Ford F-150 Climate Control Problems [6 Common Issues & Fixes]

So you’ve been facing problems with your Ford F-150 climate control system, and are not sure how to go about the issue?

Ford F150 Climate Control

In this post, you’ll learn the common problems with Ford F-150 climate control system and how to fix them. You’ll also discover how much the repair may cost you.

Ford F-150 Climate Control Problems

If your Ford F-150 climate control system is faulty, here are some issues you may encounter:

1. Climate control won’t blow hot air

If your Ford F150 climate control system doesn’t blow hot air when you set it to heat, the system might be faulty.

When the climate control isn’t blowing heat, it’s often because there are air bubbles in the heater core. These bubbles might be preventing your heater from heating the air in your climate control.

A quick way to test if your heater core is blocked is to leave the heater on and increase your driving speed to over 3000 RPMs. If the heater starts blowing hot air at full blast, you have a blocked heater core.

To fix this issue, you’ll need to bleed out air from your cooling system.

If you don’t get hot air after bleeding out your cooling system, you may have a bad blend door actuator. The blend door actuator controls the temperature of air that comes out of your vents. So, if the actuator develops an issue, it may prevent the climate control from blowing hot air.

Replace your blend door actuator to resolve this problem.

2. The fan doesn’t work when set to 1

Another sign that your Ford F150 climate control has issues is if your blower fan doesn’t work when set to 1. However, it may start working when you increase the setting to 2,3, or 4. The most likely culprit for this issue is the blower motor resistor.

The blower motor resistor controls the current in your blower, which lets the blower release air at your selected fan setting. Under normal conditions, the blower motor resistor is supposed to reduce the current to a minimum when you set the fan to 1.

But if your blower motor resistor is faulty, it may misinterpret the setting and turn the blower fan off. You’ll need to change your blower motor resistor to eliminate this issue.

3. AC blows warm air on the passenger side only

If your AC blows warm air on the passenger side but works properly on the driver’s side, your climate control system isn’t working properly. Usually, this issue indicates that you have a bad passenger’s side blend door actuator.

Your passenger’s side blend door actuator ensures that the air flows to your passenger side at your desired temperature.

If you’ve been using your truck for a while, the actuator may start misbehaving and produce air at the wrong temperature. This might be why you are getting warm air instead of cool air on your passenger side.

To resolve this problem, remove your old passenger’s side actuator and replace it with a new one. Your AC should start blowing cool air on the passenger side after this.

4. Vents won’t blow air at all

A common indicator of a faulty Ford F-150 climate control system is that air won’t blow through any of the vents. However, your heated and cooled seat function might still be working.

Your vents may not be blowing any air because your blower resistor is dead. Without a blower resistor, your blower won’t be able to send air into your car.

The only way to fix this issue is to change your blower resistor. You’ll find the blower resistor behind your glovebox.

5. Heat blowing through the passenger side, and cold air on the driver’s side

One sure way to tell that your Ford F-150 climate control has a problem is if heat blows on the passenger’s side and cold air on the driver’s side. Sometimes, you may get cold air on the passenger side and hot air on the driver’s side.

You might be experiencing this issue because your blend doors are stuck.

Your blend doors open and close to control the temperature of air that comes from your climate control system. When you set the climate control to cool, the blend doors block the heater core so that only cool air enters your seating area.

Likewise, the blend doors open the heater core when you turn on the heat.

Over time, your blend doors may become weak. As such, they might get stuck while trying to open/close your heater core.

Stuck blend doors often leave your heater core partially open. This is the reason you get both cool and hot air simultaneously.

You’ll have to replace your blend door actuator to resolve this problem.

6. Climate control only blows hot air

If your climate control system only blows hot air, no matter what temperature setting you’ve selected, the system has an issue. In most cases, the failure of the climate control system to blow cool air is caused by a bad blend door actuator.

So, if you replace your blend door actuator, your climate control system may resume working normally.

If the problem reappears after you’ve changed your blend door actuator, your control switch might be the issue. Although your control switch may seem to work normally from outside, the internal mechanism of the switch may be faulty.

Due to this issue, your control switch might send the wrong temperature setting to your climate control system. As a result, the climate control system may release hot air when set to cool.

Consider changing your climate control switch if you can’t get the system to blow cool air.

Ford F150 Models with the Most Climate Control Problems

Here are the Ford F-150 models with the most climate control problems:

  • 2011 Ford F-150
  • 2013 Ford F-150

According to carcomplaints.com, the 2013 Ford F-150 car has 32 climate control problems, which is the highest number across all Ford F150 models.

Another model with several AC/heater issues is the 2011 Ford F-150. This model received 17 negative reports about its climate control system.

Ford F150 Models with the Least Climate Control Problems

The Ford F150 models with the least climate control problems are:

  • 2021 Ford F-150
  • 2020 Ford F-150

Carcomplaints.com states that the 2021 and 2020 Ford F-150 models didn’t get any reports of climate control issues from their users.

How Much Does It Cost to Fix Ford F150 Climate Control Problems?

It costs between $224-$698 to fix the average climate control problems in a Ford F150 car. Please note that fixing an expensive item like the AC compressor may raise the repair price.

Tips to Prevent Ford F150 Climate Control Problems

  • Wash the interiors of your car daily.
  • Always park your car under a shade.
  • Recharge your AC once a year.
  • Switch off your AC when you aren’t driving.

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Wrapping Up

Now that you know what’s wrong with your climate control system, you can start fixing it immediately. If the problem persists after you’ve applied the solution here, contact your dealer.