heating issue??

MikeyMKZ

Registered
Is anyone else having heating issues with the MKZ or the Zephyr?
I had recently purchased a fully loaded MKZ and the heat is not working properly (and the engine is warm). I'ts horrible when in MN the tempature is
-20 degrees!! The heat will come on ONLY when I'm pressing the gas pedal. When stopped at a red light, pressing the brake, or letting the car glide -cold air gets pumped to me. Thank GOD for Seat Warmers!!

So I bring the car into the dealership to have them fix it. They call me a day later saying the car is fixed and is pumping hot air. I go to pick it up (engine is warmed up) and nothin' but cold air. I bring it back to speak to the manager and he mentioned this is an engineeering problem and FORD has no resolution. There is nothing the dealer can do. I requested for a loaner in the meantime. Dealership refused and told me to call FORD.

So I call FORD...and....the same answers. They just tell me to sit tight with no heat in a subzero temp. I ASK them for a loaner, and still a firm NO.

Anybody else having trouble with heat? please respond.
 
I know the Lincoln Mark VIII's had an issue with the blend door motor. The little arm would break off at the shaft, so the door no longer moved. The engine would make plenty of heat, but it would not get to the passenger compartment. The part is cheap, but it requires you to remove the entire dash. Basically an all day project.

Check this link: http://mark8.org/lod/technical.htm This is how I fixed it on my Lincoln.

You may also be able to reach the blend door on your vehicle by reaching under the dash. If you are able to move it a bit you should get some heat, and know it is your problem.

Tell us waht you find. Hope this helps.
 
Threaten to lemon law the vehicle if they don't fix it. That's not acceptable.

Sorry I can't provide anymore assistance. Good luck!
 
Threaten to lemon law the vehicle if they don't fix it. That's not acceptable.

Sorry I can't provide anymore assistance. Good luck!

Yes, lemon law. Not sure of what that specifically is in MN, but use it if you can. All you have to do is complain about it (or anything else) three times. After that, they have to take the car back and give a full refund. A lot of people do this just to get out of a loan they can't afford, so it appears to be fairly easy to do.
 
Oh, boy, have you started an interesting thread!

What they told you at the dealership is exactly right.

We've got two MKZs at our shop right now doing the same thing: engine warms up correctly, but no heat gets to the cabin unless the engine is revving at ~2000 RPM or higher.

It's clearly a circulation problem.

We've tried replacing thermostats and drawing all air out of the system using an Airlift Vacuum Evacuator, filling from the small bleed port, and even rerouting the heater hoses to avoid vertical loops that can trap air pockets. An hour long full vacuum bleed will get the car making heat at idle for about a day, then things regress.

I've been in contact with a 3.5L cooling system engineer through Ford's OASIS/ Engineering Hotline Assistance and I was told to stop any further attempts at repair; a redesigned thermostat housing and water pump with higher efficiency impeller is coming out, but has not been released to Parts Network yet.

He claims it's "only a matter of weeks" away.

The minute I hear anything more I'll post it here.
 
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I cannot understand how a problem like that can happen in this computer design age. Has not Ford been making heating systems that work for the past 80 years?
 
It's the computer design age that's the problem.

There's no human design "team" overseeing any complete systems any more.

One supplier is given production specifications for a component. They may be in Germany or the US or Brazil or...or... They are not told how it integrates into the rest of the car. Another supplier is given design and software criteria for a control module, but are not told what it actually does.

The most interesting, from my personal experience dealing with Engineering Hotline, is wiring harnesses, particularily since Ford started sourcing from Delphi. The suppliers are given strict design parameters in regards to extremely complex harnesses but are not told what their connectors plug into or what systems a given harness is meant to feed! The hard components are designed and sourced by a different division and/or supplier who only care about meeting the design requirements mandated to their specific division.

This could be a long and frustrating discussion, but let me assure you, I've seen more SSMs and TSBs saying "Do not attempt repairs at this time, engineering is investigating issue root causes" in the last 4-5 years than I have in the prior 20-odd years of my career with Ford/Lincoln.
 
