heater blows cold air

ss12108 · Jan 12, 2017

TRCM said:
Don't forget the temp sensor is in the headliner....so heat rises, and once the headliner gets to temp, it stops blowing hot air and starts with the cold to maintain temp.

I just put the fan on a speed manually, and it seems to keep it warm.

They really need 2 temp sensors....1 for heat down low, & 1 for A/C up top.

I didn't realize that's where the sensor is. That makes some sense of this I guess.

The confusing thing though is that I don't remember it doing this until recently, and why doesn't it just cut the heat rather than blow cold air? I mean it's legitimately cold in my truck after a while, especially on my legs.

A few times I tried to just shut the fresh air vents and that seemed to help but only temporarily because it would open the vents back up on its own.

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Q68 · Jan 13, 2017

The auto climate control in these trucks is not well implemented IMO. I have the same problem as the OP - driving in cold weather, Auto climate control set around 68-70 degrees, once the cabin warms up it will start periodically blowing cool air out the dash vents. I've had several other vehicles with auto climate control and none of them did this.

My first attempt to correct this was by changing to my preferred winter air distribution of floor/defrost - but as soon as you do that the system drops completely out of auto mode, so no fan/temperature control anymore. As an aside, I have a hard time understanding why that wouldn't be the default distribution setting when temperatures are under freezing.

The best way I've found to eliminate the annoyance of the cold air while retaining automatic control is to just close the dash vents.

MGBDG · Jan 13, 2017

Auto plus heat from the sun is likely the culprit. I used to have something similar happen in my Grand Cherokee. It's not that big of a deal. When the temp gets ideal, keep it on Auto but turn down the fan speed.

yillbs · Jan 13, 2017

For one , never compare a ford to dodge. For two I can't tell if you're being serious . As other stated it blows cold air to keep the temperature to whatever you set it to. That's what an auto climate does. If you want it to be 70 degrees , it will keep it at seventy degrees. Why on earth do you care how it does it long as it does it.

ss12108 · Jan 13, 2017

yillbs said:
For one , never compare a ford to dodge. For two I can't tell if you're being serious . As other stated it blows cold air to keep the temperature to whatever you set it to. That's what an auto climate does. If you want it to be 70 degrees , it will keep it at seventy degrees. Why on earth do you care how it does it long as it does it.

I am telling you there's no way the temp is staying at 70 when this starts happening in my truck. It's effing freezing...My wife noticed it too. I had it on 68, cold air starting blowing, bumped it up to 70, minutes later cold air again, basically had to go up to 74 little by little just to keep cold air from blowing in the truck and I'm a guy who leaves my thermostat in my house on 60 during the night in the winter haha.

Actually @yillbs maybe you know the answer to this. Does the uconnect software control the effectiveness of the auto climate control (determining when to blow heat vs cold or just shutting off) or is that controlled by something else in the truck? Now that I'm thinking about it, it's possible this started happening after I installed the last uconnect update.

It's definitely not functioning properly...If it's on 68 when I start the truck and I don't change the temp, it should reach my desired temp and slowly start lowering the fan. Instead it seems to reach temp then start trying to freeze my nuts off.

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yillbs · Jan 13, 2017

ss12108 said:
I am telling you there's no way the temp is staying at 70 when this starts happening in my truck. It's effing freezing...My wife noticed it too. I had it on 68, cold air starting blowing, bumped it up to 70, minutes later cold air again, basically had to go up to 74 little by little just to keep cold air from blowing in the truck and I'm a guy who leaves my thermostat in my house on 60 during the night in the winter haha.

Actually @yillbs maybe you know the answer to this. Does the uconnect software control the effectiveness of the auto climate control (determining when to blow heat vs cold or just shutting off) or is that controlled by something else in the truck? Now that I'm thinking about it, it's possible this started happening after I installed the last uconnect update.

It's definitely not functioning properly...If it's on 68 when I start the truck and I don't change the temp, it should reach my desired temp and slowly start lowering the fan. Instead it seems to reach temp then start trying to freeze my nuts off.

