Front Drivers side seat doesn't blow air

[kdreger]

I have a 2012 M37 with 94k miles on it. A few months ago the front drivers seat stopped cooling or heating. I have read all the postings about seat cooling all over including here. When I turn the dial on the center console to either cool or warm I don't hear the fan blowing like I do on the other seat, the light does go on for a few seconds but then goes off on the dial. I checked all the 15 A & 50 A fuses and cleaned the filter. I can stick my hand under the seat when it is in the ON position and the fan isn't going. So, the questions are: 1. Is there a control module just for the fan? 2. How do I test to see if the FAN is good or BAD? Any help would be appreciated... I can pull out the seat if needed but need to know what I have to look for...

[agoodall]

I am having the same issue too (2011 M37x 130k). Did everything you did with the same lack of results. I read online that it could also be the blend doors are stuck shut or only partial open. Can the hvac system be reset via diag. or ecu reset?

[kdreger]

What and where are these blend doors at???

[agoodall]

behind the dash unfortunately. They are little louvers that open and close to direct air flow. If one gets stuck the air will be weaker in one vent and stronger in another. This is just my opinion after trying to find and answer. I ordered a new cabin filter just in case, but at this point I doubt that is the issue.

[Frog]

Pretty sure that the blend doors have nothing to do with seat cooling. I think it’s s Pelter plate in the seat. Can anyone confirm if the ac system cools the seats. When my car ac is off the seats still get cold.

[kdreger]

I was looking at another forum on Nisan cars and they seem to have the same issues. No surprise here. From what I am reading the A/C main system does NOT control the heat or cooling for the seats. There seems to be a thermal Electronic device under the seat (?) that controls the flow of air over some type of hot/cold plate thing..sorry for not being technical, just a regular driver...from one persons posting there:
"Actually I wish I would have followed the FSM trouble shooting instructions. It states that if the climate control seat system turns off in 10 seconds or less from the time it was turned on the cause is electrical. Such as a defective TED or blower motor If the seats take 30 seconds or longer to shut off the problem is not electrical in nature. It is due to foam pads, ducting or obstruction of the ducts or blower motor. The climate control unit is well designed and it will shut off very quickly when there is an electrical issue."

May be something to look at also..

[agoodall]

Pretty sure that the blend doors have nothing to do with seat cooling. I think it’s s Pelter plate in the seat. Can anyone confirm if the ac system cools the seats. When my car ac is off the seats still get cold.

Wow I totally mis-read/didnt comprehend... the name of this thread. Guess I was caught up in my own bs issue and thought I had found someone to commiserate with.

Disregard all my responses

[Ilya]

If you don't hear the fan, take the fan from the other seat and plug it in to see if it spins up. Might just be a dead fan. If that fan doesn't work, then you can continue down the line to either checking wiring or seeing if there is a controlling module somewhere.

[satown210]

Take the filter off the seat. It just twists off. Reach in and see of you can move the fan blades. See if the fan motor is seized.

[Malbec 56 Beast]

Are there a tutorial on how to do this. I would like to do some maintainence on them but haven't a clue what to do.

Are there pics that show this procedure.

Thanks

Andy

[Ilya]

Are there a tutorial on how to do this. I would like to do some maintainence on them but haven't a clue what to do.

Are there pics that show this procedure.

Thanks

Andy

In the FAQ thread in my signature, I made a 'howto':

howto-replace-interior-air-filters-t603886.html

[Malbec 56 Beast]

That is great, I just went through it, did cleaning the filter make that big of a difference. It doesn't look like it was enough to cut off airflow.

Was that worth it?

Thanks for doing that.

Andy

[Ilya]

That is great, I just went through it, did cleaning the filter make that big of a difference. It doesn't look like it was enough to cut off airflow.

Was that worth it?

Thanks for doing that.

Andy

Those images weren't mine (for the seat) as I forgot to take a picture. Mine were quite dirty though. I don't remember how much change there was but I plan to do this soon again so we'll see.

