Unique A/C quirk, or common problem with common fix?

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Scott Thomas - 26 Feb 2005 14:49 GMT

Got a 2001 Focus SE sedan (is that redundant?) that I've had more going
on a year. Something I noticed early on, and have just been tolerating,
is that when I turn the heater fan direction dial all the way over to
the right (for windscreen defrost), and the fan is turned on, the A/C
light comes on. It's not just that the LED is on, either, as I can
distinctly hear the A/C start up. No biggie, since I just press the
button to turn the A/C off, and it won't just "snap" back on of its own
accord.

Is this something someone else has run into, or have I got a
particularly unique short somewhere in the dash that may or may not be
worth hunting down? Other than this little oddity, the car behaves
exactly as it should, and has run like-new so far.

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Scott Thomas, thomass@cs.rose-hulman.edu
http://www.cs.rose-hulman.edu/~thomass/

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The Real Tom - 26 Feb 2005 15:05 GMT

> Got a 2001 Focus SE sedan (is that redundant?) that I've had more going
>on a year. Something I noticed early on, and have just been tolerating,
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>worth hunting down? Other than this little oddity, the car behaves
>exactly as it should, and has run like-new so far.

imho:

Actually in many cars it's a feature. By having the a/c come one, it
dries the air by removing mosture. Now the air is directed upward to
your winsheild drying it out. This helps to defog thewindows when the
car is both warm andcold.

So, I'm guessing this isn't a bug in your car, but I'm not a focus
expert, so rely on your owner's manual for information.

later,

tom @ www.CarFleaMarket.com

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LJ - 26 Feb 2005 15:12 GMT

> Got a 2001 Focus SE sedan (is that redundant?) that I've had more going
> on a year. Something I noticed early on, and have just been tolerating,
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> button to turn the A/C off, and it won't just "snap" back on of its own
> accord.

I remember reading somewhere that the behaviour is by design. I guess Ford
are thinking that your screen will be demisted faster by air dried by the
aircon.

LJ

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Alan - 26 Feb 2005 15:27 GMT

> Got a 2001 Focus SE sedan (is that redundant?) that I've had
>more going on a year. Something I noticed early on, and have just been
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>press the button to turn the A/C off, and it won't just "snap" back on
>of its own accord.

It's designed to work this way.

<Quote from page 37 of the UK owners manual circa 2001)

Front screen defrosting/demisting
Set the air distribution control to (icon = the windscreen position).
Outside air will flow into the vehicle.. As long as the air distribution
control is set to (icon = the windscreen position) re-circulated air
cannot be selected and the air conditioning will be turned on
automatically. Make sure that the blower is on.

"The A/C extracts humidity from the air and the windows are demisted
faster."

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Alan
mailto:news2me_a_2003@amacleod.clara.co.uk

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Dave Gower - 26 Feb 2005 15:29 GMT

>...when I turn the heater fan direction dial all the way over to the right
>(for windscreen defrost), and the fan is turned on, the A/C light comes on.

Most, if not all, modern cars with A/C are like this. It helps to dry the
air going over the windshield.

I remember a few years ago I had a Dodge Shadow with this feature, and the
A/C broke one hot foggy night during the height of summer and all of a
sudden I had a hard time seeing . I had to crank the heat way up to get the
windshield to clear, which was not fun.

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SayWhat? - 26 Feb 2005 16:02 GMT

> Is this something someone else has run into, or have I got a particularly
> unique short somewhere in the dash that may or may not be worth hunting
> down? Other than this little oddity, the car behaves exactly as it
> should, and has run like-new so far.

I believe this is a design feature to have the a/c pump turning once in a
while during the winter months. This may help keep the unit from seizing
from lack of use during the winter months.

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Michael Heiming - 26 Feb 2005 16:15 GMT

In alt.autos.ford.focus Scott Thomas <thomass@cs.rose-hulman.edu>:

> Is this something someone else has run into, or have I got a
> particularly unique short somewhere in the dash that may or may not be
> worth hunting down? Other than this little oddity, the car behaves
> exactly as it should, and has run like-new so far.

You can be lucky it turns on the A/C LED at all, mine (1999)
doesn't, while switching the A/C on. It's true that windscreens
defrost faster with A/C turned on. The problem, never had any car
which tended to fog inside as fast, as the Focus (wagon).

There were some enhancements in production. Ordered the improved
parts and mounted them, but it didn't helped much. Luckily, my
Focus has the heated windscreen, which is of great help.

Signature

Michael Heiming (X-PGP-Sig > GPG-Key ID: EDD27B94)
mail: echo zvpunry@urvzvat.qr | perl -pe 'y/a-z/n-za-m/'
#bofh excuse 438: sticky bit has come loose

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Basic Wedge - 27 Feb 2005 00:36 GMT

'spostadothat.

Rob

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Erik Rasmussen - 27 Feb 2005 07:44 GMT

My own 2004 focus sedan ghia only turns on AC when
I press the AC button.

But my parents 2004 C-Max automatically starts
AC if you set the airflow to defrost the
windshield. Probably intended as a user-friendly
feature ?

Erik M R

> In alt.autos.ford.focus Scott Thomas <thomass@cs.rose-hulman.edu>:
>
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
> parts and mounted them, but it didn't helped much. Luckily, my
> Focus has the heated windscreen, which is of great help.

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