Wow. That makes perfect sense and no sense at all! What's the point of having cooled seats if they aren't connected to the AC?

Maybe after my warranty expires I'll kind of do what Larz was saying and pipe the air going to the rear vents under the seat and right near the fan...so regardless of if you have the lower vents on or upper vents, whatever air is coming out of the system will be directed to the seat. Still unbelievable, a day later, on how stupid that design is. You kidding me Infiniti!? I'm a server engineer and even I know that is terrible engineering.

Ilya wrote:Maybe after my warranty expires I'll kind of do what Larz was saying and pipe the air going to the rear vents under the seat and right near the fan...so regardless of if you have the lower vents on or upper vents, whatever air is coming out of the system will be directed to the seat. Still unbelievable, a day later, on how stupid that design is. You kidding me Infiniti!? I'm a server engineer and even I know that is terrible engineering.

YES!!! That would be an awesome DIY. It makes me wonder do other manufacturers do this? You would think if this was the design they chose, and if the air pushed through the seat was reliant on the temperature of the air in the car, then the AC that blows under the seat should come on automatically. At least that way the air blowing into the seat would be the appropriate temperature.

You guys realize these seats have a seperate thermoelectric cooler right? Basically its a peltier junction. 12 volts is applied and one side gets hot and the other cool. Swap the direction of current flow and oppoaite sides of the junction get hot and cold.

DFW2011M56S wrote:You guys realize these seats have a seperate thermoelectric cooler right? Basically its a peltier junction. 12 volts is applied and one side gets hot and the other cool. Swap the direction of current flow and oppoaite sides of the junction get hot and cold.

Are you suggesting that my thermoelectric cooler is broken and that's why it only cools at any decent level when I force air down in the under seat area by virtue of turning on the AC to run from the lower vents?

What do you guys recommend to put on the seats after I steam clean them? I have Meguiar's leather cleaner + conditioner. Would that work?

Ilya wrote:

DFW2011M56S wrote:You guys realize these seats have a seperate thermoelectric cooler right? Basically its a peltier junction. 12 volts is applied and one side gets hot and the other cool. Swap the direction of current flow and oppoaite sides of the junction get hot and cold.

Are you suggesting that my thermoelectric cooler is broken and that's why it only cools at any decent level when I force air down in the under seat area by virtue of turning on the AC to run from the lower vents?

Okay, so I went ahead and did some digging in the FSM (Factory Service Manual). This starts on page SE 10.

There are 6 components to the climate controlled seat:









So evidently, something might be wrong with my/our thermoelectric units? We shouldn't need to rely on setting the AC on low or high vents to get air under the seat. Basically, the blower fan (which has the filter many of us have cleaned) pushes air over the thermoelectric unit which then cools or heats that air and it continues on into the seat. So, if my seat got decently colder after I forced air via the lower vents and was not cold at all with the air going through the upper vents, this definitely might suggest that my thermoelectric unit is not heating or cooling.

My next step is going to be to force the air through the upper vents, put my seat on full cool, give it 10 minutes and then touch the thermoelectric unit...it should be cold to the touch I'm guessing. But evidently the other side is hot...so need to be careful.

I also intend to maybe reseat the connectors just in case and also use the temperature gun to get a reading (hopefully someone else can do this too).

Ilya wrote:

Ilya wrote:
Are you suggesting that my thermoelectric cooler is broken and that's why it only cools at any decent level when I force air down in the under seat area by virtue of turning on the AC to run from the lower vents?

Okay, so I went ahead and did some digging in the FSM (Factory Service Manual). This starts on page SE 10.

There are 6 components to the climate controlled seat:









So evidently, something might be wrong with my/our thermoelectric units? We shouldn't need to rely on setting the AC on low or high vents to get air under the seat. Basically, the blower fan (which has the filter many of us have cleaned) pushes air over the thermoelectric unit which then cools or heats that air and it continues on into the seat. So, if my seat got decently colder after I forced air via the lower vents and was not cold at all with the air going through the upper vents, this definitely might suggest that my thermoelectric unit is not heating or cooling.

