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Normal for Focus to blow warm air when not using a/c?

1K views 7 replies 7 participants last post by  sailor 
#1 ·
My almost 20 year escort would blow air (recirculated from the outside) when not using the air conditioner that was generally matched to the temperature of the air outside. For the Focus, it feels warmer and more humid than the air outside.

I try to reconcile this by using ac for a few minutes and then turning it off. Then the air seems normal for a while before it warms up again.

The morning drive is usually fine (after the first start of the day), but any subsequent driving in the afternoon or evening regardless of how cool it is outside yields warm humid air.

Thoughts?
 
#3 ·
It's a quirk of the manual HVAC controls.
The North American Spec car has a "Max A/C" setting that the rest of the world does not have (I know for certain Asia/Pacific doesn't have it: not sure about Europe).

The heater core mixer door will not close fully until the knob is in this extreme 7 o'clock position.
Unfortunately with the NA cars, that means you also get A/C and Recirc.

The air is warmer because it's blowing slightly over the heater core.

The air feels more humid because:
1) It's warmer.
2) The outside air is more humid than you expect.
3) The A/C was recently running and the Evaporator still has condensation on it. The warmer air from the heater core can hold more water vapor, so the apparent humidity rises. (This isn't the case if the A/C has been off for an extended period of time while driving)

There's absolutely nothing that can be done to fix it. I open my windows and turn the fan off now. It drives me crazy.
 
#4 ·
I have outside air coming thru the vents even when fan speed is set to 0, a/c is off and temp is set to cold. The only way to stop it is to hit the recirc button.
 
#5 ·
My almost 20 year escort would blow air (recirculated from the outside) when not using the air conditioner that was generally matched to the temperature of the air outside. For the Focus, it feels warmer and more humid than the air outside.

I try to reconcile this by using ac for a few minutes and then turning it off. Then the air seems normal for a while before it warms up again.

The morning drive is usually fine (after the first start of the day), but any subsequent driving in the afternoon or evening regardless of how cool it is outside yields warm humid air.

Thoughts?
It's a quirk of the manual HVAC controls.
The North American Spec car has a "Max A/C" setting that the rest of the world does not have (I know for certain Asia/Pacific doesn't have it: not sure about Europe).

The heater core mixer door will not close fully until the knob is in this extreme 7 o'clock position.
Unfortunately with the NA cars, that means you also get A/C and Recirc.

The air is warmer because it's blowing slightly over the heater core.

The air feels more humid because:
1) It's warmer.
2) The outside air is more humid than you expect.
3) The A/C was recently running and the Evaporator still has condensation on it. The warmer air from the heater core can hold more water vapor, so the apparent humidity rises. (This isn't the case if the A/C has been off for an extended period of time while driving)

There's absolutely nothing that can be done to fix it. I open my windows and turn the fan off now. It drives me crazy.

Is the extreme 7 o clock position one notch above max ac? That's my default position and I am still getting warm and humid air. Humid is fine if the air wasn't warm!
 
#8 ·
Warmer than ambient happens on older models as well when turned to cold, the "blend door" in these systems isn't a perfect seal. Not really noticeable to me except when trying NOT to use A/C when it's not quite warm enough to really need it.

The blend door system DOES give quicker reaction & better control for changing temperatures, and it removes the hot coolant valve that was often a problem area on older vehicles using it. Going from A/C to heat on those was also 'fun" for fogging windows. This type system doesn't seem to have the problem of waiting for it to warm up & dry off the A/C section before it'll clear the windshield instead of fogging it.
 
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