Does your Explorer / Mountaineer let you warm the air at all when set to "MAX A/C"? Mine will in the regular A/C mode, but not in MAX A/C mode... it's 100% cold even with the heat dial turned all the way up.
In my 97 Ex, it works the same as yours. On the Max setting it a flap opens up to draw the internal air. When you turn it on max, a valve shuts off the flow of coolant to the heater core. So there is no way to add heat back into the air to adjust the temperature.
Yup. That's why it's called "MAX"
Thanks - that explains it. Although, it would be nice to have it recirculate the internal air to dry it AND be able to warm it up a little, too (or just have separate recirculate & A/C controls like many other vehicles).
Do you happen to know if MAX is the only position that recirculates the cabin air?
up to draw the
to the heater core.
Yes, it is. But, once you get the first batch of heat unloaded from the cab (which is why you used MAX in the first place, right?) then you turn it to AC and you can adjust the temp and do what you want "have it recirculate the internal air to dry it AND be able to warm it up a little, too."
Alan
up to draw the
to the heater core.
up to draw the
coolant to the heater core.
...actually, no - usually the main reason I use MAX is to recirculate the cabin air instead of drawing in outside air. First, because sometimes there are outside odors (diesel fumes, road construction fumes, skunks, etc.) that I don't want drawn into the cabin, and second, there are times when the air is so humid, it takes several cycles through the condensor to bring the moisture down to a comfortable level.
It's nice to be able to recirculate the cabin air AND control the temperature.
Well, yeah. Getting the moisture down initially is the reason to use MAZ.
I'm not sure it's such a good idea. I was driving with my brothers and a sister-in-law many years ago, and we had the AC on recirculate. After about half an hour I noticed that my brother who was driving was looking sleepy, and we were wandering around on the highway.
I could barely make myself manage to tell him to slide the temp control to the right to get it off recirculate, so we could get fresh air!
My sense of using recirculate is that you have to do it with care!
Alan
Yeah, right.......that would be SO much more effective than opening a window.
Sorry........I don't believe a word of it.
Dave
Hairy wrote: wrote
I have to support Alan on this one. I have experienced this several times myself, as I drive cross-country twice a year. Cracking a window, snapping the control over to "normal A/C" - either one works, and works quite quickly. But the sleepiness, presumably from reduced oxygen and increased CO2 in the air, definitely happens.
Bill
We were, I later realized, all of the verge of passing out. All I could focus on mentally, was the recirulating mode. Yeah, somewhere in the back of my mind was the idea of opening a window. However, I was in the back seat of a coupe, and the only people who could open a window were in the front sea -- my brother (the driver) and my sister-in-law who would have asked questions and argued.
So, I told my brother to just reach over to the AC and move the lever. It wasn't his car, so I knew he would just do it. He did.
I'm glad.
Real event.
Alan
Carbon monoxide leaking into the cabin perhaps? Those symptoms sure sound like it. Best to have your exhaust system checked.
Vehicle owner's manuals used to include warnings in the A/C section of the manual.
They would say to never use Max (recirculate) for long periods of time, and when using recirculate you should switch over to normal A/C or open the windows every so often to let in fresh outside air. They even gave a time interval but I don't recall it now.
They would also give more detailed information on how to use the A/C system such as on extra hot days you first roll down the windows and turn on normal A/C and start driving for a few minutes this way (outside air would always be cooler than the temp in a closed car) They would then say when the inside temp starts to get more comfortable, roll up the windows and switch to max A/C (recirculate) to bring the temp down even more. Then once you are comfortable switch back to normal A/C
They also mentioned about using recirculate on very humid, extra hot, or when driving through areas with foul odors, but to not use recirulate exclusively, switch over to norm A/C or open windows every so often.
All A/C systems dehumidifies the air. Max just does it better because it is cool>>
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