Auto AC is weak when it is hot outside

[azureblue34]

Thanks all for the help!

@Cherokee thanks for the giggles.

I can confirm:

• I live in Denver with dry climate, high elevation, and a lot of different weather
• I did make sure the physical vents are open
• My model is a hybrid
• I have no sun roof

Interesting that while there are a good number of manual AC advocates, it seems that as many folks or more are happy with auto AC.

I will plan to:

• Get a thermometer and test to target 40 F
• Try manual mode more
• Be more patient
• Try another dealership if I don't figure something out
• It is also on my list to get the front side windows tinted to match the back, which I think will help in high elevation Denver

I don't mind having all of the climate controls in the touch screen in theory. There are some advantages to it. But gosh I wish auto would work better so I didn't have to fiddle with the screen so much. Everything else works so great!

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[MavStangVa]

Thanks all for the help!

@Cherokee thanks for the giggles.

I can confirm:

• I live in Denver with dry climate, high elevation, and a lot of different weather
• I did make sure the physical vents are open
• My model is a hybrid
• I have no sun roof

Interesting that while there are a good number of manual AC advocates, it seems that as many folks or more are happy with auto AC.

I will plan to:

• Get a thermometer and test to target 40 F
• Try manual mode more
• Be more patient
• Try another dealership if I don't figure something out
• It is also on my list to get the front side windows tinted to match the back, which I think will help in high elevation Denver

I don't mind having all of the climate controls in the touch screen in theory. There are some advantages to it. But gosh I wish auto would work better so I didn't have to fiddle with the screen so much. Everything else works so great!

You will never see 40 degree air. A mechanic/ac expert told me once the best you can hope for is 15 degrees below ambient air. So 80 outside, 65 coldest at vents. I don't know if he was correct. Please remember the temp setting is NOT the temp the vent air will be. It is just like a house thermostat. It will heat or cool to that temperature if it can.

 

[Cherokee]

Boyz,
It’s simple, manual A/C wide open on recirculate cools a hot cabin fastest.
Auto A/C does just fine if you set it up correctly.
But you just don’t get that, ‘Turbo’ feel out of the dash vents.

Auto Takes a bit longer to cool or heat the cabin.

My dual zone system made me laugh the one time I used it.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Boyz,
It’s simple, manual A/C wide open on recirculate cools a hot cabin fastest.
Auto A/C does just fine if you set it up correctly.
But you just don’t get that, ‘Turbo’ feel out of the dash vents.

Auto Takes a bit longer to cool or heat the cabin.

My dual zone system made me laugh the one time I used it.

It's amazing how well the dual zone works. It's good enough to compromise the difference between my side and wife's side. However it actually works (I assume it mixes % of recirculating air on each side separately we usually settle on fan 2 as she prefers 1 and I prefer 3). Usually 3-4°F difference.

 

[MikeS1942]

Boyz,
It’s simple, manual A/C wide open on recirculate cools a hot cabin fastest.
Auto A/C does just fine if you set it up correctly.
But you just don’t get that, ‘Turbo’ feel out of the dash vents.

Auto Takes a bit longer to cool or heat the cabin.

My dual zone system made me laugh the one time I used it.

Boyz,
It’s simple, manual A/C wide open on recirculate cools a hot cabin fastest.
Auto A/C does just fine if you set it up correctly.
But you just don’t get that, ‘Turbo’ feel out of the dash vents.

Auto Takes a bit longer to cool or heat the cabin.

My dual zone system made me laugh the one time I used it.

Keep your AC on recirculation, and it will work much better. It cools the air in the cabin, not the air coming in from outside. Check your manual for recirculate if you don't know what we're talking about.

 

[pigsareus]

I love my 2025 Lariat but this has been driving me nuts.

I keep the automatic climate control set to 70. Set the level to 2 bars which is medium (I have also tried setting to 3 bars which is high). Confirmed AC light is on.

At home the vehicle is parked inside a large apartment building garage that is fully enclosed. The temp is always moderate and does not vary much, probably about 70 this time of year. I turn the truck on and it strong blows cold air immediately. Really, it almost seems like it is overdoing it more than it should. Kind of weird but hey it is blowing cold so I'll take it.

Then I go to a store and park outside in the sun when it is 80 and come back to the truck and turn it on. It is not blowing hard or cold. I end up cranking the temp all the way down to 60 and then I get a medium blow and medium cool air the rest of the trip. It is barely acceptable comfort at that point.

I had the dealer check it out when the truck was in for a defective washer fluid sensor. They said the climate control is working as designed.

The auto climate control worked better on my 2011 Subaru!

I read the manual and I am not aware of any setting that is incorrect.

This is just so wacky. It cools too much when the exterior temperature is moderate. It doesn't cool enough when it is hot outside.

Is the the auto climate control really designed to be this dumb and this is what others experience? Or do I have a defective system? It seems like some temp sensor is bonkers or something.

I am considering reaching out to the salesman about this or taking the vehicle to a different dealer.

Thanks for the help!

Well when they told you it was 'normal' did you ask them for a full explanation of how they came to that conclusion? It seems fairly obvious that it is not normal

 

[Aherpa]

On my 2022 Lariat . . . for AC . . . I set the temp to 'LO', turn on 'recirculate' and use the fan to adjust more or less cold air flow and I keep the moon roof sunshade closed.
In the winter, I set the temp to 65 degrees, set it to 'AUTO' and open the moon roof sunshade to let the sunshine warm up the interior when we are doing our running around.

