Peculiar Climate Control Issue

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After running through the rain, I sat in my car drying off with the climate control set at 80.

The expected heat output as usual.

But when the climate control was set to a cooler temperature, the climate control kept outputting 80 degrees.

This sounded like the blend door actuator problem.

I took the car to a local Ford service center (out of warranty) and they wanted $2,200+ to replace the climate control system.

I then took the car to a trusted repair shop where the mechanic fixed the problem in less than an hour for $75.

The mechanic said he "rebooted the computer".

As long as the climate control stays below 77, the temperature can be adjusted.

Is rebooting the computer nothing more than disconnecting and reconnecting the battery ?

Has anyone heard of this issue ?
 
sounds like your trusted mechanic isnt to be so trusted... rebooting the computer. is in interesting term to say the least. for the most part. removing the ground and letting it sit for a little bit will kill the computer and any codes stored in it. it will also make it relearn all the sensors and stuff. Not sure if thats really worth 75 dollars.

did you ask ford what they wanted 2200 dollars for. as in what they were going to do for that money. if they told ya replace the blend door then ya know what you were up against. i am not very good with hvac system. however. to mean it would be broken down as the module in the dash and the blend door. if its not one of those two items then not sure not. i just think its odd someone charges 75 dollars to leave a negative cable off for 5 minutes.
 
The Ford dealership wanted to replace the entire HVAC system and $2,200 - $3,000 was their estimate.

As for disconnecting the battery, why would this fix what would be appear to be a physical problem (i.e., broken part) ?

If the climate control is set to 90, the output air is very hot.

If the climate control is set to Max Cold, the output is very cold.

If you adjust the climate control above 76, the climate control system becomes non-responsive and locks on outputting hot air only.

If this were the blend door actuator problem, how would a computer control setting affect the door ?
 
The dealership didn't want to work on your 15 year old car, so they made up some bullsh!t number they knew you'd never pay. If it were me, I'd never return there for as long as I live. Scumbags.

It's easy enough to check for the blend door. Just empty your glovebox, pull it out and let it hang. On the left side inside the opening you'll see a plastic gray arm partially hidden, with a metal link going off to the left. Try moving the arm. If it moves more than a tiny bit, the blend door actuator is broke.

Now start the car and cycle between heat and AC while watching the arm. It should move a few degrees clockwise for heat and counter-clockwise for AC. If it doesn't, or it only moves at max heat or max cold, then it might the head unit, but...

Another possibility is that the cabin temperature sensor is disconnected or gone bad (although I've never heard of one going bad). You can get to that by pulling the message center keypad up from the front. That actually sounds like your problem, since the ATC will ignore the cabin temperature when on max heat or cold and just go all out like you describe.
 
Marcus said:
The dealership didn't want to work on your 15 year old car, so they made up some bullsh!t number they knew you'd never pay. If it were me, I'd never return there for as long as I live. Scumbags.

It's easy enough to check for the blend door. Just empty your glovebox, pull it out and let it hang. On the left side inside the opening you'll see a plastic gray arm partially hidden, with a metal link going off to the left. Try moving the arm. If it moves more than a tiny bit, the blend door actuator is broke.

Now start the car and cycle between heat and AC while watching the arm. It should move a few degrees clockwise for heat and counter-clockwise for AC. If it doesn't, or it only moves at max heat or max cold, then it might the head unit, but...

Another possibility is that the cabin temperature sensor is disconnected or gone bad (although I've never heard of one going bad). You can get to that by pulling the message center keypad up from the front. That actually sounds like your problem, since the ATC will ignore the cabin temperature when on max heat or cold and just go all out like you describe.
Click to expand...

Marcus,

Thank you for the detailed reply.

Is the item below the cabin temperature sensor ?

http://www.amazon.com/Motorcraft-YH...&newCar=1&s=automotive&vehicleType=automotive

Is this a common problem ?
 
I'll try the EATC self-test.

***
On the head unit, press the OFF and FLOOR buttons simultaneously and then press the AUTOMATIC button within two seconds. The display will show a pulse tracer going around the center of the display window. The test may run as long as 30 seconds.

To exit self-test and retain DTCs, push the blue (cooler) button. The control will exit self-test, retain all diagnostic trouble codes and then turn OFF (display blank).

To exit self-test and clear all diagnostic trouble codes, press the DEFROST button. The vacuum fluorescent display window will show 888 and all function symbols for one second. Then, the EATC control assembly will turn OFF (display blank) and all DTCs will be cleared.
***
 
To remove the center panel on the dash, do you pry it out ?
 
Yes, that's the correct sensor. To remove the panel, just pry it up from the front. You should be able to just pull up on the front edge of the buttons and it'll pop out. Like Chris said, the sensor going out is pretty much unheard of, but I'm making an educated guess based on your symptoms. Normally a broken blend door results in no heat, or very weak heat. You say you've got heat, but only when you go to max heat, so I'm thinking bad head unit or bad sensor.

With that said, before you buy that sensor, check the blend door just because it's the easiest thing to check. Just do I like I described above. You may have a broken gray arm, which is another possibility. It's part of the blend door actuator and can give you full AC and weak heat. Start the car, let the engine heat up, drop the glove box, and watch the gray arm (if it's not broke) as you adjust the temperature control, then report back.
 
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