023 Lightning (Build 08/23) – No Heat / No Defrost Heat – Dealer says “failed heater assembly” (any insight?)

[Balke]

That sounds very very reasonable.

Well I don't. I wouldn't expect to have a 1k plus repair for an EV under 50k miles. Unfortunately the preliminary research I have done says the repair could cost close to 2k so fingers crossed it will be covered since it should be considered an EV thermal / HV component

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[TwentyTwentyThree]

Well I don't. I wouldn't expect to have a 1k plus repair for an EV under 50k miles. Unfortunately the preliminary research I have done says the repair could cost close to 2k so fingers crossed it will be covered since it should be considered an EV thermal / HV component

Ok. It is cheap. Go repair the hvac in any car, and you’ll find out.

 

[Balke]

Ok. It is cheap. Go repair the hvac in any car, and you’ll find out.

Absolutely agree with you that the cost for repair is reasonable (if correct). Whats not reasonable is the how soon a repair like this needs to be done after purchase.

 

[bc1]

Hey guys, for the sake of being a new "dumb" guy here, what is the PTC heater exactly and what does it do?

Some of code letters here like "PTC" bring up the warning "Danger, Danger, Will Robinson, That does not compute".

I've got the heat pump in mine but I'm still trying to understand how Ford took a bunch of miscellaneous parts from the HVAC reject bins, mixed them all together, and created a heater that doesn't work no matter what the year or build is.

I suspect some engineer had a jug of Wild Turkey in the desk drawer he or she was nipping on during the design process.

 

[Joe Dablock]

I think that part was recalled up to build date 08/23.

I had the same problem. My truck’s build date is 09/23. When my truck had 36.8k on it I lost heat. After negotiating with Ford, they covered 70 percent, but I still had to pay $900ish.

So, check to see if you are in recall group and appeal to Ford.

 

[ElectrifyingMe25]

Hey everyone — looking for some insight from the community while I wait on the dealer to finish things up.


I have a 2023 F-150 Lightning with about 48k miles. Recently the truck completely lost cabin heat — and defrost is also blowing cold, so it’s not just “weak heat.”


I checked coolant and noticed it was slightly low, topped it off to the max line, but it didn’t change anything.


The truck is currently at the dealership. At first the service advisor texted something about an “aux heat pump” (which confused me because I didn’t think my build had a heat pump). Now they’re saying it’s a failed “heater assembly” and they’re currently checking part availability.


I’ve seen a few posts online where people mention heater failures around certain build dates, but when I check my VIN I’m not seeing any recalls.


A few questions for anyone who has dealt with this:

1. When Ford says “heater assembly,” what part is that usually referring to on the Lightning? (PTC heater / HV coolant heater / valve / pump / heater core, etc.?)
2. Has anyone had this repaired around my mileage, and was it covered under warranty?
3. Any known TSBs or common failure points that match “no heat + cold defrost”?

I’ll update once I get the actual part number and codes from the dealer.


Thanks in advance.

I have a '23 XLT that had the same problem. It ended up being the Cabin Coolant Heater which is the HV PTC heater.

There was a recall for the '22 and some '23's. There was a manufacturing defect in some solder joints in the heater. My vehicle wasn't in the recall, it was just outside the dates window. However, it was covered under the factory warranty due to low miles. The invoice showed it would have cost $1200.00.

My opinion is they should widen the recall window. Heaters should last the lifetime of the truck if they are manufactured correctly.

I posted on this form about my heater issue a few months ago. If interested, you may want to look up my original posts.

BTW, this heater heats your battery also.

 

[JMD359]

I did notice that while I was driving without heat for a week or so the battery temp was low and I have never noticed that before. It would always be dead in the middle. Could be that I use the scheduled trip everyday and while it was working it gets things to proper temp. My thought is if I opted to not fix this issue and the battery wasn't able to manage cold temps properly that this should fall under the 100k battery systems warranty. Could just be wishful thinking on my part.

 

[Balke]

I think that part was recalled up to build date 08/23.

I had the same problem. My truck’s build date is 09/23. When my truck had 36.8k on it I lost heat. After negotiating with Ford, they covered 70 percent, but I still had to pay $900ish.

So, check to see if you are in recall group and appeal to Ford.

When I check on my ford account website it doesn't say I am included in the recall unfortunately.

 

[JMD359]

You didn’t complain about the preconditioning or battery Hester not working , your complaint was cabin heat . Had you asked for the battery heater to be fixed they may have covered it but they may not anything to do with the battery is warranties . Cabin heat and comfort issues are not once past 3/36 if you didn’t buy the premium care

 

[ZSC100]

Hey guys, for the sake of being a new "dumb" guy here, what is the PTC heater exactly and what does it do?

