7th Generation Maxima (2009-2015) Come in and talk about the 7th generation Maxima

Heated Seats Don't Work

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Old 02-09-2009, 06:59 PM
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Drove my 09 today with outside temp of 59, driver side seat came on for appox 1 min then went off. I stopped and killed engine then restarted, seat came back on got warm then went back of after a minute again. There is something going on for this many people to be having the same problem, I hope they figure it out soon.
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Old 02-09-2009, 08:15 PM
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Originally Posted by Power620
Drove my 09 today with outside temp of 59, driver side seat came on for appox 1 min then went off. I stopped and killed engine then restarted, seat came back on got warm then went back of after a minute again. There is something going on for this many people to be having the same problem, I hope they figure it out soon.
When you say it went off, what do you mean? How do you know it went off?
Did the orange light in the heater control turned off?
I wish it was 59 today! With the out of ordinary (cold) CT weather this winter, I have had the butt warmer on constantly.
The heater usually comes on where you can feel it, and then it tapers off to comfortable, but I can see that the light stays on all the time.
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Old 02-10-2009, 08:33 AM
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I also have the "drivers seat heater" problem on my SV Premium. When very cold out the heater comes on (dial lights up) and then it cuts off within a minute or two (light goes out). The remedy is to restart the car, and then sometimes it fails again.

I have had the car in the shop 3 times for this and they decided it needed to have the relay replaced. The relay has been on order for the past 2 months (which I posted in the thread about parts availability). My dealer has decided that I cannot wait any longer for this relay so they have agreed to take one from a car on their lot and swap it into my car.

The car is in the shop today getting this work done, I will report back if this has fixed the problem later this week.

BTW they loaned me an 09 Infinity EX35, the Max is way nicer!
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Old 02-10-2009, 01:31 PM
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Yes the light went off, only way to get to come back on is kill engine and restart. Will then stay on for about 1 minute then goes back off (seat and light)
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Old 02-10-2009, 02:03 PM
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I received word from Nissan Customer Service today. I am not a happy camper.

The CS rep called the service manager at the dealership. The CS rep said that all that could be done with my seats have been done. In other words, the heating of the passenger side seat is as good as it will be. I was livid.

He said I could take the car to another dealer. I reiterated that this was done and I was refused service. He again said this was not possible.

So I called up the service manager at the dealership where I purchased the vehicle. He agreed to re-visit the issue.

It is unfathomable how bad the Nissan CS rep handled this case. His listening skills are poor at best. My experience was worst than talking to an off-shore CS person.

More as things develop.
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Old 02-10-2009, 07:51 PM
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Wow. Nissan is definitely not know for their great Customer Service.
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Old 02-11-2009, 01:07 AM
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Originally Posted by MaxMus
Wow. Nissan is definitely not know for their great Customer Service.

Depends on the dealer and the customer service rep you happen to reach. I always had good service with my Datsun dealer in the 1970s and early 1980s, and also with the Nissan dealer I have used for the last 13 years. The Nissan dealers I used from 1984 until 1996 were only average.
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Old 02-11-2009, 01:29 PM
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Well, this is what I got via my service manager and the Nissan Tech Team. It seams as there is a "safety feature" that causes this to occur if there is more than a 30 degree F difference between the bottom and top of the seat. He is faxing some info to me that supposedly explains this but at least it sort of confirms my hypothesis about the cabin temp. One "workaround" that may work is to only use the lowest setting at first and see if it stays on for more than a couple of mins before turning it to max. I'll give it a try and advise.

We all agree that safety is great, but as the SM and I said in unison, "why do you have to turn the car off and on instead of either allowing the switch to reset the system or a relay to toggle on a timer?"
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Old 02-13-2009, 05:11 AM
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Originally Posted by Oncoryncus
I also have the "drivers seat heater" problem on my SV Premium. When very cold out the heater comes on (dial lights up) and then it cuts off within a minute or two (light goes out). The remedy is to restart the car, and then sometimes it fails again.

