Heatings seats dont heat at distance starting

Yvon Boulianne · December 12, 2021

When we start the Silverado at distance the seat dont heat, but the sterring heat..what is the problem ?

EddDe · December 13, 2021

The remote start heated or ventilated seats may be enabled or disabled in the vehicle personalization menu. Touch the Settings icon on the Home Page of the infotainment display. Touch Vehicle to display a list of available options. Touch to select the desired feature setting. Look for Remote Start Auto Heat Seats and turn this option on.

rbdjr · December 14, 2021

I also have the same problem on my 2021,RST,Crew,4x4,3.0L. mine is turned on in comfort and convience settings remote start. but still no heated seats?

Dunn · December 14, 2021

mine is the same....wheel does but not seats, idk if it isnt cold enough here or if different temps are for seats and wheel.....only 1 setting and it includes both wheel/seat.....their not independent at least not on mine

milkmaster · December 15, 2021

Same here!

rbdjr · December 16, 2021

I was told to unhook battery for 10 mins and then go into settings/remote start and make sure heated seats still enabled, I will see tomorrow morning if worked?

redwngr · December 18, 2021

Seats have a large surface area to warm -- and all that surface area can also transmit heat to the cabin, making the surface feel cooler. Obviously, sitting on the seat provides insulation to the seat reducing this effect.

Seats not feeling 'heated' under/after remote start has been a normal 'thing' for years on GM pickups.

It may be a sign they aren't working -- but there is a very good chance they are functioning normally.

As others posted above, the same DIC setting enables both the steering wheel and seats.

I haven't checked current ones, but previous generations do NOT turn on the LED's in the seat switches when under remote start, so looking in the window does not give any indication if they are on.

Both switch off when the engine is started and have to be manually activated.

(GM does have seats/wheel that 'auto activate' in some of the SUVs)

Could do test when there are a couple days of cold, but similar temps, are ahead. On one of the days, disable the remote heated seats/wheel and after the same amount of remote start time -- do the butt test to compare the comfort levels.

Might also check with one of those cheapy infra-red temp guns. They can also be used to verify heated mirror function.

I did the 'butt' test on one of my trucks a bunch of years ago and did confirm a difference. Seat still felt cool/cold, but not as much.

This was when seat heaters were MUCH slower to warm than they are today.

kmeleon · December 18, 2021

1 hour ago, redwngr said:

Seats have a large surface area to warm -- and all that surface area can also transmit heat to the cabin, making the surface feel cooler. Obviously, sitting on the seat provides insulation to the seat reducing this effect.

Seats not feeling 'heated' under/after remote start has been a normal 'thing' for years on GM pickups.

It may be a sign they aren't working -- but there is a very good chance they are functioning normally.

I can tell you in my 21 Elevation if I remote start it on a cold day, within 2 minutes my seats are definetely warm and you feel it when you sit down getting in the truck. Same with the steering wheel, toasty. Sounds like something is wrong with the settings, heaters.

milkmaster · December 19, 2021

UPDATE....

Couple of days ago I went into the menu and turned off and back on again the controls to make the seats heat up after autostart with the fob. This evening was the first cold temps outside to see if it works. The steering wheel is warrm to the touch as it has been. The seats aren't hot when you get in the truck, but neither were they cold as I would have expected. Maybe cycling the menu fixed it! I'll know more after the temps get a little colder in the coming days.

rbdjr · December 19, 2021

On 12/18/2021 at 9:12 AM, redwngr said:

Seats have a large surface area to warm -- and all that surface area can also transmit heat to the cabin, making the surface feel cooler. Obviously, sitting on the seat provides insulation to the seat reducing this effect.

Seats not feeling 'heated' under/after remote start has been a normal 'thing' for years on GM pickups.

It may be a sign they aren't working -- but there is a very good chance they are functioning normally.

As others posted above, the same DIC setting enables both the steering wheel and seats.

I haven't checked current ones, but previous generations do NOT turn on the LED's in the seat switches when under remote start, so looking in the window does not give any indication if they are on.

Both switch off when the engine is started and have to be manually activated.

(GM does have seats/wheel that 'auto activate' in some of the SUVs)

Could do test when there are a couple days of cold, but similar temps, are ahead. On one of the days, disable the remote heated seats/wheel and after the same amount of remote start time -- do the butt test to compare the comfort levels.

Might also check with one of those cheapy infra-red temp guns. They can also be used to verify heated mirror function.

I did the 'butt' test on one of my trucks a bunch of years ago and did confirm a difference. Seat still felt cool/cold, but not as much.

This was when seat heaters were MUCH slower to warm than they are today.

I did unhook battery for 10 mins, re-checked settings in remote start on DIC, and today the first colder day below 30deg and yes I could feel the seat was a bit warmer as the wheel was toasty,

I believe redwngr hit the nail on the head with the previous post.

2016 Sierra Owner · December 28, 2021

This has been an issue since the 2014 model trucks were introduced. The heated seats will not get butt toasting warm like the steering wheel. However they will start the process of getting warm. You do however need to press the seat warmer button once you get in the truck and start it with the engine start button. If you don't the seat heat will turn off and stay off once the engine start button is pressed. I've had heated seats in my 14,16, and 20 and they have all 3 worked the same way.