[kdreger]

trying the other seat fan is a good idea, just have to take both seats out now.....maybe I will video this for others....thanks all for the advice

[Malbec 56 Beast]

I've been looking for the part number for these filets and can't find anything, does anyone have that info?

Thanks
Andy

[satown210]

Just google seat filter. Many different makes use the same filter and are much cheaper. Ford, Lexus, etc use the round filter.

[mrnix]

OP, did you ever figure this out? I'm having similar trouble with my driver side seat fan. I don't think the fan ever spins, and the light on the switch goes off after a few seconds. Passenger side works fine.

[kdreger]

OP, did you ever figure this out? I'm having similar trouble with my driver side seat fan. I don't think the fan ever spins, and the light on the switch goes off after a few seconds. Passenger side works fine.

Nope, developed a more intense issue with a front end rattle that has been driving me up the wall since last March or more......and still have not figured it out...

[VStar650CL]

The problem in this bulletin is particularly prevalent in Muranos, but it can happen to pretty much any climate seat employing a Peltier element. Peltiers draw a lot of current even in a healthy system, and the unhealthier the airflow, the more they draw. All it takes is a clotted filter and some time for a Peltier to turn into a Meltier.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/ ... 9-9999.pdf

Meltier.png (252.71 KiB) Viewed 6533 times

[kdreger]

The problem in this bulletin is particularly prevalent in Muranos, but it can happen to pretty much any climate seat employing a Peltier element. Peltiers draw a lot of current even in a healthy system, and the unhealthier the airflow, the more they draw. All it takes is a clotted filter and some time for a Peltier to turn into a Meltier.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/ ... 9-9999.pdf



Meltier.png

Thanks will check this out.....

[bocian320]

This plug melting is exactly the issue. I just replaced it in my driver's seat and it fixed the exact problem you're describing. The seat module part number is 873D6 1MADA. I found one on eBay for $60. I was also able to find a used seat harness and just spliced the plug from it to my seat's harness. I believe this plug is the same in both passenger and driver seats.
Here's another thread with good info about this issue.

heated-seats-not-working-t596818.html

Hope this helps!

[Topo71]

To all the posts that talk about the heating and cooling seat functions not working, I was told by my mechanic that the issue is the fans in the seats have started to seize and are overloading the circuit. At first they replaced the switch in the consol and that worked for a bit but the problem returned. Turns out when you switch this to hot or cooling, the fan tries to kick in. He said he discovered a blog on line stating that this is the fans in the seats. As they are not working properly they overload the circuit and he showed me a picture where the module under the seat had showed a short. It was not recommended to replace the seat with a used one as these would likely fail in due course. To replace the fans themselves would be a major job as the entire seat would have to be taken apart. I am trying to see if Infiniti will ackknowledge that this is a problem but I doubt I will have any success on this as the car is well off warranty. PS my issue is in a 2013 G37 with heating & cooling seats.
Canˋt believe no other mechanic has posted this and donˋt see any responses from Nissan/Infiniti

[VStar650CL]

To all the posts that talk about the heating and cooling seat functions not working, I was told by my mechanic that the issue is the fans in the seats have started to seize and are overloading the circuit.

Your mechanic is misunderstanding the root of the problem. The climate seat controller has circuitry to detect a stalled or slow fan and will actually kill the system if the fan no-starts. The actual culprit is reduced airflow through the TED (Peltier element). It's a well-known characteristic of all Peltiers that the hotter the "hot side" of the element gets, the more current they draw. The heat is supposed to be sinked and sucked away by the fan, either as waste heat when cooling or to warm the seat when heating. When ventilation is removed or limited, current into the Peltier runs away and eventually overheats the ground connection to the controller.

At first they replaced the switch in the consol and that worked for a bit but the problem returned.

Replacing the switch was completely ignorant. The switches simply signal the climate controller and carry almost no current. Blue moons are much more frequent than failure of those switches.

he showed me a picture where the module under the seat had showed a short.

It doesn't melt from a short, it melts from resistance in the connector pins. Completely different animal.