I have had the car in the shop 3 times for this and they decided it needed to have the relay replaced. The relay has been on order for the past 2 months (which I posted in the thread about parts availability). My dealer has decided that I cannot wait any longer for this relay so they have agreed to take one from a car on their lot and swap it into my car.

The car is in the shop today getting this work done, I will report back if this has fixed the problem later this week.

BTW they loaned me an 09 Infinity EX35, the Max is way nicer!
My report back on this fix is that replacing the relay will NOT resolve this problem. It took 2 days to re and re the relay since it is hidden up in behind the radio.

This morning it is -8C in Toronto, I got in the car, started her up, turned on the seat heater, it came on for about 1.5 minutes and then shut off, the light went out and no heat. Same problem as before.
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Old 02-13-2009, 05:36 AM
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LtLeary, I sent you a private message.
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Old 02-13-2009, 10:17 AM
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What happens when the cabin fully warms up? Does it stay on?

On another note, is there any issues with the heated seats on the Sport models?
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Old 02-13-2009, 11:11 AM
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Originally Posted by MaxMus
What happens when the cabin fully warms up? Does it stay on?

On another note, is there any issues with the heated seats on the Sport models?
Yes, once the cabin is warm the problem does not appear and the seat heater works great! Unfortunatly, by then I don't need the seat heater.
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Old 02-19-2009, 01:10 AM
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[quote=LtLeary;6865673]Well, this is what I got via my service manager and the Nissan Tech Team. It seams as there is a "safety feature" that causes this to occur if there is more than a 30 degree F difference between the bottom and top of the seat. He is faxing some info to me that supposedly explains this but at least it sort of confirms my hypothesis about the cabin temp. One "workaround" that may work is to only use the lowest setting at first and see if it stays on for more than a couple of mins before turning it to max. I'll give it a try and advise.

I've been turning mine up one step every 2 or 3 minutes for the last couple months, It does keep it from shuting down but it still does not get that hot. If I forget to turn it down after shutting the car off, the next time I drive it the seat shuts down within a minute. My lower back is killing me!
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Old 02-19-2009, 01:51 AM
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Chas69 - Not totally unexpected, given all the symptoms that have appeared here. Still, this is a disappointing situation. It may be that Nissan will get enough complaints that they may try to come up with a service bulletin to ease this problem.
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Old 03-04-2009, 12:22 PM
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Next to the voice recognition system, the heated seats in my 09 Super Black Max with Sport/Tech package are my biggest disappointment. I just got mine back from the dealer today in fact (for mostly another problem). They checked the temperature of both of my seats, and said they both meet the specification of 95 degrees, and that there is 15 degrees difference between High and Low. Seems mighty cool to me. I can hardly ever tell that they are on (Mine just have a High/Low switch... no cooling). But the heated steering wheel is another story! Wow, it works great!!
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Old 03-04-2009, 01:42 PM
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It was 18 degrees outside this past Monday, and my heated seats worked perfectly. They did not shutoff at all and were super hot in about 5 minutes. Much, much better than my M35x.
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Old 03-05-2009, 01:45 AM
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Originally Posted by MaxMus
It was 18 degrees outside this past Monday, and my heated seats worked perfectly. They did not shutoff at all and were super hot in about 5 minutes. Much, much better than my M35x.

My wife uses the seat heaters every time we get in the car, and if she forgets to turn them off after a few minutes, she gets so hot she rolls down the windows. I get the feeling the seat heaters in the '09 Maxima are not all alike.
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Old 03-06-2009, 04:09 AM
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Yeah, the Premium has a different seat heating configuration than the Sport package. I test drove a Premium but bought the Sport. The Premium seats burned my butt. 95 degrees is cooler than my body temp, so I think there is a problem there....
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Old 03-06-2009, 06:58 AM
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Originally Posted by lightonthehill
My wife uses the seat heaters every time we get in the car, and if she forgets to turn them off after a few minutes, she gets so hot she rolls down the windows. I get the feeling the seat heaters in the '09 Maxima are not all alike.
Yeah, whether i'm driving or not, I always put the seat heaters on high (it's been 25 degrees for the past couple of days here in the North East), but after a couple of minutes I have to turn it off or turn it to low. It really burns the buns if you keep it on high.
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Old 03-06-2009, 10:10 AM
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This is one of the reasons why I never buy the first year of a new generation!! These problems are ridiculous!!
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Old 03-06-2009, 11:21 AM
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Originally Posted by nlt624
This is one of the reasons why I never buy the first year of a new generation!! These problems are ridiculous!!
Uh - you bought a '95(first year of 4th gen) and an 04(first year of 6th gen)?
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Old 03-06-2009, 02:18 PM
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Just got back from my dealer... they actually ARE trying to be helpful. Of course I'm a new customer. However, when I explained that my seated got rained on once, they didn't seem to think that would affect the seat heater performance. They said they were "running the problem through Engineering". So we'll see.

