New and have "heated" seats issue

[rls2rsr]

Contacted GM about this repeatedly and they say everything works fine. Meantime why do they have a toggle button to heat seats with remote start if in fact they don't heat? Im in the process of hiring an attorney. It's not okay. My 2015 was awesome.

[Bangback]

I just took delivery of a '17 Suburban Premier last week. Mfg date was late 12/2016. I don't know about the passenger seat or the 2nd row seats, but when I have the drivers seat heater on the highest setting, it gets too hot and I have to turn it down (it could be just me too). Not sure if it will work, but I can try to find my laser temperature gauge and try to get a reading off of the seats. Does anyone know the value GM considers to be in "spec"?

[JimCost2014]

the seat will not be as hot without you sitting in it. they are a different design from past models, so your body is an insulator, transferring heat from the seat. put your hand on the seat between your legs, where there is no body contact, and then where your leg is. you will notice a considerable difference.

[rls2rsr]

the seat will not be as hot without you sitting in it. they are a different design from past models, so your body is an insulator, transferring heat from the seat. put your hand on the seat between your legs, where there is no body contact, and then where your leg is. you will notice a considerable difference.

 

Jim- don't that. the difference is so minuscule that there is definitely no need for a 3 toggle L,M,H option. The part that my body contacts literally warms to room temperature and that's it. In Michigan it can be negative numbers outside. Additionally, why did they advertise a remote heated seat and make a toggle button, if they changed the system so that in fact the seats CANNOT warm up unless someone is sitting in them? false advertising. Old system WAY WAY better. At least then people had the choice of how warm they wanted the seats. Now, they advertise that there is a choice when in fact there is not.

[JimCost2014]

are your seats the heated and cooled version?

[rls2rsr]

are your seats the heated and cooled version?

 

yes heat and cooled version.....however my last 4 models of this same car had both heat and cool as well and they both worked amazingly. this time not even adequate.

[JimCost2014]

well, depending on the miles and condition of the seats: you can open a claim with GMC, to see if they will fix the problem, or if you have a good relationship with the dealership, they might swap the seats out of a new 2016 to see if that helps. have you driven another 2016 or 2017 on the lot to compare with yours?

[markitzero]

My 2016 LTZ is the same. Seats never feel warm. Wife says the passenger seat is the same way. I'll say something at the next service and see what they say.

[Wilks42]

Have the exact same issue with heated seats barely getting warm on new 2016 Yukon Denali. After a 1 1/2 weeks at dealership getting all four seats heating elements replaced and instructed by GM rep, EXACT SAME PROBLEM. Loaner 2016 Yukon Denali seat heaters worked fine. Measures loaner seats with temp reader. 95 degrees after 15 min. Mine barely gets to 85 degrees. What a joke. Last GM vehicle we will purchase

[Mike_in_vancouver]

We are having the same problem. We have a 2016 Chevrolet Suburban LTZ. We've had two Diagnostics on the heated seats at two separate dealerships. Both have said that the heated seats are operating. But nothing happens when you turn them on. It takes maybe 20 to 30 minutes to get somewhere near lukewarm. Completely unacceptable. Could I get some help from GM customer care? Is there a solution for this?

[Wilks42]

GM customer care routes you back to dealership. Dealership says nothing they can do that it's a GM issue. Never ending loop of BS

[Wilks42]

Maybe found the cause of this. I found the complete electrical drawings, theory of operation, etc for the 15/16/17 full size suv on gmupfitter.

