auto A/C acts squirely....

[wwb]

Purchased a 2025 XLT, 2.0 in early July with 360 and towing pkg's; I have about 1,500 miles so far. As posted, all A/C is in the screen, no knobs. I always have the A/C set to auto, (very odd that is has three auto settings...) but a couple of things I dont understand and wonder if something is not working correctly: When the sun is out and its warm/hot, the A/C works as expected. Sometimes I will start with Max AC then switch to auto; seems to work fine. But when I first get in and its either dark or not sunny out and not very warm inside the cabin, the AC blows crazy cold air. I have to turn the temp to 78 just to keep ice cycles from forming. The Auto does not seem to work at all in those situations. Once the sum comes out or it gets warm/hot, auto works fine. Anyone else have this problem? Is there a way to calibrate or reset the thermometer?

I also noticed the temp resets itself to 72 on start, even though I know it was set higher when I exited; and I never set the temp at 72....

I have not driven in cold wx yet so don't know if the same thing happens with the AC off.

Anyone else seen this? Any ideas?

Thanks,

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[Believr]

‘24’ Lariat EB FX4 4K Tow, yes auto controls r stupid awful, summer and winter, including the dual setting feature. I only use manual adjustments now to preserve my sanity.

 

[Ken L]

I have a 23 XLT, and have a similar issue. I leave the HVAC control on auto almost all the time. The only time I change the temperature setting is in the summer on sunny days when driving South and the sun is coming directly in the windshield. I set the temperature colder, to be comfortable, then after the sun is not coming through the windshield, (direction change, cloudy etc) the cabin becomes too cold. I
I think that it has something to do with the placement of the temperature sensor.
Come Sept/Oct, I probably won't change the the temperature setting until next summer. We do have big swings in temperature over the year. 35C, 95F has been common this summer and -25C, -13F is normal in winter.
I did have a Ceramic tint 20% (allows 80% light transmission) on all glass except the windshield. That combined with a reflective foil windshield screen drastically reduced heat build-up in the summer.

Ken

 

[gjallen3]

I have a 23 XLT, and have a similar issue. I leave the HVAC control on auto almost all the time. The only time I change the temperature setting is in the summer on sunny days when driving South and the sun is coming directly in the windshield. I set the temperature colder, to be comfortable, then after the sun is not coming through the windshield, (direction change, cloudy etc) the cabin becomes too cold. I
I think that it has something to do with the placement of the temperature sensor.
Come Sept/Oct, I probably won't change the the temperature setting until next summer. We do have big swings in temperature over the year. 35C, 95F has been common this summer and -25C, -13F is normal in winter.
I did have a Ceramic tint 20% (allows 80% light transmission) on all glass except the windshield. That combined with a reflective foil windshield screen drastically reduced heat build-up in the summer.

Ken

The AUTO button is one convenience feature that I never use on any of my vehicles. Could be because I live near Phoenix AZ and for most of the year it’s hot enough to just set the temp as low as it goes and blast the fan until you are cooled off. I never could quite figure it out so I don't bother. Ironically I bought the truck off the lot locally here in AZ and it was ordered equipped with heated seats and steering wheel. Heated side mirrors and wipers. I can’t wait to try them out.

 

[icegradner]

The auto mode on the HVAC is annoying, but not complicated really. One light is low fan speed, three is high fan speed. I never use auto mode on the Maverick HVAC just because the fans are so loud when the dial is set to more than 3-4 lights.

 

[colinl]

Purchased a 2025 XLT, 2.0 in early July with 360 and towing pkg's; I have about 1,500 miles so far. As posted, all A/C is in the screen, no knobs. I always have the A/C set to auto, (very odd that is has three auto settings...) but a couple of things I dont understand and wonder if something is not working correctly: When the sun is out and its warm/hot, the A/C works as expected. Sometimes I will start with Max AC then switch to auto; seems to work fine. But when I first get in and its either dark or not sunny out and not very warm inside the cabin, the AC blows crazy cold air. I have to turn the temp to 78 just to keep ice cycles from forming. The Auto does not seem to work at all in those situations. Once the sum comes out or it gets warm/hot, auto works fine. Anyone else have this problem? Is there a way to calibrate or reset the thermometer?