There's a story here... the car was about 3 days old, and I did not know about the automatic window opening from the key fob feature. Apparently that night I bent over to pick something up inside my house, and another key depressed the Unlock button in just such a way as to roll the windows down for me (car was in the driveway). Obviously I didn't know this had happened, and of course, it rained. Next day, 3 of us dried out the interior, and seats were pretty wet for a day. Just makes me wonder if it affected the seat heaters. Dealer says they wouldn't work at all if it had affected them.
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Old 03-06-2009, 06:19 PM
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Originally Posted by gizzsdad
Uh - you bought a '95(first year of 4th gen) and an 04(first year of 6th gen)?

nit624 is joshing us. A seat heater that burns our buns if left on high too long is not a problem, but a blessing.
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Old 03-06-2009, 06:26 PM
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Originally Posted by tbosco
Just got back from my dealer... they actually ARE trying to be helpful. Of course I'm a new customer. However, when I explained that my seated got rained on once, they didn't seem to think that would affect the seat heater performance. They said they were "running the problem through Engineering". So we'll see.

There's a story here... the car was about 3 days old, and I did not know about the automatic window opening from the key fob feature. Apparently that night I bent over to pick something up inside my house, and another key depressed the Unlock button in just such a way as to roll the windows down for me (car was in the driveway). Obviously I didn't know this had happened, and of course, it rained. Next day, 3 of us dried out the interior, and seats were pretty wet for a day. Just makes me wonder if it affected the seat heaters. Dealer says they wouldn't work at all if it had affected them.


If the water pooled in any footwell, I would remove whatever trim was necessary and lift up the carpet and pad and confirm there was no water underneath. Water left in that situation can't get out, and will cause a really messy rusting situation.

The first thing I do when entering the house is remove the intelli-key from my pocket. I do that even though the car is in a closed, locked, alarmed garage. Too easy to accidentally operate things. I even have trouble getting the real key released from the end of the intelli-fob without accidentally pressing one of the buttons on the front of the fob.
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Old 03-06-2009, 06:48 PM
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Originally Posted by Oncoryncus
My report back on this fix is that replacing the relay will NOT resolve this problem. It took 2 days to re and re the relay since it is hidden up in behind the radio.

This morning it is -8C in Toronto, I got in the car, started her up, turned on the seat heater, it came on for about 1.5 minutes and then shut off, the light went out and no heat. Same problem as before.
My dealer seems to have made a breakthrough with this problem. There is a device in the seat called a "thermal electric device" which is responsible for heating the seat. If the resistance on the device is between .9 and 5 ohms the seat operates normally. If the resistance on this device is greater than 5 ohms then it shuts down.

The Thermal Electric Device in my seat has a resistance of 8.5 ohms. My dealer is ordering a replacement and expect it to resolve the problem. He has reports from other Nissan techs that have replaced high resistance thermal electric devices which have fixed the problem.

I'm optimistic, I'll let everyone know once the part is installed. It's on backorder, naturally.
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Old 03-07-2009, 05:31 AM
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Originally Posted by Oncoryncus
My dealer seems to have made a breakthrough with this problem. There is a device in the seat called a "thermal electric device" which is responsible for heating the seat. If the resistance on the device is between .9 and 5 ohms the seat operates normally. If the resistance on this device is greater than 5 ohms then it shuts down.

