AC Blows Hot When First Started

[Agent_S550]

Former Service Advisor at a Ford dealership here. Your car is nothing new. I had a few cars come in with this issue. Some were legitimate concerns. Others were simply people expecting too much mechanically from a car.

I had a V6 car that the factory charged with the V8 capacity. It's very similar in capacity and really so minor that the average A/C machine will seem like it's just a minor gauge error. We recharged the system with the correct V6 capacity, never saw her again.

In some cases flow through the condenser fails to get the job done. Also, there are now reports of the evaporator cores having problems as well. Best of luck to you. Just be patient with your dealership. It's not an easy diagnosis for sure!

-Steven

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[MaskedRacerX]

It's Florida, it's 100+ degrees, it's super humid ... the A/C takes some time to get cool, it's the same with all the vehicles I've owned [here in Florida].

Has it been sitting in a garage when this occurs?

 

[packerfan]

also the ac really needs the car to be moving to get proper airflow over the condensor to properly cool tbe cabin, so its gonna take few minutes to cool if the car is just sitting.

 

[estatedeals]

I have lived in Florida my whole life. This is the first car that I have owned that the AC has worked like this. All others begin to blow cold within a few seconds. My mustang blows blistering hot for almost 2 minutes then it is like the air comes on and it is good the rest of the day. They checked the blend door and said it was fine. I even sat in others with the technician on the lot and they blow cold right away on a hot day. They seem to be stumped.

 

[jasonstang]

I have lived in Florida my whole life. This is the first car that I have owned that the AC has worked like this. All others begin to blow cold within a few seconds. My mustang blows blistering hot for almost 2 minutes then it is like the air comes on and it is good the rest of the day. They checked the blend door and said it was fine. I even sat in others with the technician on the lot and they blow cold right away on a hot day. They seem to be stumped.

It's not the best AC I've had of all the car's I've owned.
Make sure re-circulation is on tho on hot days.

 

[S550ilver]

Seems like a legit concern to me. Does it take a minute or 2 before your cars start blowing cold air? Mine is less than 10 seconds. I'd be thinking something is wrong too if it took minutes



I rarely see above 85f, but only takes seconds for cold air. Can't imagine 2 minutes of hot air before it starts to blow cold is normal - regardless of the temp.

Don't know chief...I dont concern myself with little stuff like that. I don't turn my AC on till ive drove a bit anyways...

 

[PonyGrrrl]

I'm in SoFlo and my A/C blows cold as soon as it starts blowing air. The Eco I had before my GT blew very hot for the first 30-45 seconds.

 

[mpwillis]

OP - I too am in a hot area, Pensacola, FL. I don't particularly notice good/bad AC on startup - too damn hot! My AC defaults to re-circ on startup (unlike numerous other cars), would imagine yours is the same. Try deselecting re-circ. Even the hot outside air is cooler than that built up in the car. And, anyway, with the top down all you get is extra flow rate from re-circ. For top-down AC driving, I set up lower and face vents, full cold and adjust blower accordingly// Separate note, I really miss my Audi and Saab vert AC that automatically shifted AC settings with top up or top down.

 

[vernonator]

And i cant seem to see the passenger hood vent turn signal...

I have that one too - Ford simply refuses to fix it so I have started the Lemon Law Buy-back process. Damn you Ford!!!!!!

 

[BottleFedStang]

I would say thats normal. Your a/c is cooling the dash ducts before it's cooling you. Tint your windows if you haven't already and put a collapsible shade on the front window to minimize how heat soaked the interior of your car gets. I'm in Texas and have the same issue.

 

[DJinAC]

It's absolutely normal.. You need to me moving air across your condenser for the heat exchanging process to work efficiently.

 

[foghat]

It's absolutely normal.. You need to me moving air across your condenser for the heat exchanging process to work efficiently.

Except multiple people here have said this does not happen to them. And OP sat in other mustangs at ford dealership with tech and it did not happen in those either.


I have never had a car where the AC took more than 10ish seconds to start blowing cold air. Admittedly, I am not in as hot a climate, but still.

 

[Swedish_Fries]

I've noticed that on max settings the A/C used to be freezing. I noticed that even after prolonged driving the temperature never really gets near as cool as it did.

I swear I've heard the A/C kick on while driving and I get a quick burst of freezing air before it immediately shuts off. Very strange.

I'll likely drop the car by a Ford dealership and have it looked at. Far too hot in Texas for this haha

 

[BottleFedStang]

I've noticed that on max settings the A/C used to be freezing. I noticed that even after prolonged driving the temperature never really gets near as cool as it did.

I swear I've heard the A/C kick on while driving and I get a quick burst of freezing air before it immediately shuts off. Very strange.

I'll likely drop the car by a Ford dealership and have it looked at. Far too hot in Texas for this haha

That sounds like a refrigerant leak

 

[5.oh]

My Car on hot days 95+ takes a few seconds for the air to cool off. You have to remember the car is hot, the vents are hot etc. Cooling all of the hot air and hot vents isn't going to happen immediately. You are going to get a blast of hot air first. the fans can only do some much to get air across the condenser. Once i get moving the air gets much cooler very quickly.

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