Originally published Friday, October 24, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Automotive Q&A
Hot and cold running Town Car
Q: I have a 1994 Lincoln Town Car and have experienced a problem with the air-conditioner system. It works fine, then all of a sudden, instead...
San Jose Mercury News
Q: I have a 1994 Lincoln Town Car and have experienced a problem with the air-conditioner system. It works fine, then all of a sudden, instead of cool air, it feels like a blast furnace. It will run this way for a bit and then return to cool air. Pretty soon the blast furnace returns until I stop the car — which is soon, because it gets pretty hot.
The Ford dealer couldn't find anything wrong with it.
A: Your Lincoln is equipped with EATC, or electronic automatic temperature control. When auto mode is selected, EATC chooses the appropriate A/C compressor status, ventilation door position, level of temperature blending and fan speed to achieve the selected temperature.
The EATC system monitors ambient and in-car temperature, as well as sun-load, and tries to close the gap between actual and desired temperature as quickly as possible.
My hunch is your in-car temperature sensor circuit is occasionally falling victim to a faulty connection.
The system has diagnostic capability. Next time the system acts up, try this: Press the control panel's off and floor buttons simultaneously, then within two seconds, press the auto button. The system will enter diagnostic mode and possibly display error code 3, indicating a fault in the in-car temperature sensor circuit, or code 2, a fault in the blend door actuator circuit.
Armed with this information, a qualified technician should be able to track down the cause in short order.
E-mail Brad Bergholdt at under-the-hood@juno.com
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

- Lakewood cop accused of embezzling $150K meant for slain officers' families
- 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
- Agency set to investigate handling of 911 call about Josh Powell
- Quick decisions: How Washington hired its new football staff
- Historic day for gay marriage as another fight looms
- Justin Wilcox's versatile defensive style is the right fit for Huskies | Jerry Brewer
- Social worker recounts minutes before Powell fire
- It's Terrence Time: Enigmatic Ross leads Huskies
- $25B settlement reached over foreclosure abuses
- Club promoter convicted in brutal 2010 murder of Des Moines prostitute
- Gay-marriage bill passes House, awaits Gregoire's signature
472 - Historic day for gay marriage as another fight looming
361 - Wanted in Seattle classrooms: more teachers of color
313 - 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
243 - Source: NY, California to sign mortgage settlement
231 - Council members get briefing on arena proposal, minus details
159 - Oregon live game thread
155 - Pac-12 picks ... including the UW game
140 - AP Source: Obama to change birth control rule
134 - Worker: Josh Powell told son he had 'surprise'
106
- State Medicaid program to stop paying for unneeded ER visits
- Wanted in Seattle classrooms: more teachers of color
- 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
- Economy, blogs give survivalists new reason to look to Northwest
- One man's audacious pursuit of sailing history
- State's share of mortgage settlement: $648 million
- Darren Berg gets 18-year sentence for Ponzi scheme
- $25B settlement reached over foreclosure abuses
- Bellevue College adds a third bachelor's degree program
- 'Gauguin and Polynesia': dazzling mix-and-match | Art review