In my situation I have a new 2016 Yukon Denali which has front and 2nd row heated seats. Both the front and second row seat heaters operate but do it very marginal. My wife and daughter both feel the same way about all four seat heaters. Wife and myself went back to dealership and tested new 2017 Yukon denali to see if our vehicle is common operation with another. After 15 minutes on high in the 2017 we both felt toasty and wanted to turn the heaters down a level or two. Much different experience than our vehicle. The dealership talked to GM rep and the consensus was to replace all 6 seat heater elements in the four seats. This process took around a week to get done. During that time the dealership let us have a 2016 Yukon denali to use. The seat heaters in the 2016 worked much like the 2017 we sat in. We received our vehicle back and all four seat heaters are still marginal. Being frustrated with the situation I felt I have two options, live with it or figure it out myself. Spent 4 hours last night understanding the components and wiring for the seat heaters. The forward seats have separate upper and lower blowers which provide power to upper and lower heating elements. Separate power and grounds are provided to the blowers and heating elements. The 2nd row seats are similar in that one heater control module is in the left hand seat to control both seats. Separate power and ground are provided to the module and heating elements. The first thing in troubleshooting is to understand probability. What is the probability of all 6 heating elements being margin? low. What is the probability of the front and 2nd row heater control modules being failed in the same manner? low. What is the probability of separate ground wires being marginal in the same manner? low. What is the probability of four separate fuses and power wires being marginal? low. Nothing common to all four seats. Knowing that my vehicle is not common with two other identical vehicles, there must be a problem. Contrary to the dealership customer rep who said, That's just the way it is. After considerable reading this morning in the vehicle electrical manual a possible solution was found. The new body style SUV's have an electrical power management system. The purpose is to regulate alternator loads due to battery condition. This system measures battery voltage and battery current by use of a Hall Effect sensor. In the event of a sensed low battery requiring higher charging the power management system will go into a Load Shed. The first level of load shed reduces the heated mirrors, rear defrost and ALL Heated Seats by 20%. There is no indication to driver that load shed 1 is in effect. Thus a marginal battery and or marginal Hall Effect sensor could cause system to go into Load Shed and reduce the operation of all four seat heaters. What is the probability of a single part causing the marginal operation of all four seat heaters? High. If there is a GM Rep that can verify my findings, please do. Also, please NO "Very Sorry", "We Apologize", etc. This is the one thing GM customer support and dealership have provided me plenty of. The one thing I don't have is normal seat heater operation.

 

My background, 27 year Aircraft Electronics Engineer / Integration Designer.

Edited February 26, 2017 by Wilks42

[markitzero]

Maybe found the cause of this. I found the complete electrical drawings, theory of operation, etc for the 15/16/17 full size suv on gmupfitter.

In my situation I have a new 2016 Yukon Denali which has front and 2nd row heated seats. Both the front and second row seat heaters operate but do it very marginal. My wife and daughter both feel the same way about all four seat heaters. Wife and myself went back to dealership and tested new 2017 Yukon denali to see if our vehicle is common operation with another. After 15 minutes on high in the 2017 we both felt toasty and wanted to turn the heaters down a level or two. Much different experience than our vehicle. The dealership talked to GM rep and the consensus was to replace all 6 seat heater elements in the four seats. This process took around a week to get done. During that time the dealership let us have a 2016 Yukon denali to use. The seat heaters in the 2016 worked much like the 2017 we sat in. We received our vehicle back and all four seat heaters are still marginal. Being frustrated with the situation I felt I have two options, live with it or figure it out myself. Spent 4 hours last night understanding the components and wiring for the seat heaters. The forward seats have one heater control module in the drivers seat that controls both seats. Separate power and grounds are provided to the module and heating elements. The 2nd row seats are similar in that one heater control module is in the left hand seat to control both seats. Separate power and ground are provided to the module and heating elements. The first thing in troubleshooting is to understand probability. What is the probability of all 6 heating elements being margin? low. What is the probability of the front and 2nd row heater control modules being failed in the same manner? low. What is the probability of separate ground wires being marginal in the same manner? low. What is the probability of four separate fuses and power wires being marginal? low. Nothing common to all four seats. Knowing that my vehicle is not common with two other identical vehicles, there must be a problem. Contrary to the dealership customer rep who said, That's just the way it is. After considerable reading this morning in the vehicle electrical manual a possible solution was found. The new body style SUV's have an electrical power management system. The purpose is to regulate alternator loads due to battery condition. This system measures battery voltage and battery current by use of a Hall Effect sensor. In the event of a sensed low battery requiring higher charging the power management system will go into a Load Shed. The first level of load shed reduces the heated mirrors, rear defrost and ALL Heated Seats by 20%. There is no indication to driver that load shed 1 is in effect. Thus a marginal battery and or marginal Hall Effect sensor could cause system to go into Load Shed and reduce the operation of all four seat heaters. What is the probability of a single part causing the marginal operation of all four seat heaters? High. If there is a GM Rep that can verify my findings, please do. Also, please NO "Very Sorry", "We Apologize", etc. This is the one thing GM customer support and dealership have provided me plenty of. The one thing I don't have is normal seat heater operation.

