Heated seat issues

[Lary0071]

I have a 2019 Bighorn with heated cloth, same as the OP. Mine is very uncomfortably hot on high and medium, on low they are tolerable for a while but once the water is hot and the heater is working I can not tolerate even low on the heated seat. The steering wheel also gets uncomfortably hot (this is good though) so I use it for the first 5 minutes or so on a cold morning, once the heater system has brought the interior up to temp and is warmed, I kill the steering wheel and the seats. But I do love a 5°F morning, wear just a hoodie and no gloves! Game changing!

We have a 2016 Cherokee Trailhawk and it is similar, it gets warmer than I can tolerate.

Now... ask my wife this same question about the same cars... "The tooshie warmers are not hot enough!". And she would cut your hand off if you turned her butt cheek warmers off.

 

[CurtJ]

Well, they are finally gonna tear into my heated seats on Monday along with doing the tranny recall and the rattle I’m having on the passenger side front and rear which could be the body mounts as well as the very LOUD clicking noise coming from the steering column and or push button start when pushing on the brake. Never started doing that until about a month ago. Lots of issues but they seem very confident that all will get fixed. We shall see. Trying to be very optimistic. Only 4900mi on this truck and way too many issues since 2000mi. Will post update on a fix if one is found.

 

[RamCares]

Glad to find this post. I also think my leather seats in my 2019 Laramie are warm at best on the highest setting. In my wife's Flex, leaving them on high will cook your boys good. I need to get a digital thermometer to see what the seats are warming up to. It's definitely not hot. I was quite underwhelmed the fist time I activated them.

Hey @bigcitymike - If you end up addressing this with your dealer, please be sure to let our team know via private message! I am more than happy to escalate a case for you so a specialist could work alongside your dealer to explore all solutions and get this taken care of.

Well, they are finally gonna tear into my heated seats on Monday along with doing the tranny recall and the rattle I’m having on the passenger side front and rear which could be the body mounts as well as the very LOUD clicking noise coming from the steering column and or push button start when pushing on the brake. Never started doing that until about a month ago. Lots of issues but they seem very confident that all will get fixed. We shall see. Trying to be very optimistic. Only 4900mi on this truck and way too many issues since 2000mi. Will post update on a fix if one is found.

Thank you for sharing this update, @CurtJ. I'm glad to hear your dealer is willing to dive in on this and that there is optimism! Please be sure to keep us updated, and if you have any communication troubles moving forward we're more than happy to hop back in to check on your case.

Mark
RamCares

 

[CurtJ]

Hey @bigcitymike - If you end up addressing this with your dealer, please be sure to let our team know via private message! I am more than happy to escalate a case for you so a specialist could work alongside your dealer to explore all solutions and get this taken care of.



Thank you for sharing this update, @CurtJ. I'm glad to hear your dealer is willing to dive in on this and that there is optimism! Please be sure to keep us updated, and if you have any communication troubles moving forward we're more than happy to hop back in to check on your case.

Mark
RamCares

Thanks Mark for your help with these issues! Had a very good meeting yesterday with the Service Manager and he assured me they would do everything possible to get the truck right. When he asked me if I was happy with my new purchase and I said NO right off the bat he knew I was serious and told me they wanted me happy, so we shall see...;-) Trying to be very optimistic for sure! Thanks again!!!!!

 

[RamCares]

Thanks Mark for your help with these issues! Had a very good meeting yesterday with the Service Manager and he assured me they would do everything possible to get the truck right. When he asked me if I was happy with my new purchase and I said NO right off the bat he knew I was serious and told me they wanted me happy, so we shall see...;-) Trying to be very optimistic for sure! Thanks again!!!!!

Of course, @CurtJ! I look forward to hearing your next update here!

Mark
RamCares

 

[Kimo7]

Every FCA vehicle I’ve owned has had the option, the seats and steering wheel in all of them were HOT, as others have stated, even on the lowest setting. I love the heat on the steering wheel !!! Sounds like you might have a bad seat heater. I’m sure the dealer will fix it under warranty. Be optimistic and don’t let a small thing like that ruin your opinion of the truck, you bought a good one. I had the buckle break on my Limited seat back cover and they had to replace the whole seat cover. It seemed unbelievable they would have to go to that extent and I was worried it wouldn’t match color or grain. The repair was completed and it was perfect, exact match. This is an easy problem to resolve and I bet your dealer takes care of you. Good luck

 

[CurtJ]

Every FCA vehicle I’ve owned has had the option, the seats and steering wheel in all of them were HOT, as others have stated, even on the lowest setting. I love the heat on the steering wheel !!! Sounds like you might have a bad seat heater. I’m sure the dealer will fix it under warranty. Be optimistic and don’t let a small thing like that ruin your opinion of the truck, you bought a good one. I had the buckle break on my Limited seat back cover and they had to replace the whole seat cover. It seemed unbelievable they would have to go to that extent and I was worried it wouldn’t match color or grain. The repair was completed and it was perfect, exact match. This is an easy problem to resolve and I bet your dealer takes care of you. Good luck

Thanks brother!!! Truck goes in on the 18th and they are replacing all the heating elements in both seats.... Definitely staying optimistic that this will fix it......