It was not recommended to replace the seat with a used one as these would likely fail in due course. To replace the fans themselves would be a major job as the entire seat would have to be taken apart.

The problem is that the harness connector melts, the controllers are very easy to change by simply unbolting the seat. The harness is another matter, replacing that requires seat disassembly. Nissan issued a repair pigtail along with the bulletin for the Muranos and Titans, but for some reason they haven't done so for other models. However, that connector kit can be adapted to repair most other models. You just need to go by the connector pinout on your car and ignore the wire colors. The part number for the pigtail kit is 24061-9FT0A. Do NOT try to reuse the climate seat controller, always replace that even if you're able to remove the melted connector. Very often the circuit board and/or driver FETs are damaged internally, so reusing the controller can be hazardous.

[kdreger]

Are there a tutorial on how to do this. I would like to do some maintainence on them but haven't a clue what to do.

Are there pics that show this procedure.

Thanks

Andy

Andy, I can tell you 90% of how to do it because I just did it. You need 2 socket wrenches, one that fits the battery connection and another one that is a 14MM. Get in the car and move the seat as forward as you can, turn it off, and now use the 14mm to unscrew the rear bolts AFTER you take the darn plastic covers off with a flat-head screwdriver and some scraped-up old skin. Once that is off, reconnect the battery, and move the darn seat back, disconnect the battery, and now unscrew the 2 14 mm front bolts AGAIN after removing what the engineers thought would be nice to cover the rails. Once that is DONE, you can tilt up the front seat and PHOTO EVERY DARN THING in there. Because once it is down you will NOT remember any of it.. Once done reverse the project......maybe 45 min max without any liquor....maybe....maybe not, anyway it works. And you get to clean under that seat which has not been done for YEARS!

[kdreger]

Ok, today started early so I took out both front seats of the 2012 M37 to try and resolve the heating-cooling not working on the driver’s side. Put both seats up on a raised platform where I could see the entire wiring etc. Pulled off the driver’s side fan assembly and swapped in the passenger side. Cleaned and treated the seats and took 2 hours getting all the LOVE FIBERS from the carpet that our gracious dog decided to leave for us…..Wire brushes work great getting it out of the carpets and a strong vacuum. Put back in the driver’s side and tested……………………………….FAILED, nothing no fan turning but the light still does it’s flash on flash off when I turn it to heat or cool. So, I guess I need to dig into that switch as none of the underside connectors were melted like other have posted.

[VStar650CL]

Was the fan running? That's the first thing to check. The controller has to be alive since the switches light up, but it won't let the Peltiers fire up if the fan won't run. They're basically computer fans with a speed feedback to let the controller know it's spinning.

[kdreger]

The fan was not running, It was when I had it on the passenger's side, that whole seat worked well.

[VStar650CL]

Has to be either a power or connection issue, or the seatback Peltier is shot and overloading the controller. The controller only needs a few milliamps for the switches but needs amps for the fan and Peltiers, so the first thing is make sure the main power wires will light a bulb-type test lamp, and make sure the female pins in the black connector aren't trashed. They can heat up and blacken or deform without actually melting the plastic connector body.

[kdreger]

Has to be either a power or connection issue, or the seatback Peltier is shot and overloading the controller. The controller only needs a few milliamps for the switches but needs amps for the fan and Peltiers, so the first thing is make sure the main power wires will light a bulb-type test lamp, and make sure the female pins in the black connector aren't trashed. They can heat up and blacken or deform without actually melting the plastic connector body.

Ok, the pins have power and none of the connectors have been melted. I "THINK" that maybe by having the wooden carpet-covered PLATFORM in the back seat that when I slide the driver's seat BACK it might have damaged a sensor in the rear of the seat? I am going to try and find a seating diagram to see if there is one back there.

[VStar650CL]

The sensors in the system are all self-contained, but it is possible the seatback TED has failed or isn't getting airflow. Those are a PITA, they're buried behind the seatback board and connected by a flexible duct.