Hi, hoping someone can help or advise. Just bought a 68 plate MK8 Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost and noticed the passenger footwell (will highlight in pic) gets very warm and you can’t really rest your leg on it. The air con itself is also not very cold when turned on.

Any ideas? It was brought from a dealer, but want some advice on what it could be before I speak to them.

That's where the heater matrix & pipes are.  It may just be normal, but we did have a poster on here who had a missing heatshield behind the trim, albeit on the drivers side instead.  

If the AC isn't very cold it either needs a regas or repair.

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

That's where the heater matrix & pipes are.  It may just be normal, but we did have a poster on here who had a missing heatshield behind the trim, albeit on the drivers side instead.  

If the AC isn't very cold it either needs a regas or repair.

The AC on my ecoboost fiesta isnt very cold either and I was thinking of getting it regased but I have read somewhere before that the AC in this car might just be crap lol

4 minutes ago, Pigeon12 said:

The AC on my ecoboost fiesta isnt very cold either and I was thinking of getting it regased but I have read somewhere before that the AC in this car might just be crap lol

Maybe, though 'not very cold' is subjective lol.  If you set the vents to face only, switch on the AC and set the temp as low as possible, then it should feel a bit prickly and icy, similar to opening a fridge.  If it doesn't feel icy then it's probably not working at all. 

If it does feel icy but doesn't really cool the car, then it may need a regas or it may just be a bit weak in those.  I never found the Mk2 Focus AC to be effective at cooling the whole car within a reasonable timesacle, the evaporator just wasn't large enough for such a big interior.

Mine may need a regas then as I tried setting it to face only with lowest temp and AC on and it just felt like mild temperature wind blowing at me lol

Super interesting thanks all and I did see one post saying about the missing heatshield. Just wasn’t sure urgent to investigate getting that hot or can wait until the next service to mention it.
 

I saw Ford are offering the Ford spring refresh for £69 and includes a video check and assesses the air on. https://www.ford.co.uk/owner/service-and-maintenance/service-promotions/spring-refresh
 

Does anyone recommend having this done as a new car and just peace of mind? 

If you bought it from a business in the last 6 months and the A/C isn't working, then they should be regassing it for free.

9 minutes ago, ak47mh said:

Super interesting thanks all and I did see one post saying about the missing heatshield. Just wasn’t sure urgent to investigate getting that hot or can wait until the next service to mention it.
 

I saw Ford are offering the Ford spring refresh for £69 and includes a video check and assesses the air on. https://www.ford.co.uk/owner/service-and-maintenance/service-promotions/spring-refresh
 

Does anyone recommend having this done as a new car and just peace of mind? 

Spring refresh is a bit of a con tbh.  You'd be charged another ~£100 for them to regas it when they 'assess' that the temp is higher than it should be.  

23 minutes ago, Pigeon12 said:

Mine may need a regas then as I tried setting it to face only with lowest temp and AC on and it just felt like mild temperature wind blowing at me lol

Probably not working at all in that case.  If you take it to a chain garage (ATS, Kwik Fit, Formula One, etc) they should vacuum test the system before re-gassing it.  If it doesn't hold vacuum then the system is leaking badly and would need repair.  If it does hold vacuum but gas is very low there could still be a minor leak, which some garages will guarantee for a short period of time afterwards.  Good news is your car will still use the old type gas which is cheaper.

Ok thanks ill get it checked out. Tbf I have not used the air con much since I bought the car in october and I have no idea how long it was on the forcourt for before that so mabye it has seized up a bit aswell.

Should always use the aircon, don't make the mistake that is is only for supplying cold air, it supplies air at all temperatures all year round, helps to keep the car demisted amongst other things. Failure to use will lead to leaks due to seals drying out.

1 minute ago, deandeandean said:

Should always use the aircon, don't make the mistake that is is only for supplying cold air, it supplies air at all temperatures all year round

Yes this concept that AC stands for Air Cooling and not Air Conditioning seems to be a uniquely British thing. I've traveled around the world to both hot and very cold countries (Finland) and everyone just leaves the AC - Climate control switched on all of the time.

I knew its air conditoning I just kinda end up forgetting about it lol. Although it should have been used sometimes as it comes on automatically when I have the air setting on the front windscreen. 

Not sure why you'd want to waste fuel on AC all year round when there's no need for it.  The majority of UK homes don't have AC, cars don't 'need' it either.  For me it is just for cooling during excess heat.

I do run it once a month through winter to keep the system lubed up.  Never had a system break during my ownership.  Never had issues with condensation.  

My car feels damp/stale awfully quick without ac. It’s so much more comfortable left on all year. 
 

Modern systems make a negligible difference to fuel economy. 

On 5/11/2023 at 11:02 AM, TomsFocus said:

Probably not working at all in that case.  If you take it to a chain garage (ATS, Kwik Fit, Formula One, etc) they should vacuum test the system before re-gassing it.  If it doesn't hold vacuum then the system is leaking badly and would need repair.  If it does hold vacuum but gas is very low there could still be a minor leak, which some garages will guarantee for a short period of time afterwards.  Good news is your car will still use the old type gas which is cheaper.

I ended up going to an air con place and there was no gas in. They pressure tested it for about half an hour and it held. Said it was possible there could be a minor leak so put some dye in so if it stops working again he can identify the leak. Costed £50. Air con is working again now, the difference was quite shocking lol. I did check the cabin filter after that and it doesnt look like its been changed in a while so that might not help things. I assumed it had been changed in a service but apparently not.