The Thermal Electric Device in my seat has a resistance of 8.5 ohms. My dealer is ordering a replacement and expect it to resolve the problem. He has reports from other Nissan techs that have replaced high resistance thermal electric devices which have fixed the problem.

I'm optimistic, I'll let everyone know once the part is installed. It's on backorder, naturally.
Thanks for the tip. I think they checked that on my model.

Hey lightonthehill... we did as you suggested at that time... I did not want a smelly, moldy, rusty mess, and we got all the water out immediately. The Sales guys need to stress that automatic feature when the customer is ready to drive one off the lot. The details are deep in the Owners Manual.
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Old 03-12-2009, 02:36 PM
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Hello everyone, remember me? On this thread, I am the OP, "original poster." My complaint is that the passenger seat does not heat.

It has been two months since my travails began. I still have the same problem, but I may be getting closer to a solution.

Today, the dealer replaced the passenger seat bottom in hopes to rectify the problem. Using the human butt instrument, I feel nothing. I still do not have a heated passenger seat. But I do have objective data. The dealer thermally measured the temperature of the seat backs and bottoms of both seats. The numbers are: Driver's 106 °F (seat back), 101 °F (seat bottom). Passenger seat: Driver's 81 °F (seat back), 80 °F (seat bottom). The dealer also measured a control: another 2009 Maxima on their lot. The temperature readings were almost identical and also showed a wide disparity between the driver's and passenger seat.

The Nissan dealer will compare this data with the engineering design numbers. My saga continues.

In my earlier posts, I highlighted a series of very bad experiences with Nisssan customer service. It appears that the bad service is limited to only the northeast US and to one customer service rep. I do not want to castigate Nissan in general for the poor performance of an individual.

There have been numerous issues with the heated seats in the '09 Maxima on both sides of the aisle. At some point in time, Nissan will get the message and seek out the root cause. This must be with the engineering and production people, not customer service or Nissan service.
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Old 03-12-2009, 07:24 PM
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Here is my weird experience with heated seats.
I had driver side seat cushion replaced, because of a discomfort issue.
Prior to the replacement, the seat heating worked like a champ. So much so that I though I would get butt burns. It also seemed to matter little which position the rotary dial was in (there are 3), they all seemed to produce way too much heat. When I was at the dealer the first time, I had to clarify which position should produce most/least heat, because unfortunately the control is not marked in that respect.
So, after I got the seat cushion replaced, it seems like I can barely feel any heat being produced at all. The control light stays on all the time, so I know it is not shutting off, like with some other cars.
I can also feel the back of the seat heating up nicely, but not the cushion.
At first I though that maybe the dealership forgot to plug the harness in or something along the line.
Don't know what to do just yet.

CT Max, which dealership are you dealing with at this time?
thanks,
Max
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Old 03-13-2009, 03:29 AM
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Originally Posted by maxud
Here is my weird experience with heated seats.
I had driver side seat cushion replaced, because of a discomfort issue.
Prior to the replacement, the seat heating worked like a champ. So much so that I though I would get butt burns. It also seemed to matter little which position the rotary dial was in (there are 3), they all seemed to produce way too much heat. When I was at the dealer the first time, I had to clarify which position should produce most/least heat, because unfortunately the control is not marked in that respect.
So, after I got the seat cushion replaced, it seems like I can barely feel any heat being produced at all. The control light stays on all the time, so I know it is not shutting off, like with some other cars.
I can also feel the back of the seat heating up nicely, but not the cushion.
At first I though that maybe the dealership forgot to plug the harness in or something along the line.
Don't know what to do just yet.

CT Max, which dealership are you dealing with at this time?
thanks,
Max
The dealer that installed my new passenger seat bottom is Bruce Bennett Nissan in Wilton CT.

What is the performance of your passenger seat heating system?
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Old 03-13-2009, 04:23 AM
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Originally Posted by CT Maxima
The dealer that installed my new passenger seat bottom is Bruce Bennett Nissan in Wilton CT.