 

[Brewbud]

Thanks brother!!! Truck goes in on the 18th and they are replacing all the heating elements in both seats.... Definitely staying optimistic that this will fix it......

I am curious if they fixed the issues with your seats.

 

[CurtJ]

It did not...:-/ Factory set module that cannot be changed. That’s what came from FCA’s tech people.

 

[Brewbud]

Wow, I am surprised when it obvious it doesn't perform as it should. Actually, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I ran into issues with my Jeep that was ignored in a similar manner. I was hoping FCA would be different than Daimler.

 

[CurtJ]

Wow, I am surprised when it obvious it doesn't perform as it should. Actually, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I ran into issues with my Jeep that was ignored in a similar manner. I was hoping FCA would be different than Daimler.

I know....:-/ Past issues with overheating and seats catching on fire was part of the reason they “turned them down” that was from FCA also. I commend my dealer though, they replaced everything they could on both seats and nothing changed and that’s when they contacted FCA and that’s what they were told.......ugh. So I have Luke warm seats instead of heated seats! GM still has heated seats! My sons GMC Denali H-D has heated and cooled seats and they get HOT, like they should.

 

[Brewbud]

I know....:-/ Past issues with overheating and seats catching on fire was part of the reason they “turned them down” that was from FCA also. I commend my dealer though, they replaced everything they could on both seats and nothing changed and that’s when they contacted FCA and that’s what they were told.......ugh. So I have Luke warm seats instead of heated seats! GM still has heated seats! My sons GMC Denali H-D has heated and cooled seats and they get HOT, like they should.

So FCA is saying all the newer trucks will have poorly heated seats now due to the fires? If the seats ere catching fire it is because of a defect, not the difference of 10 or 15 degrees for a setting. I am glad to hear your dealer went to bat for you though. It sounds like a lot of dealers don't.

 

[Tschneid62]

Since the talk is on heated seats mine come on automatically at start up. Wisconsin now the temps are in the 30s at night. Is there a setting to turn this off so the seats don’t automatically come? To be honest I haven’t had time to go through the book. Did spend a little time on the touch screen but could not find anything related to setting up heated seats.

 

[Brutal_HO]

Since the talk is on heated seats mine come on automatically at start up. Wisconsin now the temps are in the 30s at night. Is there a setting to turn this off so the seats don’t automatically come? To be honest I haven’t had time to go through the book. Did spend a little time on the touch screen but could not find anything related to setting up heated seats.

There is. It's in the Owner's Manual under the Multimedia section.

The driver seat and steering wheel can be set to Off, Remote Start, All Starts. Operates below 40F. Above 80F, the driver vented seat will run.

 

[Wmhjr]

Shot mine today with my laser heat thermometer and both seats registered 82.3 with the outside temp at 39 degrees and both seats were on high setting and the truck had ran for 30 minutes. No way that’s normal when our body temps are 98.6!!

I'm not suggesting that the seats are heating correctly. However everyone should remember that seats heat through conduction and not convection. Direct contact conducts thermal energy far more than air does. This is why water conducts heat over 20 times faster than air, and why you'll develop hypothermia if you stay in an 80 degree pool too long without a wetsuit (yeah, it'll take a while). As a hobby, I'm also a scuba instructor and have been diving since 1983. Your body isn't necessarily only feeling something is warm if it's warmer than your average 98.6 degree temp. The max a heated seat should ever get is 105-107 degrees. Extended contact at anything higher than that has caused people to get burned when their seats malfunctioned.

 

[John Jensen]

To add to Brutal's post #39. From the manual:

When the “Auto-On Driver Heated/Ventilated Seat & Steering Wheel With Vehicle Start” feature is selected, the driver's heated seat and heated steering wheel will automatically turn on when temperatures are below 40°F (4.4°C). When temperatures are above 80°F (26.7°C), the driver vented
seat will turn on.

 

[Tschneid62]

There is. It's in the Owner's Manual under the Multimedia section.

The driver seat and steering wheel can be set to Off, Remote Start, All Starts. Operates below 40F. Above 80F, the driver vented seat will run.

Thank you

 

[Brutal_HO]

To add to Brutal's post #39. From the manual:

When the “Auto-On Driver Heated/Ventilated Seat & Steering Wheel With Vehicle Start” feature is selected, the driver's heated seat and heated steering wheel will automatically turn on when temperatures are below 40°F (4.4°C). When temperatures are above 80°F (26.7°C), the driver vented
seat will turn on.

Give a man a fish...

 

[el_barto]

My last truck (2015 Chevy Colorado) took a long time to warm up and never got very hot. It was common complaint. This truck (2019 Power Wagon) get hot pretty quick, I normally have to turn it down or off after 15 minutes.

 

[Brewbud]

My last truck (2015 Chevy Colorado) took a long time to warm up and never got very hot. It was common complaint. This truck (2019 Power Wagon) get hot pretty quick, I normally have to turn it down or off after 15 minutes.

The 2019s have better heating. My 2020 takes quite a while to get warm and I would say it never gets overly hot. I do like that it heats my bum and my back though. My wife's Range Rover got warm very quickly but it felt like it was all in the seat bottom.