Climate Control Heater Issue

[needbout350]

I plan to try and insulate the sensor from the heat of the lcd with foam and see how that works. It will probably be a few days before I get to it though. I'm going to hold off on the update until I get a chance to try it. Then depending on how it works I may get the update and see how it goes with both since some are reporting that the update dosent fully cure the issue.

 

[forsakenProto]

Awesome can you post a link where you found that information. My google skills are lacking I can't seem to find a good schematic of the system.

Unfortunately I am unable to share the link where I found that due to work related reasons, but I'm here in case you have anymore questions about what is where on these vehicles!

 

[jayrod1980]

All I know is other than the techs not giving a crap about being nice to my car, the reflash made the climate control work about on par with what I've experienced with auto climate cars. Some run hot, some run cold, rarely are they that accurate but at least they cycle on and off to keep the temps stable, whatever their baseline is. Unless the new QNX system is a much hotter unit than the Ms system of the previous years cars, I can't understand why only the 2016 would have this issue.

 

[needbout350]

I found the interior sensor it's located a few inches below the start button. I also figured out that it's not secured there too well I suspect some spirited driving will knock it loose. After looking up the part number I also found a thread on the focus forums confirming that some of those guys had knocked it out. So if in the future you here something rolling around in your dash by the steering wheel it's likely that this sensor popped loose.

I went ahead and put some foam around the sensor by the lcd to see if it would help at all and after a few drives it seems to help. However, it only increased the time it takes for the sensor to get heat soaked. So instade of it taking about 20 minutes it took more like 25-30 for the lcd to heat the sensor and start seeing the problem. The biggest issue seems to be that after running the car for a while and parking it the lcd dumps all of its heat into the surrounding area. Which is why a lot of people are reporting the heat working then parking and comming back in a few minutes to it blowing cold. The ventilation for the lcd dosent do much and all the heat just stays there cooking everything. Short of installing some kind of cooling system to better cool the lcd I don't see a way to keep the sensor from getting heat soaked. Maybe installing a fan from a computer to make the cooling vent more effectiveI would work but that's too much work for me. So it looks like we will have to live with whatever functionality we get from the recalibration. Mine will be done tomorrow and I'll do some testing on it after the recalibration.

 

[jayrod1980]

Smart deduction! I'll bet the fix turns down the amount the brain of the system takes into account that sensor. I guess the new QNX system runs hotter than the old Microsoft one.

 

[mentokk]

After a week with the new reflash, I can confidently say that this issue has been fixed. I don't know if the system "learns" over time, or if I have just gotten used to the temperature settings, but it is now as accurate as it needs to be. It holds whatever temperature you set it to near perfectly and doesn't change over time. Whether it was the lcd temperature or some other variance in the 2016, the new calibration seems to have compensated for this.

 

[DaveG99]

How long does it take them to re calibrate it ?

 

[mentokk]

How long does it take them to re calibrate it ?

It took about an hour in total. The tech was very knowledgeable and was able to find the software update and had to use a laptop to update their IDS system. Their shop computers would not update, so they had a little issue there. The flash itself took about 15 minutes over the OBD2 port. Just expect it may take a few minutes for them to update the IDS tool.

 

[forsakenProto]

It took about an hour in total. The tech was very knowledgeable and was able to find the software update and had to use a laptop to update their IDS system. Their shop computers would not update, so they had a little issue there. The flash itself took about 15 minutes over the OBD2 port. Just expect it may take a few minutes for them to update the IDS tool.

Agreed, we weren't even aware there was an update to our IDS software until the bulletin came out regarding the HVAC reprogramming.

 

[IrishST]

I think the IDS being out of date was why they had problems with flashing my car the other day. I have a new appointment tomorrow and they said they're good to go so hopefully I can finally get this sorted.

 

[DaveG99]

What's IDS? What should I tell the dealer incase they are clueless about this

 

[IrishST]

What's IDS? What should I tell the dealer incase they are clueless about this

Thats the dealer's diagnostic computer.

They released a service message for cars built between 9/15/15 and 12/15/15. Ask for service bulletin SSM-45658 and they should just be able to look it up along with your build date to see if you're in the range.

 

[needbout350]

After a week with the new reflash, I can confidently say that this issue has been fixed. I don't know if the system "learns" over time, or if I have just gotten used to the temperature settings, but it is now as accurate as it needs to be. It holds whatever temperature you set it to near perfectly and doesn't change over time. Whether it was the lcd temperature or some other variance in the 2016, the new calibration seems to have compensated for this.

That's good news I'm sitting at my stealership to get the reflash done. I'm a little concerned since they had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned the ssm and that an update was needed for their IDS tool. Hopefully they just look up the ssm instade of trying to diagnose it first.

The service writer was shocked to see my car with less than 500 miles on it already in for service.

 

[IrishST]

My service writer didn't know about it either. Because I'd been in already when I showed up at his desk he just said "sorry, still nothing new". I made him look it up and print it out in front of me and that was that.

