Ah, I have a similar issue.
My dealer is almost 2 hours away so I let the little annoyances build up in order to justify the trip down.
Problem is that the hacks in the shop always screw something up in the process, starting my next annoyance list.

 

OMG, Infiniti dealerships are making the most outrageous claims lately.

 

WOW, the people at infiniti must know nothing about the car.

 

Well, my appointment is tomorrow morning. I'll let you know what they say. Probably won't be until Monday though.

 

I live in a southern state (louisiana) and I can tell these heated seats suck.... My acura TL would have me sweating in less than 5 minutes on high (i know me and my friends like to turn on the heated seats on with out the other person knowing to make them wonder why they are getting so hot). But my G 35 it'll take me till when i hit my destination before i feel any real warmth.... sucks, but luckily i never really HAVE to use this feature, since it's only cold for ~2 months a year, and even then it never drops below 30

 

So I broght my car in on Friday. They ordered me a new seat bottom heater. The guy agreed with me that the seats aren't as warm as others (Subie, BMW, Acrua). He then told me that these seats only warm when RPM increases. This was a totally different guy from the one I spoke to on the phone (same dealership though). Is it possible he is right? Can anyone confirm that the seats warm with RPM? I am thinking of writing a letter to Infiniti since I really want to know.

 

you could call infiniti, might be quicker
1 (800) 662-6200

 

its interesting that i just stumbled upon this article... i just took my car in today for a service, and also let them know that there was a rapid clicking sound comming from the drivers footwell every time i went over 4k RPM. They took it for a test drive, and called me back, saying that it was the heater coil. Now, i am a car guy, and this didnt make any sense whatsoever! i dont understand how any heater coil could be directly related to speed. They are going to "crack it open" tommorow to see whats going on... wierd.

 

the heater coil has coolant in it. the coolant is pumped by a direct drive water pump. so you get more flow and higher pressure in the coil when RPM increases.

as for the clicking, ehh im not sure. BUT there is an ITB out on it. call ur dealer and tell them about the ITB, i forget which ITB it is.

it tells the dealer how to correctly fix the problem.

 

Answer from my email to Infiniti:


Thank you for taking the time to contact Infiniti and sharing your valuable
insight with us. The comments and concerns provided by you are appreciated.

In regards to you inquiry, the seats will heat at idle.

Your complete satisfaction is of great concern to Infiniti. Feel free to
contact Infiniti Division at 1-800-662-6200 for further assistance.





I kinda knew they would still get warm at idle. There answer still doesn't say if the seats are at all based on RPM. I still think no. Maybe I need to call them. Anyway, sounds like my dealer has his facts wrong (as I thought)!!!

 

ya mine gets warm sitting in traffic. tried it today on the way to work.

 

My last car was an '03 Saab 9-3 Vector (prior to the name change to Aero). The heated seats had pressure switches in them, (the same pressure switches they used to determine whether or not to turn on the "Fasten Your Seat Belt" signs. Somehow they were tied to the seat heaters as well, and if there wasn't at least ~20 lbs. in the seat, they wouldn't heat up at all. I'm sure this was a safety design...

Maybe we have something like this as well. I can leave my pass side heated switch on in my '04 Sedan, and if no one sits in it, it won't get warm at all. (I sat in the pass side at a gas station to check it, after having driven for about 10 miles, and it was as cold as could be).

That would at least make more sense than what your SM is trying to sell you...

 

It sucks to hear that the seat heaters are still weak in this car. I'm about to get a new one to replace my totaled '04. My wife's car '01 Acura CL warms up pretty well and quickly, My bro's '07 335i cooks ur @$$ fast, as does his ''01 330i DD w/ over 100K on it, which I drove the other day and those seats are almost too warm on the lowest setting. Another thing I noticed on my '04 is that the lower thigh area barely had heat whereas other seem to heat the entire area.

I don't think so, 10 mins might not have been long enough. I think part of it is that if there were wieght on the seat it prob compresses the cusion closer to the heating elements, thus radiating quicker. I used to leave my pass seat on when driving around way in advance of picking up my wife and it would heat up without her there..........eventually.

 

You could be right. I don't spend much time in the passenger's seat, I was just taking a guess.

It appears that there is something up with the seat heaters not doing anything when you're not in the car though; I mistakenly left my car running for over an hour this morning (21 degrees outside temp), with the driver's side seat heater on, and while the car was nice and toasty when I got out there, the seat hadn't even begun to warm up, and I didn't feel any warmth from it until after about 10 minutes of driving.

Could it be that the material around the warming element would need to be compressed with my weight before it transfers the heat from the element through the cushion and up to the leather? I would've imagined that I would've felt something almost instantly when I sat down after having it on for a little over a full hour.

This is my first year driving the G in any cold weather. I've had it for three years, but always had something else to drive in the winter. So, I've never really paid too much attention to the seat heaters before. (Hopefully the Jeep Wagoneer that I purchased on eBay will get here soon, and I can park the G in the garage again...)

 

same problem, taking it to dealer tomorrow..the seat in my 98 maxima gets oven hot in no time..I have to turn it off 10 minutes into the drive.