warm. The heater also starts to cool down after 15-20 minutes of use without cycling back on. I’m talking completely cool feeling steering wheel.

I don’t understand what would have caused the drastic change in only 2-3 months of using the heater unless I somehow inadvertently moved the thermistor location just by holding the steering wheel.

I am debating taking it to the dealer to get checked out.

Hello! Could you privately message us with your VIN and the name and location of your Ford dealer so I can look into this steering wheel concern for you? Thank you!

 

[Just Lurking]

Just found this thread via a search. I've had my '22 GT one week exactly, and the steering wheel no longer heats like it did. When I first got the car it stayed warm, but now it only gets warm when first activated and then essentially shuts off. Yet another frustrating glitch with this car.

 

[imperator_37]

Just found this thread via a search. I've had my '22 GT one week exactly, and the steering wheel no longer heats like it did. When I first got the car it stayed warm, but now it only gets warm when first activated and then essentially shuts off. Yet another frustrating glitch with this car.

I have the complete same problem - only gets slightly warm and then you don't notice much of it anymore. In other cars you can even switch on the steering wheel heating in 2 stages - Ford has to improve that

 

[Chainspell]

I'm also having this issue. My Premium heated steering wheel got nice and toasty and stayed there. My new GTPE steering wheel barely gets warm at all; sometimes I can barely tell it's on. I have Reynaud's syndrome and the heated wheel is pretty important to me to keep my hands warm.

Anyone had any luck with FORScan yet? Not sure I am comfortable taking apart the steering wheel to access the sensor.

Edit: found this option, curious what the Mach-E is set to and if changing it will work correctly.

Heated Steering Wheel Temp:
381	714-02-01 (2013+ MY) (HSWM)	xxXX XXXX xx
382		44 4444 (68º - 2013/2014/2015 Fusion/MKZ Default)
383		4C 4C4C (76ºF)
384		54 5454 (84ºF - 2015 Mondeo Default)
385		58 5858 (88ºF)
386		5A 5A5A (90ºF)
387		5C 5C5C (92ºF - 2016/2017 Fusion Default)
388		5E 5A5E (94ºF)
389		64 6464 (100ºF - 2016/2017 MKZ Default)

 

[imperator_37]

Hello Chainspell,

i mean that this are not the correct codes for the Mach-E , this are the original codes for the Mach-E - but what are the right one to modify the temperature ?

 

[Maquis]

I’ll add my experience. I was on a 2 hour trip this past weekend and after about an hour, the steering wheel cooled off. If this is a programmed timeout, I’d expect the indicator to also shut off, but it doesn’t. Switching it off and back on again didn’t seem to do anything. I’m going to have the dealer look into it when I’m in for the 20K service next week.

I‘ve had the car almost 2 years and never experienced this before. Maybe I just didn’t notice?

Has anyone wirth FORScan verified that there is, indeed, a timeout setting?

 

[Chainspell]

Hello Chainspell,

i mean that this are not the correct codes for the Mach-E , this are the original codes for the Mach-E - but what are the right one to modify the temperature ?

Those look like different modules (724 vs 714.) Can you lookup 714-xx-xx modules?

 

[Lhennen]

I’ll add my experience. I was on a 2 hour trip this past weekend and after about an hour, the steering wheel cooled off. If this is a programmed timeout, I’d expect the indicator to also shut off, but it doesn’t. Switching it off and back on again didn’t seem to do anything. I’m going to have the dealer look into it when I’m in for the 20K service next week.

I‘ve had the car almost 2 years and never experienced this before. Maybe I just didn’t notice?

Has anyone wirth FORScan verified that there is, indeed, a timeout setting?

I am experiencing the same thing. steering wheel stops heating but light stays on. share if you learn anything at dealer.

 

[machdady]

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.

Where did you get the alloy pedals (are those covers)?

 

[Maquis]

I am experiencing the same thing. steering wheel stops heating but light stays on. share if you learn anything at dealer.

Dealer was unable to fix it, but said they passed it on to Ford support.

 

[HuntingPudel]

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

I am finding that my new car’s steering wheel unfortunately has a not-so-warm wheel. Going to see if the local dealer can do anything for me. ?‍?

 

[markboris]

I am finding that my new car’s steering wheel unfortunately has a not-so-warm wheel. Going to see if the local dealer can do anything for me. ?‍?

Interesting but not uncommon as we have talked about before. Mine is good. Heats up right away, stays decently warm then cools down a bit but adequate enough for me not to dig into it and reposition the thermistor.

 

[HuntingPudel]

Interesting but not uncommon as we have talked about before. Mine is good. Heats up right away, stays decently warm then cools down a bit but adequate enough for me not to dig into it and reposition the thermal sensor.

Yeah, I was thinking of just opening it up myself and moving the thermistor. ??

 

[HuntingPudel]

I am experiencing the same thing. steering wheel stops heating but light stays on. share if you learn anything at dealer.

I noticed that after driving 20 or so minutes the wheel in my 2024 was not very warm. The lower portion was cool to the touch and the upper portion was barely the temperature of my hands. ??

I am going to take it in to the local dealer to be looked at. It seems warm-ish when the car is first turned on but it’s not at all warm after a while. ?‍?

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