I'm at the dealer again right now for a second attempt at performing the flash. Hopefully their IDS doesn't lock up again...

 

[IrishST]

Flash was done properly this time. Sitting in the lot for 15 minutes messing with it I found that it adjusted the air accordingly based on a combination of inside and outside temperatures. When I started moving and the interior cooled off a little, and the exterior temp reading dropped from not sitting still in direct sunlight, the air coming out of the vents warmed up. I was able to leave it on 75/AUTO and actually be comfortable on the way home - not too hot and not freezing. Intentionally stopped for 10 minutes and after restarting the car it worked the same as when I left the dealer.

Regarding manual mode, I'm honestly not sure yet. It's definitely not doing what it did before, but like others have mentioned the temperature doesn't seem accurate. I did not drive with it in manual so I'm not sure if it was just due to my sitting still in the sun or not and I'll test more. It's supposed to drop down into the low 30s tonight so I'm going to go for a ride at 3am when I finish work and see how it goes in auto and manual.

TL;DR - I think it's fixed but I need to do more testing in colder temps in both auto and manual to sign off on it.

 

[needbout350]

Flash was done properly this time. Sitting in the lot for 15 minutes messing with it I found that it adjusted the air accordingly based on a combination of inside and outside temperatures. When I started moving and the interior cooled off a little, and the exterior temp reading dropped from not sitting still in direct sunlight, the air coming out of the vents warmed up. I was able to leave it on 75/AUTO and actually be comfortable on the way home - not too hot and not freezing. Intentionally stopped for 10 minutes and after restarting the car it worked the same as when I left the dealer.

Regarding manual mode, I'm honestly not sure yet. It's definitely not doing what it did before, but like others have mentioned the temperature doesn't seem accurate. I did not drive with it in manual so I'm not sure if it was just due to my sitting still in the sun or not and I'll test more. It's supposed to drop down into the low 30s tonight so I'm going to go for a ride at 3am when I finish work and see how it goes in auto and manual.

TL;DR - I think it's fixed but I need to do more testing in colder temps in both auto and manual to sign off on it.

I had pretty much the same experience as you. It took about 3.5 hours to get it done mostly because the service writer was unaware of the update and didn't want to listen to me about the ssm. They did an unnecessary test to verify the problem which took about an 2 hours then they finally looked the vin up and came to me to tell me they couldent do anything because ford was aware but did not have a fix yet. They had found the old ssm saying that no work could be done. At this point the service writer was willing to listen and finally looked up the ssm # I told him about when I first arrived. After that it took about 1.5 hours to update their tool and my car.

Like you I did a few tests and let the car sit since it usually acts up after that. But to my supprize it worked just fine and 75 held a comfortable temp. Manual mode worked fine for me too no complaints so far on my end. Like some one else said I'm guessing they reduced the amount of control the sensor behind the lcd has over the system. It would be interesting to see what they changed in the programming.

 

[IrishST]

Took it for a ride last night around 3:30am and it was ~31 degrees outside. Bundled up and just left it on AUTO/75 to see what would happen... Took a few minutes for the car to warm up and during that time it didn't blow air at all, which is normal for an AUTO CC system. Car warmed up and the air started blowing slow at first and then after another couple of minutes it ramped up to high speed and was blowing WARM AIR! Not excruciatingly hot, not ice cold, but a nice warm "in the range of" 75 degrees. Let it go for a bit and then switched it over to manual and the temperature did not change. Put it back to auto, lowered it to 72 because the car was comfortable enough and the fans decreased in speed, temperature coming out of the vents dropped a bit. Checked manual again, still no issues. Did the same with 69 degrees and had the same "it works" results on both auto and manual.

The only thing I've noticed is that when I leave it on auto the fans never go full on low speed. Even when I know for a fact the car has to be warm enough to match 70-72 degrees, the fans stay at around speed 2-3 and never drop all the way to 1. I'm not sure if that was because it was just so cold outside and the computer knew if it dropped the fans to the lowest speed it couldn't keep up or if it's just the way the system is. Regardless, the heat works now and if auto isn't regulating enough I can switch it to manual and leave it on 70-72, fan speed 1, coming out the dash and be totally fine.

I'm so stoked this is fixed since it was the only thing impacting my love of the car. Here's to hoping it is a lasting fix and it doesn't randomly stop working again .

 

[DaveG99]

Thats the dealer's diagnostic computer.

They released a service message for cars built between 9/15/15 and 12/15/15. Ask for service bulletin SSM-45658 and they should just be able to look it up along with your build date to see if you're in the range.

I looked up my build date here.

http://www.etis.ford.com/vehicleSelection.do


10/12/15. I guess I'm in range. And I do have this problem

 

[jayrod1980]

So what is the official fix for cars in that range? Just a reflash? Mine is working well after the dealer reprogrammed it... But what caused the issue?

 

[forsakenProto]

The refresh seems to be solving the issue in most cases. As for what caused the issue, Ford has yet to really say, and I doubt we'll ever hear a straight answer from them what it was.