Excessive heat from 2021: sudden change in behavior

Hey, my 2021 has been running like a champ. I have the 3 control HVAC setup with small screen. On cold days, I've just left the temp at 70F and the fan at three, splitting my feet with the dash vents. This has always worked for me.

On a recent 20F day, I went on errands and noticed the heat coming from the vent was extremely hot and the vent baffles impossible to touch. The car was not overheating. I turned the fan up all the way and lowered the digital temp setting to 65. This seemed to moderate to a more comfortable setting. But if I put it up to 70, it got really really hot again. Suddenly my comfort temp is 4-5 degrees lower than normal.

A search here indicates that this really hot air output may be normal behavior since there are heat strips. But in the 3 years of ownership including using the truck in occasional mid teen weather, I've never had the temp spike up like this. Here in MD we're going through a series of cold snaps that are unusual in duration and it may just be related to continued cold weather. But damn, the heat output is cranking hot. I've never experienced this before.

Like others, the air flow at the feet sucks but seems adequqte most days, but that's another issue.

Is this heat I'm experiencing normal or should I get someone to look at it? It's due for an oil change/tire rotation in 3 days but I can leave it with them if necessary.

Thanks.

 

It may be normal but I'd want to go into the A/C system with a scan tool and verify all the temp sensors are reading correctly. I seem to recall someone that had an interior temp sensor reading improperly causing the temp controls to be wonky.

 

Thanks. It's going in Thursday for an oil change, so I can leave it and ask them to scan. BUT, yesterday, things changed. I went to town in 25F weather. The heat needed to be set at 66 degrees and a fan setting of 5 to be comfortable without the overheating issue. When I left for home, the temp had risen to 42F and the old normal behavior had returned. Set to 70f and a fan setting of 5. So I wonder if a sensor is having trouble at certain temps? I'll know soon enough. Appreciate the feedback.