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That is scary. Design mistakes were previously made because of limited technology. Now they are made because of advanced technology.
 
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Hey, Mike! I hope you're still checking this thread, 'cause I've got the answer!

Ford has issued a TSB: 07-04-10. It won't be out on paper until March 1st or on the Ford websites until the end of this week, but Engineering Hotline sent us an advanced copy.

It's got nothing to do with revised water pumps or thermostat housings.

Here's the short version:
The assembly line heater core supplier shipped "a limited number of units" (not sure what that means) that were "contaminated with manufacturing process debris" (not sure what that means either).

The fix involves a three-stage flushing of the heater core separately from the rest of the system and then flushing the rest of the system with the heater core disconnected using a special Motorcraft #VC-1 cleaning solution. If heating is still unsatisfactory, replace the heater core and degas/overflow tank.

We followed the flushing procedure exactly on one of our problem MKZs and everything works great now. Lots of heat at idle!
 
Mike?

It's been 10 days. Have you contacted your dealer?

Did they fix the problem? The TSB procedure fixed both of our MKXs.
 
Heating issue no more....

Heating issue no more....

I would first like to thank everyone for all of their concern and help.

To get the short and sweat of it all, the heat now works.

I did everything from contacting attorneys, sending letters, and bringing the car in for repair to enforce the lemon law (I am one service repair order away from 4 times – the lemon law requirement)

Frankie X – you are right. That was the issue and it corrected my heating problem. FORD is also willing to eat one month’s payment for my car troubles – less than I was aiming for, but far better than expected.

I would again like to thank all of you for your feedback and support. There is a lot of information on this page and a lot of teamwork at play – especially considering all of you are people I don’t know.
If I did know you – I would offer 1st round of drinks on me!

I hope this page offers help to anyone else having the same heating problem with the MKZ or the MKX.

Thank you all again. – MikeyMKZ
 
I have owned both the Zephyr and now the 2007 MKZ AWD. I have had zero issues with both. This has been the best car I have ever owned. A very happy camper. I have all the toys, bells, and whistles one could expect for 35k. I remember paying 7 years ago 30k for a Chyrsler 300m and it was no where near what I am driving now. Can wait to see what is in store for the Lincoln future.
 
I have owned both the Zephyr and now the 2007 MKZ AWD. I have had zero issues with both. This has been the best car I have ever owned. A very happy camper. I have all the toys, bells, and whistles one could expect for 35k. I remember paying 7 years ago 30k for a Chyrsler 300m and it was no where near what I am driving now. Can wait to see what is in store for the Lincoln future.

Welcome! :)

Glad to hear you love the Lincolns!
 
Glad i found this site

Glad i found this site

I have that heating issue as well on my 3 week old MKZ. They changed the thermostat and seemed ok for a few days. But noticed this morning while i was waiting for my wife to come back, that i was getting next to no heat at idle.
I must say though, i am not fond of having my dash removed to exchange the heater core.
Thanks for the info
 
I must say though, i am not fond of having my dash removed to exchange the heater core.
Thanks for the info

I don't blame you, I figured it was always put together best at the factory (most of the time). However I have had dash work done on my Cougar twice from the dealer and both times it came back better then it was when it went in. :)
 
Hey, Pete, if this makes you feel any better...

Since my last posts on this thread, we've had 2 more MKZs with this problem. The three-stage flush has fixed all 4. We didn't actually need to replace heater cores in any of them.
 
Well.....had my 08 MKZ back to the dealer (second time )to take care of the heater issue. I gave them the TSP nr Frankie X posted (07-04-10).They said, they flushed it again and had hot air at idle.
Went to get it and first thing i done was sit in the car at idle.....luke warm air but certainly not hot.....what a wast of time.....mine and fords.
Went back in and told them to get in contact with ford and figure out a fix.
Gonna be in again at some point.... 3rd for the same problem.
I hate this with a passion.......
 
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