So I just made an appointment to bring in my 08X to have the driver's heated seat looked at. The service manager told me the seats heat according to engine RPM. So if you are at idle the seats won't get warm until you start driving. I can only imagine this is done to prevent battery drain but I found it very surprising. Anyone hear of this?? Seems strange to me.

I am sure it has nothing to do with my problem since I can drive around for 30 minutes on hi and hardly feel the seat. The passenger seat gets much much wamer. Anyway, just curious if anyone else has been told this. Thanks.

 

Sounds like bs to me. I think what he means is that the longer you drive the car, the warmer the seat will get. Search around for a heated seat tsb.

 

+1. make sure you tell them there is a tsb for the problem when you tell them about it.

 

Thanks. Sounded like total BS to me. I know there lots of talk about heated seats in this car and it seems not all G's are equal. Compared to my Subie these seats are HORRIBLE. The Subie had 4 settings and I almost never put it above #2. So I know it isn't me needing tons of warmth. When it's -20 outside I want the seats to heat up. The passenger seat is slow, but that is probably normal for this car. The driver seat, is hardly warm that I have to guess if it was my body heat or the seat warmer making things warm. That can't be normal even for this car.

P.S. Nobody from Virginia, Texas, CA, Florida, or any southern state for that matter, write in and say the seats work fine. You guys really can't comment even if your seats are less warm.

 

Tell your service advisor that he is a fookin tool. The seats do not warm depending on engine rpm, they are not like the speed sensitive wipers which change depending on your speed.

It really bothers me when a service advisor does not know the car, they should lose their job if they misinform you.

 

I have a terrible feeling I am going to get the standard answer

"The seats are operating to factory specs"

 

Here, take this with you:
http://www.infinitihelp.com/Ownershi.../ITB07-014.htm

 

Thanks for the info, but my car is an 08. This doesn't apply to 08's.

 

the alternator charges the car at idle....i think the SM is full of it.

 

there is some thing to be said about engine RPM and electrical power output.


BUT if that were the case, then your lights would be dim, and when u revved it up it the lights would get noticeably brighter.

or you would be able to see a difference in the dome light when u turned the heaters on and off.

 

I think the manager is full of it too. However, it is possible that the control circuitry doesnt' allow the seats to warm unless the RPMs go above a certain point. It doesnt' have to have anything to do with lights dimming or not. It doesn't have to be as simplisitc as the alternator load, but rather have the ECU control the seats based on RPM. Afterall there is plenty of electrical control etc. on this car.

I still say it is very very unlikely Infiniti would go through the trouble to have control the seats based on RPM, but you never know. Maybe their design was boarderline given the alternator and electrical demand. Afterall seats do take a good amount of current.

 

exactly my point. its not a load problem

 

Just out of curiousity... how and why are you worried about heated seats in the middle of summer?
Not trying to be a smart a$$, I'm just wondering how this even came to mind.

Is this something that bothered you last winter and never got to it?

I know I never get to the dealer and when I do, I have a pile of stuff to ask them about....

 

im not saying its a charging system issue. i was saying that the vehicle should be using the alternator when its being ran anyways so it wouldnt make sense for the seats to work when only reaching a certain RPM if battery is an issue.

i thought he said earlier in the post about someone saying the they are worrying the battery would be drained...

 

Actually, I got the car in March. I noticed the seat problem then. My dealer is 2.5 hours away and I haven't been back there since. I now have almost 5k on the car so time for an oil change. So time to make the trip to the dealer and take care of these things. Also, my passenger headrest rattles when nobody is seated in the seat. They are going to have to look as well.