I also noticed the temp resets itself to 72 on start, even though I know it was set higher when I exited; and I never set the temp at 72....

I have not driven in cold wx yet so don't know if the same thing happens with the AC off.

Anyone else seen this? Any ideas?

Thanks,

based on your issue and your location I would theorize that your HVAC is attempting to dehumidify.

I would let it.

it can't actually form icicles in summer, in atlanta. if you have a side vent pointing at the door window, though, it could fog over. make sure all your vents are pointed in the cabin rather than directly at a person, and you'll be fine. the center vents in particular should point high and center-ish, especially if you have rear seat passengers since they don't have vents.

 

[Cancunbadlands]

Dehumidifier mode?

 

[vandeda2024]

I'm trying out auto mode now because manual mode acts like auto mode anyway. The HVAC is my one big complaint with my Mav. Even when the interior temp is set to warmer than the outside temp, the HVAC still sets AC on and recirculating when I start it up, even when my last setting was AC off and outside air. So frustrating as it's acting like auto made anyway. So, I have it set to auto mode right now to see how it does or does not behave differently. Ford engineers: #keeplaststate (same goes for My View, I'd love to have to stay up whenever I restart).

 

[Alfetta159]

Dehumidifier mode?

A/C was invented to take humidity out of the air, that's why there are little water puddles under the cars in the parking lots on hot days or why refrigerators have drip pans underneath. What I've read was that ink/paper printers on the east coast were having trouble with ink not drying and pages getting wavy on humid days, so some guy named Carrier came up with the systems we basically have now: cool the air so much that the water condenses out and then you can warm it back up to whatever temp you want. Cooling the air was a bug that became the killer feature. *

I still meet people who say, "Why should I turn on my A/C when I need to defog my windows? That makes no sense." Fortunately, a lot of cars force A/C on when defrosting/defogging nowadays.

As for the three fan settings, I believe that it sets the max speed. If you want auto HVAC, but don't want or need full blast fan and noise, you can limit the max speed it will run.

* Willis Carrier - Wikipedia

 

[CrazyCanuk]

I'm trying out auto mode now because manual mode acts like auto mode anyway. The HVAC is my one big complaint with my Mav. Even when the interior temp is set to warmer than the outside temp, the HVAC still sets AC on and recirculating when I start it up, even when my last setting was AC off and outside air. So frustrating as it's acting like auto made anyway. So, I have it set to auto mode right now to see how it does or does not behave differently. Ford engineers: #keeplaststate (same goes for My View, I'd love to have to stay up whenever I restart).

Every ford product I've owned since 1997 with dual air controls,--- I set the inside temp to 70 degrees, recirculate button next to the AC button ON, and AUTO. on fan speed One, and never have to touch it. If you do this, it will not default to any other setting. At least it has never done so for me. I've had 3 SHOs two Fusions and a Ranger with dual controls, and I've never had an issue. All I ever changed was the inside temp on occasion if I got too warm or too cold. If the windows fog up I turn on the defroster and the fan automatically goes to high fan speed, and when the windows clear I just hit the AUTO button again, and we're back to normal. If you're not using auto, yes it will default to the lowest cold setting or highest setting every time you turn off the ignition. If that doesn't fix your problem then you might have a mixer door issue, which the dealer or a reputable mechanic can usually replace .

 

[vandeda2024]

If that doesn't fix your problem then you might have a mixer door issue, which the dealer or a reputable mechanic can usually replace .

I'm glad to hear that there appears to be more consistency with "auto". However, that won't fix my problem since it's a programming issue. Ford programmers need to program in effectively "keep last state". So if I had my HVAC set to 78, upper body, outside air, A/C off, fan speed on 3 when I shut the Mav off, then that is exactly what it should be when I turn it back on if it's not in auto (or, in other words, in manual control). Every car I've owned has done that so far up until this point. It is what it is, overall I really love the Mav and hope that it gives me many years and miles of relatively problem free operation!

 

[wwb]

Thanks to everyone for their info. No doubt I will have to figure out my "work around" for this defect....

 

[Alex M.]

I have a jeep Cherokee and a GMC Terrain, both with dual controls. Setting a temperature, both vehicles keep it by either heating or cooling, adjusting fan speed from high to low as needed on startup. My '25 Maverick Lariat seems to be confused as to what to do, much like you describe.

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