 

My background, 27 year Aircraft Electronics Engineer / Integration Designer.

 

 

Very interesting! I have noticed that the voltage meter will sometimes show 14 volts and other times closer to 12. I've never associated the heated seats to the voltage meter indicated. Something to watch as I drive around. I have noticed that in slightly warmer temps the seats seem to feel warmer and until now have attributed that to reduced delta but now wonder if the battery is weaker because of colder overnight temps and short trips. I will say that I have notice the seats feel warmer after 30 minutes of driving and that could be consistent with your theory of the battery being recharged and the load shed being deactivated, thereby giving the extra 20%.

Edited February 26, 2017 by markitzero

[Wilks42]

The Hall Effect Device HED that sense battery current in the 2016 is a donut looking part that both negative battery cables go through. The HED has a tail on it seemingly to bring the cables closer to the edge of it. I repositioned the HED closer to the battery terminal and used plastic ties on the HED tail to pull the battery cables against the inner HED ring. This would possibly provide a more accurate current reading. Did a test run on the seats. Initial reading of all four seats was around 59-61 degrees. Drove the vehicle around town noting seat temps. At the 10 min mark the pass seat ( unoccupied) was at 85-89 degrees. At the 15 min mark the pass seat was reading 91-94. Back was slightly warmer than cushion. Sitting in drivers seat, I first noticed warming at 7 min mark. By the 15 min mark I was ready to drop temp setting down. Both back seats came up to 90-92 degrees. My seats appear to be working like the other two vehicles I have tested. Took me about 15 minutes to fix after learning how the system works. I think the main issue was the battery cables not being snugged up to side of HED.

[Bangback]

The Hall Effect Device HED that sense battery current in the 2016 is a donut looking part that both negative battery cables go through. The HED has a tail on it seemingly to bring the cables closer to the edge of it. I repositioned the HED closer to the battery terminal and used plastic ties on the HED tail to pull the battery cables against the inner HED ring. This would possibly provide a more accurate current reading. Did a test run on the seats. Initial reading of all four seats was around 59-61 degrees. Drove the vehicle around town noting seat temps. At the 10 min mark the pass seat ( unoccupied) was at 85-89 degrees. At the 15 min mark the pass seat was reading 91-94. Back was slightly warmer than cushion. Sitting in drivers seat, I first noticed warming at 7 min mark. By the 15 min mark I was ready to drop temp setting down. Both back seats came up to 90-92 degrees. My seats appear to be working like the other two vehicles I have tested. Took me about 15 minutes to fix after learning how the system works. I think the main issue was the battery cables not being snugged up to side of HED.

 

Wow, that all actually makes a lot of sense, and would explain why replacing the heating elements didn't originally solve your issue!

 

Do you have pictures of how you attached the plastic ties to your HED? It might help others to try this to see if they can easily fix their seats? I can also check on my '17 to see if it's secured to the HED in a different method.

 

For me, the 3 different settings for the heated seats do make a difference. The high or 3LED setting just gets way too hot for me after a while, and usually I have to bring it down to 2LED or 1LED to be comfortable