My next step is going to be to force the air through the upper vents, put my seat on full cool, give it 10 minutes and then touch the thermoelectric unit...it should be cold to the touch I'm guessing. But evidently the other side is hot...so need to be careful.

I also intend to maybe reseat the connectors just in case and also use the temperature gun to get a reading (hopefully someone else can do this too).

Should not take anywhere near 10 minutes to noticeably heat or cool the seat much less the unit. I pulled a muscle in my back and used the heater today on my way home. Seat was starting to get uncomfortably warm in 2-3 minutes on High.

Yeah mine definitely does not do that. I'll check out these units and report back. Do you have a temp gun? Can you measure your cooling and heating and I'll compare to mine?

wish I never read this thread lol I feel like mine don't get as cool anymore but my passengers swear they feel it and think it's all in my head. This could very well be the case for some of you guys as well lol

MY2J wrote:wish I never read this thread lol I feel like mine don't get as cool anymore but my passengers swear they feel it and think it's all in my head. This could very well be the case for some of you guys as well lol

MY2J wrote:wish I never read this thread lol I feel like mine don't get as cool anymore but my passengers swear they feel it and think it's all in my head. This could very well be the case for some of you guys as well lol

When I first got my car, if it was set on high, my a** would freeze and I would have to turn it down. Now, I keep it set on high every day. I am not sure if it doesn't work as well or my a** has built up a tolerance.

InfinitiAce wrote:

MY2J wrote:wish I never read this thread lol I feel like mine don't get as cool anymore but my passengers swear they feel it and think it's all in my head. This could very well be the case for some of you guys as well lol

When I first got my car, if it was set on high, my a** would freeze and I would have to turn it down. Now, I keep it set on high every day. I am not sure if it doesn't work as well or my a** has built up a tolerance.

You guys are killin me lol.

MY2J wrote:wish I never read this thread lol I feel like mine don't get as cool anymore but my passengers swear they feel it and think it's all in my head. This could very well be the case for some of you guys as well lol

It's interesting that you say that, because I can actually feel the air coming through the seat on the passenger side if I hold my hand over it an inch or so, but not so much on the driver's side.

While my car was in the shop I mentioned issues with my seats not cooling. They said there is a filter in the seat (not the one that covers the fan at the bottom) that may be clogged. I had the filters in each seat changed and it seems to be working better, even without the A/C blowing. It cost about $240 total, though.

Big_Tone wrote:While my car was in the shop I mentioned issues with my seats not cooling. They said there is a filter in the seat (not the one that covers the fan at the bottom) that may be clogged. I had the filters in each seat changed and it seems to be working better, even without the A/C blowing. It cost about $240 total, though.

Really? Are you still under warranty? That should be a warranty item.

I steam cleaned my M56 seats & cleaned the filters. Made no difference.
The seat heater works, somewhat, but is rather tepid at best. The seat cooler does not seem to work.

Ilya wrote:

Big_Tone wrote:While my car was in the shop I mentioned issues with my seats not cooling. They said there is a filter in the seat (not the one that covers the fan at the bottom) that may be clogged. I had the filters in each seat changed and it seems to be working better, even without the A/C blowing. It cost about $240 total, though.

Really? Are you still under warranty? That should be a warranty item.

Yes, I'm still under warranty and no, it wasn't covered. I was told the filters were maintenance items.

Big_Tone wrote:

Ilya wrote:
Really? Are you still under warranty? That should be a warranty item.

Yes, I'm still under warranty and no, it wasn't covered. I was told the filters were maintenance items.

That only the dealer can replace. #convenient #suspicious

Ilya wrote:

Big_Tone wrote: Yes, I'm still under warranty and no, it wasn't covered. I was told the filters were maintenance items.

That only the dealer can replace. #convenient #suspicious

Pretty much.

