Heated seats

[scott garland]

it seems that i have inherited all the small ailments on my '05 xlr. The latest being the heated seats do not operate. Thicon appears on the display but no action. My first meove was to check the fuses, however, all were good. The air ducts for the cooling were bad so i have gotten them but not installed.
i am releuctant to take to the dealer as they are like the gov't in that that they seem to think that my money well has no limit.
my next move is to take out the seat and check wiring continuity. With my luck the seat module will be bad.
has any one else had this aggrevation and if so what did they do to remedy the problem. Thanks for your help.

 

[Rob]

The heated/cooled seats in the XLR use a ceramic disk that is either positively or negatively charged depending on whether you are trying to cool or heat the seats. When the ceramic disk becomes charged it either heats up or gets very cold. Air is then blown over the disk and passed through the vented seats.

If your seat heater isn't working, I would check the condition of the disk as well as whether or not there is charge going to the disk.

 

[ccclarke]

Here's a quick check that may expose the problem with your seats not heating/cooling properly:

1. Slide the seat(s) forward as far as possible.
2. Using a flashlight, inspect the plastic fluted cooling duct that exits the back of the seat cushion and sends air up the middle/side of the seat back.
3. If you're lucky, it's just disconnected from the outlet at the back of the blower unit. If you're not so lucky, the accordian joint will be torn open and the whole duct needs to be replaced.

Replacement involves pulling the seat out, and removing the seat and center back cushions. (The repair manual states to pull the center cushion up and out to remove it from the seat back. . . . --not that easily done!) I had to replace the duct on my passenger seat and is took the better part of an afternoon. The part in the parts list is incorrect, in that it is straight, but needs to curve 90 degrees to go up the side of the seat back. I was able to cut the tube and jury-rig it using duct tape to get a seal, but the problem is the part was incorrect. I'm working with the parts guy at my dealership to get feedback to GM. If I can figure out how to post pics, I'll upload a procedure I made using the manual and some common sense to pull the passenger seat and replace the duct. The discrepancy with the duct is also documented with pics.

CC

 

[scott garland]

CC CLARK

THANKS FOR THE INFO. I HAVE ALREADY RECIEVED THE DUCTS. INTERESTING THE DUCTS I GOT ARE DIFFERENT RIGHT TO LEFT. I'LL GIVE IT A TRY. I WAS WORRIED MAYBE A LITTLE LESS NOW THAT THE HIGH DOLLAR MODULES MIGHT BE BAD. WILL POST A RESULTS REPORT WHEN DONE. IF NOT MIGHT SET IT AFIRE.

 

[ccclarke]

Attached are a few pics to help make my convoluted explanation a little more understandable.

The first pic shows the two passenger seat ducts side-by-side. The one on the left is what you get when the parts list is used. The part on the right is what was removed. As you can see, the duct is torn on the left side. The air has to make a 90 degree turn to go up the side of the back of the seat. There’s NO WAY the supplied part on the left will do that.

The second pic shows what the passenger seat duct SHOULD look like (I Photoshopped it.)

The third pic shows the routing of the duct to get air from the middle of the lower seat cushion to the side of the seat back.

I hope this helps!

CC

 

[scott garland]

CCC CLARK

THANK YOU AGAIN. I AM HOPING THIS SOLVES THE PROBLEM. AM I SUPPOSED TO HEAR A BLOWER WORKING? IF I AM I'M NOT. I GUESS I REALLY WON'T KNOW UNTIL I GET INTO IT.
SCOTT

 

[ccclarke]

Scott,

To do a quick check of the blower, enable the heat/cool switch on the applicable seat with the duct on the lower/rear disconnected. You should be able to feel warm/cool air coming out.

One of the problems with these seats is the cushion warms up enough to make me feel like I'm sitting in a hotter circle of hell, while the seatback really doesn't do much of anything, even though I've confirmed air is flowing to the aforementioned duct. I'm tempted to add a small, 12vdc computer fan to boost the airflow. This sounds like a design problem, since I've read the same complaint from others.

Does anyone have a seat that uniformly warms/cools? Inquiring minds wanna know.

CC

 

[mtrocket]

Scott,

To do a quick check of the blower, enable the heat/cool switch on the applicable seat with the duct on the lower/reark disconnected. You should be able to feel warm/cool air coming out.

One of the problems with these seats is the cushion warms up enough to make me feel like I'm sitting in a hotter circle of hell, while the seatback really doesn't do much of anything, even though I've confirmed air is flowing to the aforementioned duct. I'm tempted to add a small, 12vdc computer fan to boost the airflow. This sounds like a desgn problem, since I've read the same complaint from others.

Does anyone have a seat that uniformly warms/cools? Inquiring minds wanna know.

CC

The cushion seems to warm/cool quicker than the back... but both the cushion and the back seem to end up about the same temp on my '07.
Rod AKA mtrocket