Will the climate control upgrade panel work without A/C

[sieade245]

Hi guys.

My 2015 panel van has the basic heater control panel and I don't have A/C fitted. I had a quick look at retofitting A/C but looks like would be easier to get a different van which I don't want to do..also I drove the van around this Summer when it was super hot and didn't mind so much as my seats are not leather and the factory fan and windows did the job.

Now it's getting colder though its a different story. I have to keep messing with the controls to heat the van, then turn it back down again, and so on. My last car has Auto climate control so I suppose I've been spoilt now but it would be nice if the heat control was a bit more fire and forget. I found this panel from Ford part number 1869312 on an old thread from 2014 but it is still available to order and I'm hoping I can find one scrap/ used in the future.

Is this just a straight swap? Is there any coding required? And the big question. Will it still work even though I don't have A/C? Its mainly for the winter so I'm not bothered about it trying to cool the van down to a temp it can never get to without aircon.

[Mike]

No.

[sieade245]

No.

Hi Mike. Thanks for the hard hitting reply. Do you know is it a physical issue (connectors completely different) or a software/control issue? As far as I can tell, all I'm missing on the basic panel is the A/C button which I assume would have a connector of some kind if I had A/C fitted to turn the compressor on/off. Haven't looked behind the panel yet to see what factory looming is fitted. On one of my other cars, you could still use the Auto climate control even if the A/C was manually disabled so thought it was worth an ask.

[Mike]

A search would have found you this thread viewtopic.php?f=65&t=150610&hilit=Automatic+climate
It’s extremely unlikely to work, as when you try to add it to the van, the software will realise that there’s no aircon.

[mic71]

Hi also
Even if you did get it to work it's unlikely to stop you having to adjust the controls.
I bought one and fitted it in my van a couple of years ago and found it wasn't very reliable at keeping to a selected temp in the van.

[sieade245]

Thanks for the replies. That thread you mentioned Mike is the one I read to find out about the panel in the first place so please don't think I'm trying to waste your time..but it doesn't specifically mention anyone having fitted it on a van without A/C so thought it was worth an ask for further info.

After reading about your experiences with the panel fitted though Mic71 , it doesn't look like it's going to make much difference so I guess I'll give this one a miss. Thanks!!