Magic button to get heat to work in auto setting?

[kendive]

Seriously doubt that any car has a heat pump when it has many joules/btu's of heat available from the engine. If it did, it would have to constantly shift from cool to heat modes.



I don't use the 'auto' mode. I just set the fan to 3 or 4, temp to 72.
As Ron Popeil said "Set it and forget it". My understanding was that auto just adjust fan speeds, but I'm not sure.

I was about to Say man this Ranger is kool got a heat pump and all. I guess maybe the water pump is the heat pump it's moving hot water. Ohhh it's a water heater also. Just kidding...

I'm the same I never use auto just set to what I want. Coming from an F150 the Rangers climate control is a total disaster anyway. One main thing I hate on the truck.

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[NerkyMohawk]

I have noticed that the auto works much better when the dual climate zones are paired instead of separate. Even when both zones are set to the same temp they push our air differently then when they are linked.

 

[JLC04]

I have noticed that the auto works much better when the dual climate zones are paired instead of separate. Even when both zones are set to the same temp they push our air differently then when they are linked.

One time last summer I was trying to get the truck to cool down, I kept adjusting the temp down and down. I was like WTF. Then I realized my wife had turned her side up to 80F, so it was trying as hard as it could to cool my side and heat the passenger side. Hell, until then I forgot it even had duel climate control.

 

[NerkyMohawk]

One time last summer I was trying to get the truck to cool down, I kept adjusting the temp down and down. I was like WTF. Then I realized my wife had turned her side up to 80F, so it was trying as hard as it could to cool my side and heat the passenger side. Hell, until then I forgot it even had duel climate control.

Yeah thats how mine started. Wife had her side cranked up to max heat. Was like that for a couple days was about to take it to the dealer then realized her side was set different. It was driving me crazy for a couple days, I finally set her side temp and it was mostly good. Once I set it back off the dual climate it worked great.

 

[JasonTremor]

TLDR version at the bottom if you don't want the details. All temp readings in degrees Farenheight.

Finally had time and the right weather to evaluate what was working in Auto mode for my 21 Ranger.

Testing scenario:
In auto mode, 66 degrees outdoor temp, via dash outside temp indicator (62 actual temp), it seems to exclusively use the outermost dash vents during warmup. Note, I left all 4 doors open for the duration of the test in attempt to get the heat to ramp up and increase cabin temperature and both zones were set to 72. No significant defrost, floor or center stack air velocity at any time. Auto temp set to 72, the air temp from the outer dash vents ramp up to around 88 degrees, equally driver and passenger, during engine warmup then start to drop back towards 82 degrees at full operating engine temp. At full engine temp, air coming out of outer most dash vents is 82 degrees and center stack vent temp is 75 degrees. Cabin ambient air temp, measured on top of center armrest, is now 63.5 degrees. Fan speed from cold start till engine full operating temp never increased above what felt like minimum fan speed setting. The only way I found in auto to get the fan speed and vent air velocity to increase was to run it up to max temp.

Switching to manual mode to see if I can force airspeed I want. Temp still set to 72 both sides, max fan speed floor setting only and now air is blowing well at 88 degrees on passenger side front and rear footwell and 68 on driver side driver front and rear footwell. No defrost on passenger side and low flow defrost on driver side. If I bump up the climate control to 76 on the driver side, the temp on the driver floor vent puts out 88 degree heat. Climate set to 76 on passenger side yields 96 degrees vent temp.


TLDR version:
There is a variation in temp output between the driver and passenger floor vents and that explains my cold feet and having to run the temp up to max heat. Is it broke or just the nature of the beast? I don't know, but I do know to just run it in manual mode from now on. ?

 

[Motorpsychology]

I think auto mode turns off recirculation mode or at least only lets you use it for a short period of time. Will give that a try though. Hadn't checked the cabin air filter recently, but with only 20 k miles it should be relatively clean. The blend door could be a possibility. Thought Ford had fixed that issue by the 21 model year, but anything is possible.

I had the blend door fix under warranty on my '21. Maybe the 2022 and newer. the HVAC in the 5G Rangers is lacking, IMO. I'm able to set the heat in my 2009 Mariner to blow out the floor and the defroster, or vent and defroster; comfy on the feet and the side windows stay clear. If I try that on my Ranger, it makes blower noise but air doesn't come out anywhere.

 

[Dgc333]

I had the blend door fix under warranty on my '21. Maybe the 2022 and newer. the HVAC in the 5G Rangers is lacking, IMO. I'm able to set the heat in my 2009 Mariner to blow out the floor and the defroster, or vent and defroster; comfy on the feet and the side windows stay clear. If I try that on my Ranger, it makes blower noise but air doesn't come out anywhere.

I do not use auto and always have the blend door set to blow air out the defroster vents and the floor when I am using heat and out the defroster and panel vents when using AC. It works just fine. Only issue I have is when using AC and it is humid outside the AC blowing on the windshield will cause moisture to condense on the outside of the windshield. When this happens I have to raise the temp setting to at least 65 to prevent the condensation.

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