 

[Joylove]

Modern HVAC in cars give some control of freedom of the fan speed. I’m not sure is if figured out the logic, like the fan speed you set is the max allowed, because it’s not quite that either, but bottom line it you may need to leave it on AUTO but increase the fan speed a little (AUTO is not cancelled when you do this, you will notice, which is new compared to older vehicles).

 

[Tbone289]

Modern HVAC in cars give some control of freedom of the fan speed. I’m not sure is if figured out the logic, like the fan speed you set is the max allowed, because it’s not quite that either, but bottom line it you may need to leave it on AUTO but increase the fan speed a little (AUTO is not cancelled when you do this, you will notice, which is new compared to older vehicles).

I can't speak to the MY25+, but for MY22-24 the 3 settings for Auto set the maximum fan speed to low, moderate or high. These three settings are made with the Auto mode button, not the fan control. I would think that the MY25+ plus would be similar, but don't crucify me if I'm wrong.

 

[KO Stradivarius]

You may want to get one of these a/c vent thermometers. To check the temperature of the air coming out of the vents.
[/QUOTE]

You may want to try a different dealership. I have mine set on auto 3bars 72° I have lowered the temperature to 68 to start and then raise it back to 72°. I never have used max cooling. I have not had problem staying cool. We have very little humidity. I also have fabric seats which helps. It works as well as any vehicle I've had previously owned.
Sometimes too cold..
You may want to get one of these a/c vent thermometers. To check the temperature of the air coming out of the vents.

You will never see 40 degree air. A mechanic/ac expert told me once the best you can hope for is 15 degrees below ambient air. So 80 outside, 65 coldest at vents. I don't know if he was correct. Please remember the temp setting is NOT the temp the vent air will be. It is just like a house thermostat. It will heat or cool to that temperature if it can.

I keep my thermometer in the vent full time, so I know that if set it to “LO”, I will see at least mid 40’s after it reaches equilibrium, no matter how hot outside. I will take another look soon.

 

[MikeS1942]

You may want to get one of these a/c vent thermometers. To check the temperature of the air coming out of the vents.

I keep my thermometer in the vent full time, so I know that if set it to “LO”, I will see at least mid 40’s after it reaches equilibrium, no matter how hot outside.
[/QUOTE]
That was my understanding as well. High 40s low 50s on your very thermometer is what you should be getting on a proper AC unit.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

You may want to get one of these a/c vent thermometers. To check the temperature of the air coming out of the vents.

I keep my thermometer in the vent full time, so I know that if set it to “LO”, I will see at least mid 40’s after it reaches equilibrium, no matter how hot outside.
[/QUOTE]
I believe if set to LO A will never reduce cooling buy if set to 60, 62, etc it could eventually get to "there"!

 

[HeyBales]

Even my 24MY on Auto, which I'll use a few times for heat in winter - directs the hot air to defrost vents - none to face vents. And some feet.

But sometimes my fingers are cold from windshield clearing, and that's not a useful set of vents with no heated steering wheel - so punch the face vent selection and auto is off so I can warm fingers up.

With 25MY doing even more on it's own - I'm going for defrost vents being used at the same time as face.

Now I'm going to test the 24MY, despite our surprisingly cool day.

Tested.
Temp was on Lo since I normally do outside air.
Face was selected and fan speed 1.
85 reported outside before moving, probably over 100 in cabin, forgot to lower rear covered windows for air flow.

Auto on 2.
Only used face vent on it's own, fan speed seemed like 6, makes sense with a Lo setting and just starting.
Now would a bigger temp differential or Auto 3 cause the defrost to be used too?
No vent selections were shown, despite only doing face. (that's a common glitch when I turn HVAC on - Face not lit like it was on turnoff)
Can it pick others?

Just like the heat for fingers though requiring manual mode, if I'm already hot - I'd prefer slower fan on face/chest directly with colder air, than the attempt to cool the whole cabin when I'm it.
So back to manual mode.

 

[HeyBales]

Modern HVAC in cars give some control of freedom of the fan speed. I’m not sure is if figured out the logic, like the fan speed you set is the max allowed, because it’s not quite that either, but bottom line it you may need to leave it on AUTO but increase the fan speed a little (AUTO is not cancelled when you do this, you will notice, which is new compared to older vehicles).

Other difference with pre-25MY - if you adjust fan speed it kicks it out of Auto.

But to the manual image posted above - Auto has 3 selection ranges of fan speed.

 

[HeyBales]

The following AI synopsis agrees with what I found for Toyota years ago too.

It's not correct though regarding difference to ambient (unless they mean inside cab), because recirc mode should be on for the test. Therefore it's not ambient, but the air intake under the dash.
Same as HVAC tests in the house, return and supply are read.
Outside air temp comes in to play measuring line temp - and that's not happening in the truck easily, so doesn't matter unless you have a problem.

A properly functioning Ford truck AC system should produce vent temperatures between 40°F and 50°F (4°C - 10°C) when the outside temperature is around 90°F, ideally delivering air that is 30°F to 40°F cooler than the ambient air. Performance varies by humidity; however, temperatures above 60°F often indicate a need for service.

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