2015 Heated Seat Possible Problem

Adrian_B · September 8, 2020

Tried searching the forum but could not find a thread with my problem...

I have a 2015 1500 silverado LTZ and when using the heated seats on the maximum setting i can hardly feel it. The seats do not really get warm so i took it into the dealership since i have a certified pre-owned warranty and they told me there is nothing wrong with the heated seats. Something is definitely not right because 2 of my friends have the same truck, one of which is a year newer and their seats get so hot i have to turn it down. Is there any way someone knows i can go about this issue or if i can do some electrical diagnosis on my own. Maybe ohm out some wires or something?!

rav3 · September 8, 2020

29 minutes ago, Adrian_B said:

Tried searching the forum but could not find a thread with my problem...

I have a 2015 1500 silverado LTZ and when using the heated seats on the maximum setting i can hardly feel it. The seats do not really get warm so i took it into the dealership since i have a certified pre-owned warranty and they told me there is nothing wrong with the heated seats. Something is definitely not right because 2 of my friends have the same truck, one of which is a year newer and their seats get so hot i have to turn it down. Is there any way someone knows i can go about this issue or if i can do some electrical diagnosis on my own. Maybe ohm out some wires or something?!

I'll take a guess here, that the dealer turned on the seat heater & then put his hand on it to see if he could feel any heat. If it felt warm, he'd say "it's working". You have me curious now. I took my trust cheap Harbor Freight Cent TecH IR thermometer down to my truck & checked my seats. They were 83-84F when I started. I started the truck & turned on the heater to MAX (3 lights) After 3 mins it was 87ish & after 5 mins it was 90-91F. I stopped at that point. I know they feel hotter than that in the winter and not sure how hot they will actually get before they "level off". It'll be interesting to see what others say.

Adrian_B · September 9, 2020

ohhh that's a good idea i will have to measure out what temp they are putting out. But i know there is an issue with the seat, they probably just don't want to do the work

kickass audio · September 9, 2020

I think it's a hit or miss. My 14 has a nice hot seat on the passenger side but my driver seat is just warm enough to feel it after around 10 minutes of driving and only on the back rest. I ordered a new bottom heater for the driver seat since it has been broken since I bought the truck.

Now when I get in my fiance's 2017 equinox, her seats will feel so hot it's like a heat gun blowing on full blast to your back and butt. You can't make it 5 minutes before you need to turn them down haha.

Are you having a problem on both the bottom and back rest heater or just the bottom? I don't have a link but there is an article online that will guide you in how to check the resistance reading of the heating element pads and if it's outside the range that GM specifies you have a faulty pad and it needs to be replaced. I used that bulletin to check my seats element and it checked out fine but I know it doesn't work at all. I'm thinking that because I sit on my seat with my wallet in the back pocket I probably snapped the pad so it doesn't actually conduct properly.

Adrian_B · September 9, 2020

2 hours ago, kickass audio said:

I think it's a hit or miss. My 14 has a nice hot seat on the passenger side but my driver seat is just warm enough to feel it after around 10 minutes of driving and only on the back rest. I ordered a new bottom heater for the driver seat since it has been broken since I bought the truck.

Now when I get in my fiance's 2017 equinox, her seats will feel so hot it's like a heat gun blowing on full blast to your back and butt. You can't make it 5 minutes before you need to turn them down haha.

Are you having a problem on both the bottom and back rest heater or just the bottom? I don't have a link but there is an article online that will guide you in how to check the resistance reading of the heating element pads and if it's outside the range that GM specifies you have a faulty pad and it needs to be replaced. I used that bulletin to check my seats element and it checked out fine but I know it doesn't work at all. I'm thinking that because I sit on my seat with my wallet in the back pocket I probably snapped the pad so it doesn't actually conduct properly.

Both driver and passenger seat bottoms dont work, it may just be the body heat i feel on the bottom after sitting on it for a bit. With both driver and passenger seats on MAX the back portion gets warm but it takes a long time. If i were to lower the setting i probably wont even feel any heat. And my warning vibration in the drivers seat went out and the dealership told me my truck doesn't have that option but I know it does because ive felt it before. Im thinking they just don't want to take the seats apart to do the job. I want to check the resistance in the pads I just dont know which wires they are and the specified resistance range. I tried looking for a GM chart specifying the output temperature for the heat ranges so i can take readings and compare them but i can't find one. I know Honda has one for their vehicles

kickass audio · September 10, 2020

Here is one guide but it's not that informative about pictures on where the wires are connected but if you look at the bottom of your seat toward the center jump seat (or console if you have that instead) you will find a tiny rectangular black connection with a little red tab on it at the rear of the seat. That one connection is for your bottom seat element connection.

https://testing-public.carmd.com/Tsb/Download/124374/4902208

BigBlue2014 · September 10, 2020

I know that the butt portion on the seats are prone to failure. Mine did when I purchased my truck last year (2014 1500LTZ) and the dealership confirmed that and replaced it under warranty for me. I could feel my back getting warm, but not my butt.

