Weird things I learned about the recirculating air feature

[martyi48]

At some point they removed the LEDs from the temperature control knobs.

I wonder why? Do those people that have the LEDs on the knobs also have the temperature shown on the screen display?

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[Dechion]

I wonder why? Do those people that have the LEDs on the knobs also have the temperature shown on the screen display?

From what I understand it was a parts issue, likely due to the chip shortage.

 

[MichaelG]

I have a 2002 Ranger and it does not have a recirculation function. If I am behind a garbage truck or some semi spewing smoke, to stop the stink from entering the cabin, I simply turn off the blower. Can the same be done in the Maverick?

 

[Big Kahuna]

Yes you can turn off the fan system completely so that is how we were rolling this week with the smoke, but if you need to defrost as we did you’re SOL and smoke comes in.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

"skunk population".....

Maybe procreation?

 

[Clock Doc]

The wifes Hyundai does the same thing. Recirculating does not stay on. All the vehicles I have had have always used outside air for defrost. It's the only way to clear the window.

 

[Red Ryder]

I wonder why? Do those people that have the LEDs on the knobs also have the temperature shown on the screen display?

In my case, yes.

 

[Jamesw65]

We had some serious wildfire smoke this morning so when I got in the car with the kids I put on the recirculating air (pressed the button). I turned on the AC as the car was a little stuffy.

After 8-10 minutes of driving I started smelling the wildfire smoke and looked down and the recirculating air was off - it turned off on its own. Thats weird I thought and turned it back on - at this point I turned off the AC. So no AC and just the recirculating air on and after a couple of minutes it turns itself off again and I smell smoke. I'm like WTF.

Then we're driving along and the kids are talking and the windshield starts fogging up a bit so I push the defrost button and that immediately turns off recirculating air.

In my old car if you put on recirculating air - it stayed on until you turned it off, no matter the other functions you were doing.

I am so confused. Maybe the defrost I could understand if there was some reasoning for that but why the hell does it turn itself off otherwise? Is it just my maverick? Does it have to do with the temp gauge or something?

I took videos of it turning itself off with nothing else selected after 5 mins and of it turning off immediately when I press defrost. I'll post later. Maybe someone can explain this to me.

Same thing happens with my 2018 Escape

 

[Joe Kelly]

So now that I know this is a thing I messed around with it a ton today to see if I can figure anything out

• With max AC ON the recirc will stay on - however if you do max AC and hit the defrost setting it will turn off the max AC and the recir
• With MAX AC in the maverick you can't adjust temp which is different for me vs some older cars where even in the max AC setting you could still adjust temp gauge independently. Not sure I can think of a time you'd need to but if you do MAX AC it goes to LOW on the temp.
• The recirculation button will shut off on it's own and I can not figure out a rhyme or reason to how or when it will decide to turn off. With the foot vent selected it stayed on for a while but then turned off when I wasn't looking. Another time I set it to the dash vent and it went off after about 5 minutes.
• AC on or AC off it will still shut off when it wants to - it seems like with the AC off it stays on longer and is less likely to shut off than with the AC on.

So in conclusion if you press the recirculation button it's like a box of chocolates....you don't know what you're going to get. If you're in traffic behind a stinky garbage truck and you close the windows and turn the AC on and hit recirculation just be aware the car might decide to turn it off whenever it wants

Perhaps because I'm in the PNW and we have higher humidity right now it is trying not to fog my windows but I seriously have no idea how to figure out when it will stay on or shut off.

I drove my Lariat with lux today for 10 hours with the dual temp set at 72 and glancing at the recycle every once in a while the recycle was on all day. I was drying through Illinois today during harvest time and at times the dust was so bad I could not drive over 20 MPH and the recycle was on. No problem with it turning off on it’s own.

 

[penny_shore]

This recirc thing drives me crazy! Smelly trucks trigger my asthma and I can't avoid them driving to work. I bet there is a way to change the action since it is controlled by a computer. On other cars there have been ways to get into the computer and enter a code that change this type of behavior. Anyone work for Ford and have access to this info???

 

[DoomsdayJesus86]

A really annoying thing the car also does is automatically change blower speed based on outside temperature, even with the blower manually turned all the way up. So if you're smoking/vaping in your car and want the smoke to go straight out the window in winter and your car isn't warmed up, the hvac will automatically gut the fan speed and smoke up your cabin unless you turn the temp below outdoor temp, or set it to low.

 

[Peps]

Yes!

In skunk mating season, there is roadkill everywhere in my area. In fact, my wife (when riding as a passenger), knows to "batten down the hatches" when dead skunks are sighted ahead, meaning to reconfigure for re-circulation.

I have a major pot (marihuana) dispenser that I drive by daily. not fun at 6 AM before work.
Dear Ford I know you had some engineer that did not agree with the existing setting s. You should have listen to him/her..

 

[ejordan]

I had the same problem for the first 5000 miles or so. A/C would turn itself on when I knew it was off when I left it last. But it hasn’t self implied any heat and air functions in the last 7000 miles so I don’t know what is up!

 

[jsus]

I have a major pot (marihuana) dispenser that I drive by daily. not fun at 6 AM before work.
Dear Ford I know you had some engineer that did not agree with the existing setting s. You should have listen to him/her..

That stench finds its way seeping into a vehicle regardless of recirculation setting, in my experience. Always end up having to either run the fans on max for several minutes and/or open the moon roof. Even more “fun” driving past those places with the moonroof open if I forget…. Ugh.

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