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Their are two sensors on the truck. Uconnect monitors them both. One is above the (behind) the mirror (with 8.4) and one is on the dash itself which only regulates the temp coming out of the vent. The non 8.4 inch screens are likely better because it controls the actual temp of the air and adjusts accordingly, the larger screens have cab temps which can be influenced by direct sunlight. Its my understanding that its a topic of great concern due to the extreme climates we have in the USA and Canada . The truck isn't actually blowing cold air , its blowing air from outside , I assume that's a feature for mpg (not sure). If the ambient temp is above 70 and you have the truck to auto to 69, the compressor will engage. That's the only time the compressor will engage, or rather , should engage.

ss12108 · Jan 13, 2017

yillbs said:
Their are two sensors on the truck. Uconnect monitors them both. One is above the (behind) the mirror (with 8.4) and one is on the dash itself which only regulates the temp coming out of the vent. The non 8.4 inch screens are likely better because it controls the actual temp of the air and adjusts accordingly, the larger screens have cab temps which can be influenced by direct sunlight. Its my understanding that its a topic of great concern due to the extreme climates we have in the USA and Canada . The truck isn't actually blowing cold air , its blowing air from outside , I assume that's a feature for mpg (not sure). If the ambient temp is above 70 and you have the truck to auto to 69, the compressor will engage. That's the only time the compressor will engage, or rather , should engage.

Yea I should be clear, the vents are just letting cold ass air in but it feels like it's blowing. Then it seems like the heat just never kicks back on and I feel like I'm stuck in a refrigerator from the waist down. I wait for the heat to kick back on bc it's really cold and it just never happens.

It happens during my evening commute in the dark too so I'm not sure this particular quirk is related to sunlight.

I'd like to have it checked out but what do I even do? "Hey I need one of your mechanics to take a ride with me for the next 45 mins to an hour so I can show you how cold it gets in my truck." It's likely they'll do like they did with my backup camera - check for codes, find none, turn on the heat for 1 min, and tell me it's working fine and I owe them money for diagnostic time haha.

It's definitely something that wasn't happening since I've owned the truck either. I've had this same commute the entire time I've had the truck (3.5 years) and I've only noticed this issue recently as the temps began to cool this year (and my wife noticed too, although she thinks 75* is cold).

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yillbs · Jan 13, 2017

ss12108 said:
Yea I should be clear, the vents are just letting cold ass air in but it feels like it's blowing. Then it seems like the heat just never kicks back on and I feel like I'm stuck in a refrigerator from the waist down. I wait for the heat to kick back on bc it's really cold and it just never happens.

It happens during my evening commute in the dark too so I'm not sure this particular quirk is related to sunlight.

I'd like to have it checked out but what do I even do? "Hey I need one of your mechanics to take a ride with me for the next 45 mins to an hour so I can show you how cold it gets in my truck." It's likely they'll do like they did with my backup camera - check for codes, find none, turn on the heat for 1 min, and tell me it's working fine and I owe them money for diagnostic time haha.

It's definitely something that wasn't happening since I've owned the truck either. I've had this same commute the entire time I've had the truck (3.5 years) and I've only noticed this issue recently as the temps began to cool this year (and my wife noticed too, although she thinks 75* is cold).

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Yup, that needs to be checked out, and here is how I would do it. Grab an external temp gauge, and video tape yourself in the cab, with the temp visually available, then compare the read out to what it should be versus what the actual cab is. That's what dodge is going to do. Once you can show it with facts ( not the skin test ), then you take it to the dealer, and you demand they provide you with proof the cab is within 5 degrees of what's states on the auto configuration.

I.E, if you set it to 70, and it's 40 outside, let it run for 10 minutes, if the cab temp isn't between 65 - 75, then the unit needs to be fixed. Their is a 3 - 5 degree room for error, even more so in the super cold locations, up north, Canada, etc. I would just go to Walmart, and pick up one of those ambient temperature gauges, that should suffice.

On a side note to the above things, take it to the dealer, tell them you have the cab set to X temp, then wait with them for 10 minutes, then go get them, and have them hop in, and see what the temp is, and what's blowing out of the vents. Remember, they will say the exact same thing I said, LONG as the cab temp is within 5 degrees of the temp you set, then it's operating as designed, even if it's NOT, they won't care if it blows cold air, long as the CAB temp reads what it says it is.

ss12108 · Jan 13, 2017

yillbs said:
Yup, that needs to be checked out, and here is how I would do it. Grab an external temp gauge, and video tape yourself in the cab, with the temp visually available, then compare the read out to what it should be versus what the actual cab is. That's what dodge is going to do. Once you can show it with facts ( not the skin test ), then you take it to the dealer, and you demand they provide you with proof the cab is within 5 degrees of what's states on the auto configuration.

I.E, if you set it to 70, and it's 40 outside, let it run for 10 minutes, if the cab temp isn't between 65 - 75, then the unit needs to be fixed. Their is a 3 - 5 degree room for error, even more so in the super cold locations, up north, Canada, etc. I would just go to Walmart, and pick up one of those ambient temperature gauges, that should suffice.