Adrian_B · September 11, 2020

On 9/9/2020 at 8:30 PM, kickass audio said:

Here is one guide but it's not that informative about pictures on where the wires are connected but if you look at the bottom of your seat toward the center jump seat (or console if you have that instead) you will find a tiny rectangular black connection with a little red tab on it at the rear of the seat. That one connection is for your bottom seat element connection.

https://testing-public.carmd.com/Tsb/Download/124374/4902208

Perfect, I will look into this. Thank you!

Adrian_B · September 11, 2020

On 9/10/2020 at 8:24 AM, BigBlue2014 said:

I know that the butt portion on the seats are prone to failure. Mine did when I purchased my truck last year (2014 1500LTZ) and the dealership confirmed that and replaced it under warranty for me. I could feel my back getting warm, but not my butt.

Mine does not work and the dealer said it works just fine so I need to prove them wrong. On maximum setting does yours get hot fast?

BigBlue2014 · September 11, 2020

1 minute ago, Adrian_B said:

Mine does not work and the dealer said it works just fine so I need to prove them wrong. On maximum setting does yours get hot fast?

It does now, but it did not before. When I complained about it it was in April as well, so it was not in usual seat heater season. I would suggest trying a laser thermometer to prove they don't work, or go to a different dealer.

Adrian_B · September 12, 2020

21 hours ago, BigBlue2014 said:

It does now, but it did not before. When I complained about it it was in April as well, so it was not in usual seat heater season. I would suggest trying a laser thermometer to prove they don't work, or go to a different dealer.

i need to get normal working temperature readings for both the back and bottom of the seat. i can prove it to them with that. i was told the heated seats are not that great in these trucks to begin with but i beg to differ. if my back heater pad is not putting out the heat it should then i would hope they replace that too

Adrian_B · September 15, 2020

UPDATE....

So i ended up making a terrible google review, contacted Chevy directly and Chevy send me a survey for my experience at the service department. You guessed it, everything was a terrible review. My dealership called me so i went in today for them to check it out. The service manager checked out my truck and said i do have an issue with the seat bottom on both front seats so they ordered the parts to replace. However, he did say my seat backs are okay and had a laser temp gun with him and compared it to his truck (similar truck). It was a 40 minute drive to the dealership so of course the seat is going to be warm from the body heat, he said my seat back was hotter than his seat back. He sat in the seat for a good amount of time so there was more body heat. My seat back takes entirely way too long to warm up and if its in the middle setting or lowest setting i can not even feel it.

On the other hand as soon as i pulled in and talked to him i mentioned i seen a similar truck in their used lot so i requested the keys to go sit in it and compare, the other truck got hot within a minute or so and was a lot warmer than mine. When i drop my tuck off for them to repair i am going to request him to check it out again and put the setting on low and see what kind of temperatures he gets.

rav3 · September 15, 2020

Glad to hear that you got their attention...It's a shame that it took what you did to do that. I did read somewhere that if , say the bottom wasn't working, that some way it affected the top or visa versa. Maybe a new bottom will help the upper one.

Adrian_B · September 15, 2020

1 hour ago, rav3 said:

Glad to hear that you got their attention...It's a shame that it took what you did to do that. I did read somewhere that if , say the bottom wasn't working, that some way it affected the top or visa versa. Maybe a new bottom will help the upper one.

Thank you, and yeah its ridiculous the length of BS one has to go through to get stuff done. Ohhh if you would be able to find that then that would be amazing!!!!!!!

Ed S · September 15, 2020

I had to have both passenger and drivers side seat bottom seat heaters replaced in my 14 Sierra. Both had an open fault circuit according to dealer. Wouldn't cover it for it was a year out of warranty and just had a tick over 40k miles..Happened in 2018. These things are junk. Even after the new cushion heaters were installed, I barely feel any heat coming out of them on high. Poor design. poor product testing. For trucks costing almost 50k or more, I expected a better built product. Oh yeah, while having the heaters replaced, also had to have a drivers side door lock actuator replaced at the same time. That's another failure story. Now I have a drivers side vent actuator fail, blows hot air out drivers side vents when the A/C is on. Charged me 90 buck to test it and tell me what was wrong. Wants $900.00 to fix it. Says dash needs to come completely apart to replace it. Shall I go on? Uhhhhg.