Some of code letters here like "PTC" bring up the warning "Danger, Danger, Will Robinson, That does not compute".

I've got the heat pump in mine but I'm still trying to understand how Ford took a bunch of miscellaneous parts from the HVAC reject bins, mixed them all together, and created a heater that doesn't work no matter what the year or build is.

I suspect some engineer had a jug of Wild Turkey in the desk drawer he or she was nipping on during the design process.

The PTC is just a basic high voltage hot water heater. A resistive element with PID controller with CAN communication. It's really the simplest of the HVDC parts on the truck. There's no reason at all it should cost more than $200, but....
https://ford.oempartsonline.com/oem-parts/ford-high-voltage-ptc-heater-lx6z18k463a
the OP needs to call the BEV customer service and bitch a fit b/c this is definitely part of the EV powertrain as it's used to heat the battery. If more info is needed on how to argue this just ask here.

Furthermore owners with the heat pump experiencing poor heater performance could have the PTC heater failed, but have heat pump operation. This sucks as heat pump heat is not as comfortable as resistive heat. And I doubt Ford gives any way to discretly control this. This is squarely why residential heat pumps don't market well in the North; because, if you raise the temp of your 70deg return air by 15deg that means you've got 85deg air blowing on you in the winter and that sucks for comfort. A vehicle amplifies this negative of heat pumps, in vehicles, when people turn their heat on, especially initially, they usually want the air blowing to be as hot as possible.

 

[Adventureboy]

Hey guys, for the sake of being a new "dumb" guy here, what is the PTC heater exactly and what does it do?

Some of code letters here like "PTC" bring up the warning "Danger, Danger, Will Robinson, That does not compute".

I've got the heat pump in mine but I'm still trying to understand how Ford took a bunch of miscellaneous parts from the HVAC reject bins, mixed them all together, and created a heater that doesn't work no matter what the year or build is.

I suspect some engineer had a jug of Wild Turkey in the desk drawer he or she was nipping on during the design process.

PTC is a Positive Temperature Coefficient ceramic heater. It means when the heater element heats to a specific temperature, it restricts electricity to keep the heater at that temperature. They are safer than traditional element heaters with better temperature control. The heater is used to both warm the cabin and warm the battery and can draw plenty of power (8-9kW if I remember correctly).

 

[Joe Dablock]

When I check on my ford account website it doesn't say I am included in the recall unfortunately.

I was in same situation, but I appealed directly to ford and said this part was recalled on earlier trucks and I don’t believe in coincidence. They offered to pay some and I gladly accepted!

 

[Balke]

The PTC is just a basic high voltage hot water heater. A resistive element with PID controller with CAN communication. It's really the simplest of the HVDC parts on the truck. There's no reason at all it should cost more than $200, but....
https://ford.oempartsonline.com/oem-parts/ford-high-voltage-ptc-heater-lx6z18k463a
the OP needs to call the BEV customer service and bitch a fit b/c this is definitely part of the EV powertrain as it's used to heat the battery. If more info is needed on how to argue this just ask here.

Furthermore owners with the heat pump experiencing poor heater performance could have the PTC heater failed, but have heat pump operation. This sucks as heat pump heat is not as comfortable as resistive heat. And I doubt Ford gives any way to discretly control this. This is squarely why residential heat pumps don't market well in the North; because, if you raise the temp of your 70deg return air by 15deg that means you've got 85deg air blowing on you in the winter and that sucks for comfort. A vehicle amplifies this negative of heat pumps, in vehicles, when people turn their heat on, especially initially, they usually want the air blowing to be as hot as possible.

Thank you, I would love some tips on how to contest if push comes to shove.

The part shows unavailable so hopefully they can get ahold of it and repaired on the quick. My backup vehicle isn't nearly adequate for my day to day.

 

[ZSC100]

Thank you, I would love some tips on how to contest if push comes to shove.

The part shows unavailable so hopefully they can get ahold of it and repaired on the quick. My backup vehicle isn't nearly adequate for my day to day.

The only initial advice you need is to immediately call the BEV team and get an advocate that can contact your service advisor and get your case in their system and verified. The people you will interact with from the BEV team are not technical, so you will just need to explain to them that the PTC heater is used to heat the battery for preconditioning and cold weather conditioning and thus affects the performance of the EV drivetrain and health management scheme of the HV Battery. Your BEV customer service rep will route your case to a technical person for review and eventually they will concur and approve it to be covered under the EV powertrain warranty. If all this fails, there is another route you can go to get it covered, but we'll cross that bridge if needed.

 

[Adventureboy]

This may help in your discussion.
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2023/RCLRPT-23V688-9845.PDF

I'm watching this closely since I also have a 2023.

Edit: Affected vehicles are select 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning pickups built between July 27th, 2023 and August 30th, 2023 so you are in the zone.

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