What is the performance of your passenger seat heating system?
I tested it once, while my wife was driving. I definitely felt the heat with my butt-o-meter. If was not as intense as my first driver cushion though.
Max
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Old 03-14-2009, 03:05 PM
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Originally Posted by maxud
I tested it once, while my wife was driving. I definitely felt the heat with my butt-o-meter. If was not as intense as my first driver cushion though.
Max
Guys... I assume the Premium model and the Sport model have 2 different configurations of actual seat heater coils since the controls and cusions are different on each. So we are all sort of talking "apples and oranges" here I think. However, in reviewing all your posts, there seems to be a lot of "apples and oranges" going on in the quality of each type of seat heater at Nissan. I'm not sure how to get their Engineering folks to start looking at this problem... maybe our Dealers have some input there. I think we have to "speak louder"...
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Old 03-14-2009, 03:55 PM
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Originally Posted by tbosco
Guys... I assume the Premium model and the Sport model have 2 different configurations of actual seat heater coils since the controls and cusions are different on each. So we are all sort of talking "apples and oranges" here I think. However, in reviewing all your posts, there seems to be a lot of "apples and oranges" going on in the quality of each type of seat heater at Nissan. I'm not sure how to get their Engineering folks to start looking at this problem... maybe our Dealers have some input there. I think we have to "speak louder"...
Indeed there is a lot of variation in seat heater performance.

A goal of any engineering design is for manufacturing to consistently produce the same performing item. Chaos would reign otherwise.

In a two month period, at one dealership in Connecticut, I have observed:

1) My car with a good driver's seat and a bad passenger seat
2) Another SV Premium (sales manager DD) with good driver's seat and bad passenger seat.
3) Another SV Premium (sales person DD) with bad driver's seat and good passenger seat.
4) Another SV Premium (control vehicle used in testing my last repair), good driver's seat and bad passenger seat.

By "bad", I mean that the seat does not heat.

Add to this all the experiences with other owners around the country.

I did bring up this issue with Nissan Customer Care. I was told to get lost; if the dealer reports that the seat "works", it works.
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Old 10-10-2009, 12:03 PM
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I have an 09 and it seems the air and heat come through the portion that supports the back ? I also get very low heat from the seat. The passenger seats heats up really fast and works every time.

I have also noticed that if I leave the seat cooler on and turn off the car, when I turn the car back on the cooler never comes on ?

I live in KY and a heated seat is defintely needed. Does the seat cooler and heater have two different fuses ?

Did Nissan every issue a fix for the heated seat ?

Thanks Rob
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Old 10-10-2009, 07:51 PM
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Originally Posted by tse54re
I have an 09 and it seems the air and heat come through the portion that supports the back ? I also get very low heat from the seat. The passenger seats heats up really fast and works every time.

I have also noticed that if I leave the seat cooler on and turn off the car, when I turn the car back on the cooler never comes on ?

I live in KY and a heated seat is defintely needed. Does the seat cooler and heater have two different fuses ?

Did Nissan every issue a fix for the heated seat ?

Thanks Rob

First, we need to know if you have the Premium package, which changes the setup on the driver's seat by adding a separate heating and cooling system for just that one seat. Since you mentioned the 'seat cooler', I tend to think you must have the Premium package.

I have the Premium package, and whatever heat/cooling I leave the driver's seat on when parking the car will come right back on whenever I restart the car. I'm not sure about the passenger seat in my '09. I do know that on my 5th and 6th gen Maximas (which did not have the special heating/cooling system for the driver's seat), whenever we left either of the seat heater switches on when we turned the car off, that seat would immediately re-heat when I restarted the car. This is fine with the driver's seat, but both my wife and I considered this to be a problem with the passender seat, and I wrote to Nissan and suggested the passenger seat should not automatically come back on, because there may be only a grocery bag filled with ice cream on that seat on any given trip.

