No Driver’s side floor heat

[DrDom]

Before leaving for about 75 miles worth of chores today, my wife used the remote start for a 10 minute warm-up cycle. Once we got in and got going, we set the temp to 73• on auto. We got plenty of heat all around and were comfortable in our early Wisconsin winter snow and cold. My Lariat with FX has a blend date of 04 May, and so far has had very few if any issues with HVAC or anything else for that matter.

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[Tracy Bowman]

This would mean EVERYONE has the same issue. This is not the case.

I have zero issues with the flow or volume of air.

That means it is not a design issue.

I got to test mine out this morning. No problem at all. Heated up great!

 

[P. A. Schilke]

I got to test mine out this morning. No problem at all. Heated up great!

Hi Tracy,

Okay....I just got back from the UPS store and decided to test the heater even though it is 76°F outside. I subjectively felt the air flow through the drivers side which is discharged between the brake and accelerator pedals and the passenger side which discharges by the passenger's left foot. I set the blower on one bar less than max. The passenger side discharge was noticeably more forceful, but not all that much. I had good airflow and heat on the driver's side, not quite as forceful but more than adequate in my opinion.

It would appear that Kieefer's system has a problem that results in him taking pretty drastic modifications to keep his feet warm.. I almost think something is not installed correctly or not hooked up resulting in a huge leak under the dash or a blend door that is stuck. Have seen the blend door (Not sure Ranger has a Blend door) had plastic flash on one unit and resulted in the inability to get heat to the floor...it was stuck in defrost mode...

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[kieefer]

Hi Tracy,

Okay....I just got back from the UPS store and decided to test the heater even though it is 76°F outside. I subjectively felt the air flow through the drivers side which is discharged between the brake and accelerator pedals and the passenger side which discharges by the passenger's left foot. I set the blower on one bar less than max. The passenger side discharge was noticeably more forceful, but not all that much. I had good airflow and heat on the driver's side, not quite as forceful but more than adequate in my opinion.

It would appear that Kieefer's system has a problem that results in him taking pretty drastic modifications to keep his feet warm.. I almost think something is not installed correctly or not hooked up resulting in a huge leak under the dash or a blend door that is stuck. Have seen the blend door (Not sure Ranger has a Blend door) had plastic flash on one unit and resulted in the inability to get heat to the floor...it was stuck in defrost mode...

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

OK, my "drastic modifications" is a simple experiment, an option, and the floor heat coming out of my modified system (which BTW took some R&D and extensive contemplating) is much less than what comes out from under the dash vent. It also takes longer to warm up but it works in divert warmer air to front floor area.

Whatever setting I had been using has been reset. I turned the HVAC switch off then back on, raised the drivers side to max heat, fan on three bars and used only the floor setting. Everything is comfy now.

Maybe you can explain the recirculation option? It appears to me that this option dampens flow? I did notice last night that after the recirculation was off the flow was much better.

Either way I think its keeper and I won't be writing nasty letters to Ford complaining about where the heck they get their engineers.

 

[DavidR]

The passenger side discharge was noticeably more forceful, but not all that much.

This is also my experience. I'm just seeing this thread now, so I don't even remember what made me check, but I was in Utah last week where the mornings had been in the range of 18-20 deg F. It's probably a lot of extra work to design the system so that both sides get exactly the same air flow, hence the emphasis Phil described earlier on achieving acceptable temperatures at various places around the cabin. Despite the discrepancy between driver and passenger sides, I was always comfortable on the driver side soon after starting out, even in the 18-degree weather.

Also, it's not only the floor vents, there are also noticeable differences between the flows coming from the main panel vents, but they also probably don't matter that much. I've never had a vehicle where the flow from all the panel vents was the same.

 

[Traneman]

Most of my driving is in town. Last night I spent an hr on the interstate.
I set the heat on high in manual, floor heat only and set the cab recirculation on.
When the recirculation, timed out? not sure why this automatically shut off but it did.
When it did I felt the heat become more noticeable.
(My wife’s Camry heat works best with the recirculation on, this truck not so much)

The more I think about it I’m heating more cab than I did with my 97 plus I have under seat vents. I may reroute the underseat vents but overall it did a good job and I may need to rethink my position.

You don't wan to use the recirc in the winter. Your windows will fog up. Only use it for A/C in the summer.

 

[Rinn69]

Thanks to Phil for informing me about the location of the drivers side floor vent.....I was looking / feeling for it to the right of the gas pedal. So, tonight, I held my hand down by each floor vent...the passenger side was blowing strong, while the drivers side was about half the force. The air flow that comes from above and between the pedals, is OK. This exit is split and therefore, reduces the CFM felt on the drivers side versus the passenger side. I may take some black Gorilla tape, and partially block off the passenger side to get more to the drivers side or just remove the splitter.

 

[STEVE BUSSELL]

I'm seeing the same issue on my Ranger. Driving home from work tonight in 28 degree weather, my feet were cold compared to the rest of the cab. Had the control on manual and switch to "foot" heat only and had to crank the fan to 1 below max to get any heat. Will have to do more research this weekend.

 

[Blue Streak]

I was able to use my heater today. 28 degrees wind chill 15 degrees. Got truck up to normal operating temp. Had to set the fan speed to one & turn the temp down two notches past half way into the blue zone. Plenty of heat. Had it on foot mode only. Mine is an XL STX Package Crew Cab with manual HVAC. Was wearing a T shirt with a flannel shirt. no heavy jacket.

 

[Traneman]

We had lower teens today, and I had plenty of heat coming out in a few minutes! I had to lower the temp as it was getting warm in my XL/STX model when I went to work and back. Air flow wasn't the strongest, but I wasn't cold.

 

[BHunted]

Last night around 1800 hrs, it was about 20 degrees outside. I remote started it and let it sit for 5 mins. Got in, it was toasty and the seat warmer was on. Was in there with a t-shirt...

 

[DBRanger]

I drove to work this morning, temperature 8 degrees F. Truck was parked outside. Plenty-o-heat in minutes. The driver side heat outlet is above the brake pedal so it hits you more in the shins than feet. This with defrost on as well. I do have an STX though so total manual control, which I prefer.

The auto heat on my BMW is a pain as well, so I always turn it off and manually adjust.

 

[Hounddog409]

I drove to work this morning, temperature 8 degrees F. Truck was parked outside. Plenty-o-heat in minutes. The driver side heat outlet is above the brake pedal so it hits you more in the shins than feet. This with defrost on as well. I do have an STX though so total manual control, which I prefer.

The auto heat on my BMW is a pain as well, so I always turn it off and manually adjust.

Mine is a STX as well.....

maybe the fancy dual zone (really?) contraption isn't better after all........

 

[Texasota]

Mine is a STX as well.....

maybe the fancy dual zone (really?) contraption isn't better after all........

The dual zone seems more like a gimmick to me. There is no wall going down the center of the cab dividing it into two zones. Any extra heat or cooling directed to one side quickly blends with the other side.

 

[Blue Streak]

Mine is a STX as well.....

maybe the fancy dual zone (really?) contraption isn't better after all........

I'll drink to that.

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