TahiTSX

I don't know how common this problem is, but a few months ago the driver and the passenger seat heaters went out. It was a troublesome job for the dealer to fix since it requires major disassembly of the seats, according to the dealer. Furthermore, when the dealer tried to order the parts, the parts took quite a while to get.

Whereas before the seat heaters went out I could readily feel the heat, I can barely feel it now. I compared that with a new TSX at the dealer, and they both felt weak to me. Perhaps weak on Hi is normal?

jlukja

I can definitely feel the heat when the seat heater is on. The degree of heat can be somewhat subjective however but its definitely not weak.

mrgold35

What year was your TSX when the seat heaters failed?

TahiTSX

I have a 2004 TSX. It had about 18K miles on it. It has about 21K miles on her now. It was a difficult job.

Still Water

I've also heard that they don't always fail altogether. That is to say that a part of the heating surface may still work while another part doesn't. Also the right side seat is only heated on the bottom while the left side has an added back section heater.

One question I do have is I think that they can "cycle" a bit. Does anyone know if that's true and if so what is the whats, hows & whens of the cycle pattern?

kboosman00

^^^ Wow do you drive her at all? LOL... I purchased my 2004 back in Dec. 03 and currently the Odometer is reading 47k. Fortunately for me, my seat warmers have'nt gone out yet.

TahiTSX

I've been fortunate to have found jobs close to home. My previous job was a massive 6 miles from home. My new job--which I'm starting next week--is about 3 miles. Will you have fries and a shake with that? Just kidding!

Believe me, I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I do all I can to avoid long commutes. It just takes me longer to find a job closer to home, but for me it's a quality of life issue not having to commute far in dawg-eat-dawg traffic.

I also alternate the use of my TSX with my 'ol 94 pickup--which has 64K or so after 12 years. It will prolly rust before breaks!

Anyway, the TSX is in the shop today to have the center console replaced, squeaky-creaky clutch lubed, and the vibrations in speakers fixed.

I really really like my TSX, but I've had more warranty issues with this car than any other car I've owned. (I've owned 3 Hondas, a Toyota, and a Nissan.) I hope these warranty fixes really fix the car for the long term!

llJrockll

iTrader: (2)

Since when do people in California use the seat heaters? please don't tell me you use them when it's 60-65 degree weather.

now in Chicago it's a must in the winter.

Jazzyguy

They do cycle if set on high. They will turn on and off, I guess not to burn the seats. On low, they dont cycle.

jerzpwr

kinda off topic but the seat warmers make me sleepy!.. hahaha

i didnt know that its cycles when on high

jlukja

I have a wife who is perpetually cold. She uses the seat heaters all the time in the fall, winter, and spring. A couple of times after I let her in the passanger side she turns on the heaters to both seats (the considerate person that she is). I really don't notice the heater lights but I do notice almost immediately when my buns get toasty.

jerzpwr

gf does the same thing and i could feel it instanteously. I probably have a senstive butt

Still Water

Those are my observations also. I think the proper procedure is to turn them on high first until they heat-up good and then turn them down to low.

BTW - FYI Chitown, I live in the foothills outside Sacto and it can get into the twentys & teens here. Even in the thirtys there's nothing like hot crossed buns.

TahiTSX

Actually, we've had 65 degree whether in San Francisco this past month. The summers are often cool here!

When I bought my TSX, I was very very skeptical about the use of seat warmers. But I was surprised that I have used them in our harsh cold winters when the day-time high temperatures might not even hit 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Brrrrrr! Plus, every few years we do get a day of frost in the morning! That's a morning when seat heaters are particularly comfy.

Chicago? Oh my! I was on a business trip there once at the end of October-early November. The wind chill off from that big pond next to Chicago (Lake Michigan maybe?) went right through my bones! And it was only the beginning of Nov!! And on my way back to the airport, I saw this strangest looking rain that I had never seen before. The bus driver called it Slush...no wait...he called it Sleet, I think. That weather was something else and unreal, man!

TahiTSX

Can't help you with the cycle question.

The heaters on both seats had failed, so the dealer ordered two sets of seat heaters. When the dealer installed the replacement driver side seat heaters, the original passenger side seat heater suddenly came back on! It seems that some failure with the driver side cause the passenger side to fail.

Hmmm. I just had my original audio system replaced. This failure caused all of the center console lights (clock, radio display, heater display) to go blank or very very dim. (There are other discussion threads about the center console failure issue.) Do we see a pattern here? One unit's failure causes to other units to fail. That seems like a nasty design. (Consider the parallel to bad design of some Xmas tree light strands that fail: one bulb goes out and every thing on the strand goes out.)