As to our '09 Premium driver's seat, the heating and cooling is in both the seat AND the lower half of the seatback. And the switch is a three-level switch. If I were you, I would turn the driver seat switch to its highest setting, also turn the passenger seat on high, and drive for a few moments. Then get out with the motor still running and the heat switch still on for both seats, and feel the seat surface for several minutes. If the seat portion of the driver's seat does not stay at least as warm as the passenger seat, there is probably a problem in your driver's seat. Be sure and feel both the seat bottom and the lower portion of the seat back; if the seat back is clearly warmer, that will tell the techs the problem is in the seat bottom, and not in the switches and controls.
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Old 10-12-2009, 12:48 AM
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Originally Posted by CT Maxima
Indeed there is a lot of variation in seat heater performance.

A goal of any engineering design is for manufacturing to consistently produce the same performing item. Chaos would reign otherwise.

In a two month period, at one dealership in Connecticut, I have observed:

1) My car with a good driver's seat and a bad passenger seat
2) Another SV Premium (sales manager DD) with good driver's seat and bad passenger seat.
3) Another SV Premium (sales person DD) with bad driver's seat and good passenger seat.
4) Another SV Premium (control vehicle used in testing my last repair), good driver's seat and bad passenger seat.

By "bad", I mean that the seat does not heat.

Add to this all the experiences with other owners around the country.

I did bring up this issue with Nissan Customer Care. I was told to get lost; if the dealer reports that the seat "works", it works.
You aren't alone...I continue to visit Nissan quite regularly regarding my seat as well. Their last computer diagnosis showed the seat going to 1800F in heat mode and 3000F in cool (Even though I'm sure they love seeing me wandering thru the dealership, I think they want to start working on other peoples cars now and are replacing the entire seat.)

Were they able to pull any computer stats off your passenger seat? (I don't know if it is instrumented.)
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Old 10-12-2009, 04:02 AM
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Originally Posted by LtLeary
Their last computer diagnosis showed the seat going to 1800F in heat mode and 3000F in cool

Did you really mean one thousand and eight hundred degrees Fahrenheit? And three thousand degrees Fahrenheit? When we consider that 212 degrees Fahrenheit is the boiling point of water at sea level, you are talking about one very hot seat. In fact, at those temps, it would be quickly incinerated.
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Old 10-12-2009, 12:34 PM
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Originally Posted by lightonthehill
Did you really mean one thousand and eight hundred degrees Fahrenheit? And three thousand degrees Fahrenheit? When we consider that 212 degrees Fahrenheit is the boiling point of water at sea level, you are talking about one very hot seat. In fact, at those temps, it would be quickly incinerated.
Was thinking the same thing. You have a seat that will sustain shuttle re-entry temperatures, but won't warm your butt?



To the actual topic, my heating results have been mixed on my '09. The first time I used them I got almost nothing. The second time i used them, I had to turn them off because they got too hot. Now that the weather is cooling down here, I should be able to do more consistent testing.
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Old 10-12-2009, 12:40 PM
  #78  
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yea i got the same problem but i have a 4th generation max... so im thinkin that we may have different problemz
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Old 10-12-2009, 04:57 PM
  #79  
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Originally Posted by Breezy333ent
yea i got the same problem but i have a 4th generation max... so im thinkin that we may have different problemz

Yep. If I recall correctly, the 4th gen uses Etnas (standard laboratory Bunsen Burners) under each front seat. Turning the switch on causes two pices of top grade Cherokee river flint to strike against each other, creating a spark that ignites the burners.
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Old 10-13-2009, 02:13 AM
  #80  
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Originally Posted by lightonthehill
Did you really mean one thousand and eight hundred degrees Fahrenheit? And three thousand degrees Fahrenheit? When we consider that 212 degrees Fahrenheit is the boiling point of water at sea level, you are talking about one very hot seat. In fact, at those temps, it would be quickly incinerated.
Hey, only reporting the computer readout!! (Which is why the light only comes on for a sec!!!) You could forge steel at those temps (and I wonder why they could never find the problem!!!) Personally, I think the computer reports a "predicted" temp predicated on current and resistance but if that is the way Nissan is to measure.....!!!
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