'09 Seat Heating

[brainguyus]

The seat heater on my ’09 seems lately as if has gotten weaker. The high setting now takes about 4 minutes before I feel anything and gets about as warm as the low setting used to. The low setting gets mildly warm but it takes a while to heat up.

Previously I would need to turn the high setting off because the seat would get too warm….which I liked since I often get muscle spasms in my back and the high heat felt great.

I took the car to the dealer yesterday to have it checked out and they said the seat heat operates and cycles within normal operating ranges. This morning I hopped in the passenger seat to compare and got the same ‘weakened’ result. In addition my wife said she hasn’t noticed a change in the passenger seat heat. Could I have originally had a defect which caused the drivers seat to get too warm and then corrected itself?

Anyway, I’d like to ask those of you with heated seats how yours perform. Does it take a couple of minutes before you feel anything on the high setting? Is the low setting just mildly warm? I know it’s a subjective question but any info would help.

[Czarny_Orzel]

Wish I could help, but we have yet to even turn ours on. So far, other than wet, it has been rather miuld here in the Pacific Northwest. I'll be curious to read others experiences though.

[Musky300]

I could be completely wrong here...but something tells me that I remember seeing/reading/hearing somewhere that the seat heaters are controlled by a thermostat...i.e...they will only get to a certain heat setting based on some defined criteria they are reading.

I notice the same thing with my 09 LE...sometimes the leather would be almost hot to the touch and be to the point I could barely take the heat...othertimes I'd have to look down to make sure the light was lit to make sure the seat heaters were even on. Does not matter if its high or low setting either...I've noticed it on both settings.

I took the Murano on a 10-hour drive in the dead of winter to the Northeast...had the seat heater on almost the entire way and I know it wasn't putting out consistent heat the whole time...which makes me think it regulates itself (like an electric blanket compared to an "on all the time heating pad")

[Timmbo]

I don't know what to say, wait until it really gets cold out and see what it feels like them. I had heated seats on my '03 Murano, '05 G35x, '05 QX56, '09 Murano, '08 Armada, and my '08 Altima, I never experienced anything like that, not to say it isn't possible, but it may just need to get colder before you feel the heat.

[brainguyus]

Musky300: I'm seeing exactly what you're describing. Inconsistent from one drive to the next. Yes, there is a thermostat which regulates the temperature. What I noticed the other day that when set to high the seat heated up nicely (a good day for seat heat). The thermostat tripped, but instead of maintaining temperature the seat nearly cooled completely before starting to warm again.

Timmbo: You're absolutley correct. It hasn't gotten that cold here yet and it could still very well be my perception. However, this past summer I had a back spasm on the way to the shore, and even though the ambient temp was in the 80's the seat provided a really nice therapeudic heat.

I'm going to start keeping a journal in the car keeping track of how the seat heat behaves. I thought about getting all scientific about it and sitting on a thermometer or something, but I can just see myself in the emergency room now saying "Honest Doc! It was a million to one shot!"

[srttla]

I've noticed for the 2 winters I've had mine that sometimes it doesn't even go on -- the indicator light doesn't go on in either High or Low.Plus, I agree about the intensity of the heat.I'm going to have it in the shop in a couple weeks, and if I find anything out, I'll post it.

[brainguyus]

This is a question for any Nissan Techs out there.

There is no doubt in my mind that something is wrong with the seat heat. Sometimes it works ok and other times hardly at all. The heating elements seem ok (I'm getting even heat on the seat and back), however the seat will sometimes heat up...trip the thermostat....then nearly cool completely before the thermostat trips the heat back on.

My question is this...From what I've read, the IPDM prioritizes and distributes power based on the condition of the battery. I'm theorizing that my battery may be getting weak (It's 18 months old). Do you think it could be my battery causing this issue?

Unfortunately, the charging section of the downloadable service manual (CHG.pdf) is corrupt and I can't open it to get more info.

Of course the seat behaves like an angel while I'm at the dealer