After using the seats a couple of days with the new filters I notice a slight difference, but it's much more pronounced with the AC on blowing at the floor. Not sure the $240 is worth it FYI.

Ilya wrote:

Ilya wrote:
Are you suggesting that my thermoelectric cooler is broken and that's why it only cools at any decent level when I force air down in the under seat area by virtue of turning on the AC to run from the lower vents?

Okay, so I went ahead and did some digging in the FSM (Factory Service Manual). This starts on page SE 10.

There are 6 components to the climate controlled seat:









So evidently, something might be wrong with my/our thermoelectric units? We shouldn't need to rely on setting the AC on low or high vents to get air under the seat. Basically, the blower fan (which has the filter many of us have cleaned) pushes air over the thermoelectric unit which then cools or heats that air and it continues on into the seat. So, if my seat got decently colder after I forced air via the lower vents and was not cold at all with the air going through the upper vents, this definitely might suggest that my thermoelectric unit is not heating or cooling.

My next step is going to be to force the air through the upper vents, put my seat on full cool, give it 10 minutes and then touch the thermoelectric unit...it should be cold to the touch I'm guessing. But evidently the other side is hot...so need to be careful.

I also intend to maybe reseat the connectors just in case and also use the temperature gun to get a reading (hopefully someone else can do this too).

anyone ever tinker around with a temp gun or the thermoelectric unit?

I have an appointment scheduled to drop the car off and mentioned the units to my advisor but I'm going to have to reschedule. I got the flu and I got it bad.

Big_Tone wrote:While my car was in the shop I mentioned issues with my seats not cooling. They said there is a filter in the seat (not the one that covers the fan at the bottom) that may be clogged. I had the filters in each seat changed and it seems to be working better, even without the A/C blowing. It cost about $240 total, though.

I would love to see what part number they invoiced you for. I suspect it's a mesh or foam type material that keeps debris from getting into the seat.

For the record my seats @ 87k still cool very well and get too hot pretty quick in cold Cali weather (high 40s low 50s).

Debo, do you have access to a temp gun? I think I got mine at a parts store for like $15. Would be curious to compare once I can finally get out to the car.

Ilya wrote:Debo, do you have access to a temp gun? I think I got mine at a parts store for like $15. Would be curious to compare once I can finally get out to the car.

Yeah I have one. I can grab some readings off mine. There are a bunch of variables but the readings should be relatively close after a set amount of time.

Hope you feel better soon. Also, don't stand too close.

lol.

Yeah, I'd say leave the air on hot one day for like 15 min and then the next day on cold or something and see what the readings are. Then I'll do the same and compare. I just need to change the battery in my temp gun.

So I finally got around to replacing the battery in my temp gun and run some tests.

Scenario: Main car climate control is OFF, nothing blowing to the floor, etc. Doors closed so no outside air coming in. I steam cleaned the seats like a month and a half ago quickly and I cleaned the small seat filters sometime early in the summer.


Test 1: Heated seats were on for about 25 minutes while I ran to the store.

Driver seat: temps ranged from high 80's (F) to low 90's (F) depending on area of the seat. Pretty much the lumbar area was low 90s as was the thigh area. The butt area was low 80's.

Passenger seat: temps ranged from high 80's (F) to mid 110's (F) depending on area of the seat. Lumbar area was around 110F, butt area was in the low 90's/high 80's, thigh area was in the high 100's.


Test 2: Cooled seats on for about 30 minutes (turned dial from heat to cool without turning car off, waiting, etc.)

Driver seat: temps ranged from high 60's (F) to low 70's (F) depending on area of the seat but pretty much every part of the seat was close to 70F with a few spots hitting 73-74F.

Passenger seat: temps ranged from high 60's (F) to low 70's (F) depending on area of the seat but pretty much every part of the seat was close to 70F with a few spots hitting 73-74F.

Very cool. I'll try to get mine done tomorrow.