Hi. 

The climate control on my Focus 1.6 Titanium has just started playing up. 

It will usually work perfectly for quite a while then start doing odd things. For example I'll have it on Auto at 17° and it will be keeping the cabin cool at that temperature then suddenly the fans will go full blast and start pumping out hot air even though the screen says its still on Auto 17°.

The car is working perfectly other than that, apart from a slight exhaust issue which I can't imagine would be linked. 

Any ideas?

David. 

Anyone else on seeing this thread title though that Extinction Rebellion had been up to their shenanigans again? LOL (Sorry for the hijack, someone sensible will be along soon...)

............... could be a job for Greta Thunberg !

but while we wait for her to show up, I would say your system is running low on refrigerant and possibly has a small leak.

Try getting the system recharged (don't use Kwik Fit)

Yes very funny guys!

When it's not playing up it's very cold. I imagined that perhaps the climate control thermostat might be faulty, but I have no idea if that's the case or even where it is. 

There's a cabin sensor near your left knee with a small fan.  They can get clogged up with dust and give false readings.  If it thinks it's suddenly very cold, it'll whack the heat up to keep your desired temp.

 

 

12 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

There's a cabin sensor near your left knee with a small fan.  They can get clogged up with dust and give false readings.  If it thinks it's suddenly very cold, it'll whack the heat up to keep your desired temp.

 

 

Is it this? Perhaps hoovering it out might help do you think?

54 minutes ago, fladavid said:

Is it this? Perhaps hoovering it out might help do you think?

No, that's just a switch blank.  There's a little round grill in the dash itself (not the silver fascia). 

Really? I can't see one, do you have a photo?

6 minutes ago, fladavid said:

Really? I can't see one, do you have a photo?

Best I can do from a quick ebay search is this - will have another look later if you still can't find it.  Small circular grill, top left of the lower panel.

Oh thanks. I've not noticed that before. I'll check it out. 

Doesn't seem to have made any difference cleaning it out unfortunately. 

Strange coincidence though that I turned the Bluetooth link to the stereo from my phone off on a journey this week and the second I did it the climate control immediately started pumping out hot air at 17°. Is there a module that perhaps controls all the functions in the centre console that might be faulty? 

7 hours ago, fladavid said:

Is there a module that perhaps controls all the functions in the centre console that might be faulty? 

The HVAC has it's own module, albeit linked to others.  But that does seem a strange coincidence!

Sorry Tom I'm not up on motors generally. What does that module control? Could it be faulty and cause the problems I'm having?

It's not happening all the time, yesterday it worked perfectly.

Low refrigerant levels can cause weirdness sometimes, so it is worth getting that checked anyway. Another option might be to replace the HVAC control unit and see if that cures it. The control unit is the climate display with the dials and switches, and you can normally pick those up relatively cheaply from ebay. 

4 minutes ago, erictcleric said:

Low refrigerant levels can cause weirdness sometimes, so it is worth getting that checked anyway.

Yup !!

On 4/8/2022 at 5:57 PM, unofix said:

I would say your system is running low on refrigerant and possibly has a small leak.

 

With out going to a garage is there any way of checking if the a/c needs recharging

1 hour ago, aot871 said:

With out going to a garage is there any way of checking if the a/c needs recharging

I know many on here will recoil in horror at my suggestion, but if you pop into one of the 'fast fit' paces, eg KwikFit, they not only can recharge an A/C system, but if it doesn't work for any reason and doesn't drop the temperature by a specified amount, you get a full refund! Most garages don't offer that. Now, they only recharge A/C, they don't repair so if there's an underlying fault, you'll need to go elsewhere, though you won't be out of pocket at the attempt. If it were my car, that would be my first action.

Thanks guys will get a recharge to see if that cures it. 

Booked into Kwik Fit this morning for a check as advised by Stephen.

Their website says that it can't recognise the gas that needs to go in the car one is £59.99 (R134A) and the other is a whopping £129.95 (R1234YF)

My Haynes manual says it's R134A, can anyone confirm this as I don't want them telling me they've had to put in the other one and overcharging me. 

It depends on age. It's probably R134a, but there should be a sticker on the bonnet slam panel to confirm that. 

44 minutes ago, fladavid said:

Booked into Kwik Fit this morning for a check as advised by Stephen.

Their website says that it can't recognise the gas that needs to go in the car one is £59.99 (R134A) and the other is a whopping £129.95 (R1234YF)

My Haynes manual says it's R134A, can anyone confirm this as I don't want them telling me they've had to put in the other one and overcharging me. 

I'm afraid I can't confirm either, but my money would be on standard R134A. Like Eric said, have a look at the bonnet slam panel of your car and the yellow sticker should tell you what's in it... (A quick google search returns loads of suggestions that it is indeed R134A)

2011 will be the old R134a as suggested above.  It will be on a sticker on your slam panel to confirm.

The newer stuff was used in some facelift Mk3's which is why Kwik Fit's system can't determine the correct one based on a loose model range alone.

Just had a re-gas and it was R134A, although bizarrely he tried to charge me £64.95 instead of the £59.95 on their website!

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to have helped,as soon as I turned it from Lo to 15.5° I heard the flaps move and warm air started to be pushed out, even though the display didn't change. 

Would it be of any use to disconnect the battery for a while to reset all the settings and see if that helps?

Is there any climate control wiring going down the engine compartment side of the bullhead that could be damaged by my missing heat shield from the exhaust downpipes causing a problem perhaps?

 

5 minutes ago, fladavid said:

Just had a re-gas and it was R134A, although bizarrely he tried to charge me £64.95 instead of the £59.95 on their website!

 

That is odd, though I have never paid in person, always paid via PayPal on making online appointment...

29 minutes ago, fladavid said:

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to have helped,as soon as I turned it from Lo to 15.5° I heard the flaps move and warm air started to be pushed out, even though the display didn't change.

If it's made no difference do you get your money back ?