On a side note to the above things, take it to the dealer, tell them you have the cab set to X temp, then wait with them for 10 minutes, then go get them, and have them hop in, and see what the temp is, and what's blowing out of the vents. Remember, they will say the exact same thing I said, LONG as the cab temp is within 5 degrees of the temp you set, then it's operating as designed, even if it's NOT, they won't care if it blows cold air, long as the CAB temp reads what it says it is.

Good idea. I'll pick something up this weekend and try that out.

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yillbs · Jan 13, 2017

ss12108 said:
Good idea. I'll pick something up this weekend and try that out.

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good luck! do let us know how it turns out!

Ferro · Jan 14, 2017

After reading this I was paying attention to my climate control. I had it set on auto and the temperature was set at 77°. The climate control is working perfectly I never noticed any cold air coming out at all when it was set to auto. I even roll down the windows to let the cold air in and it didn't take long at all for the fan motor to increase in speed. I rolled the windows back up I'll let the truck run and I noticed that fan motor decreasing as the truck got warmer never once did it ever put out cold air. Actually I was kind of surprised on how fast it senses the change in temperature.

ss12108 · Jan 14, 2017

Ferro said:
After reading this I was paying attention to my climate control. I had it set on auto and the temperature was set at 77°. The climate control is working perfectly I never noticed any cold air coming out at all when it was set to auto. I even roll down the windows to let the cold air in and it didn't take long at all for the fan motor to increase in speed. I rolled the windows back up I'll let the truck run and I noticed that fan motor decreasing as the truck got warmer never once did it ever put out cold air. Actually I was kind of surprised on how fast it senses the change in temperature.

I have to be honest...I'm sure if I set it to 77* it would stay warm. It's when I want a comfortable 68-70 and after it gets to that temperature the truck starts letting 20* air in through the vents that I notice something may not be functioning properly haha.

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yillbs · Jan 14, 2017

ss12108 said:
I have to be honest...I'm sure if I set it to 77* it would stay warm. It's when I want a comfortable 68-70 and after it gets to that temperature the truck starts letting 20* air in through the vents that I notice something may not be functioning properly haha.

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I got a truck without auto climate for this very reason lol.

clh1220 · Jan 14, 2017

ss12108 said:
I have to be honest...I'm sure if I set it to 77* it would stay warm. It's when I want a comfortable 68-70 and after it gets to that temperature the truck starts letting 20* air in through the vents that I notice something may not be functioning properly haha.

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If you set your side at 68 , and the passengers side at 78. Does the passenger side blow cold air too. That's how I run mine with the wife in there. And do get some cold air sometimes and no cold air for her side. I feel like mine is just trying to regulate the temperature.

ss12108 · Jan 14, 2017

clh1220 said:
If you set your side at 68 , and the passengers side at 78. Does the passenger side blow cold air too. That's how I run mine with the wife in there. And do get some cold air sometimes and no cold air for her side. I feel like mine is just trying to regulate the temperature.

I'm gonna try a few different things over the next week including what yillbs mentioned about keeping a thermometer in the truck with me during my commute, so I'll just add this to the list and report back haha

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Ferro · Jan 14, 2017

ss12108 said:
I have to be honest...I'm sure if I set it to 77* it would stay warm. It's when I want a comfortable 68-70 and after it gets to that temperature the truck starts letting 20* air in through the vents that I notice something may not be functioning properly haha.

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I will have to try and go lower on the settings and see what it does

ss12108 · Jan 14, 2017

yillbs said:
I got a truck without auto climate for this very reason lol.

Lol it worked fine for over 2 years!

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ss12108 · Jan 14, 2017

Ferro said:
I will have to try and go lower on the settings and see what it does

Try it on a longer drive. My commute is about 40 mins each way and it starts to happen about 25-30 mins in, or at least that's when I start to notice my legs are numb from the cold haha

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Ferro · Jan 14, 2017

ss12108 said:
Try it on a longer drive. My commute is about 40 mins each way and it starts to happen about 25-30 mins in, or at least that's when I start to notice my legs are numb from the cold haha

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I'll give it a try and see what happens. I have never noticed cold air coming out before though

ss12108 · Jan 14, 2017

Ferro said:
I'll give it a try and see what happens. I have never noticed cold air coming out before though

I went through 2 winters (one in the "polar vortex") with this truck without ever having it happen. All of a sudden since it started to get cool in the Northeast this year I started noticing it.

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heater blows cold air

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