heat not working

scoles92 · March 02, 2016, 06:50:05 PM

pulled the SHO out of the garage today to do some grocery shopping, had the heater cranked to 90 because its in the 20's where i live. anyhow, the heat only blows warm when the car is moving but as soon as i stop at a light it cuts to cold air rather quickly then warms back up as i start moving again. anybody ever experienced this before???

Brucelinc · March 02, 2016, 07:02:53 PM

Yes, this is fairly common. Add coolant to the higher line and it will solve your problem.

scoles92 · March 02, 2016, 07:10:41 PM

oh ok, so am i losing coolant somewhere?

pmezo33 · March 02, 2016, 08:09:40 PM

Have you opened up the cooling system for any work lately?

SHOdded · March 02, 2016, 10:39:44 PM

The coolant could be either Specialty Green or Specialty Orange, dependent I think on build date. If not intending to flush any time soon, best to obtain the Motorcraft product rather than a universal one. If the level is down an inch or less from the COLD FULL line when the engine is cold, distilled water is another option.

Fairly common for coolant level to go down slowly over time. You'd think this would not happen on a closed system, but it does. Possibly through the weep hole in the coolant pump?

scoles92 · March 02, 2016, 11:14:57 PM

haven't had it open lately. coolant is smack dab in the middle of the "cold full range". how do i add coolant to the higher line?

SHOdded · March 03, 2016, 03:15:13 AM

When the engine is cold & off, and the car is on level ground, take the cap off, pour in either coolant (ideally premixed 50/50) or just distilled water, until the level in the bottle rises to the COLD FULL line. Put the cap back on, tighten it until you hear at least one click (extra clicks won't hurt). That should do it. Hopefully any air bubbles will be driven out of the system over time and replaced by coolant, and heater performance will be restored.

The full procedure is listed here:
http://www.ecoboostperformanceforum.com/index.php/topic,2280.msg56469.html#msg56469

scoles92 · March 03, 2016, 09:44:27 AM

thank you!

Crazyeights · March 03, 2016, 10:12:19 AM

I had a similar problem with my 2011 PP SHO. When it was cold out, while I was driving there was heat. When I came to a stop, just cold air. Took it to the Ford dealer and they fixed the problem. It was diagnosed as the right damper motor electric failure.
FP- NUMBER (1) AA5Z-19E616C DESCRIPTION- MOTOR ASY Y. I got it covered under warranty, so I don't know how much it cost. It cured the problem and after 26K miles it hasn't acted up.

scoles92 · March 03, 2016, 10:43:59 AM

hmm i hope that's not the problem. ill put some coolant in her tonight and see if that solves the problem.

scoles92 · March 03, 2016, 10:55:32 AM

looks like i can get that part pretty cheap on amazon so if that's the issue ill just throw it in myself. Last time i went to the dealer i told them what was wrong with it then payed them $150 to run a test that showed them that what i said was the problem really was.. then they proceeded to tell me it would be another $200 to replace the part (brake switch). the service manager laughed at me when i said i could do it in 5 minutes. turns out he was right, it only took 3

ZSHO · March 03, 2016, 11:52:11 AM

I would simply start off by checking the coolant level preferably in the morning before starting her up,make sure to add the same type coolant as oem spec's,fill her up a hair above the cold fill line to see if that resolves your issues as others have mentioned,the dealer will not fill up your reservoir unless its below the hot fill line and also because its just to cost effective. Z

glock-coma · March 03, 2016, 05:24:44 PM

There's a "how to" for the blend door actuator on here somewhere. The passenger side is pretty easy. Symptoms of this problem is usually a clicking sound from behind the glove box, not loss of heat at a standstill.

scoles92 · March 03, 2016, 05:42:46 PM

added coolant, hair above the cold full line. let it run for 40 minutes and still have ice cold air.

scoles92 · March 03, 2016, 05:59:47 PM

i dont have any clicking sounds that i know of. anyway to tell which one would need replacing? id prefer the one behind the glove box haha

heres the link to the blend door actuator in case someone down the road has this problem and is reading this thread

http://www.ecoboostperformanceforum.com/index.php/topic,495.15.html