tech_rcd

My wife is complaining the heated seat on the passenger side does not work as well as the drivers side on our 06 TL. I called to have the dealership look at it and service told me the passenger side does not have a heating element in the back of the seat, just on the bottom. The drivers side has both. He said it was due to airbag sensors in the passenger seat. Can anyone here verify that? There are many more trustworthy people here than any dealership.
Thank you.

01tl4tl

its been that way for years

Have a read of the owner book- its got lots of info in it!

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

then does that mean the drivers side doesn't have any airbag sensors? seems a big unbalanced if true...

Ken1997TL

The passenger seat has weight and position sensors in case of a small child or the fact that a purse is in the seat instead of an adult.

Acura assumes the driver is an adult and not a purse (though some people drive like a purse is in charge)

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

makes complete sense...

LoveMyTL-S

Boy that seat heat sure feels good on a brisk cold day...........Awwwwwwww

CocheseUGA

Can't wait for winter to try it out!

Babnik

Another useful tidbit of information is that the seat heater doesn't work if it doesn't detect that someone is sitting in the seat.

Last winter I used to turn on my engine, turn the seat heater on hi, and wait a few minutes before sitting down so it wouldn't be cold, but it was always cold.

lldknyll26

i never put heat my seat. Its stretches the leather. lol

nfnsquared

Huh? My driver's seat heats without anyone in the seat. Never tried the passenger seat.

Babnik

How do you know?

nfnsquared

Start car, turn on heat switch, come back in five minutes and hop in car. Seat is warm.

csmeance

I doubt the seat detects that in the TL, the seat warmers do take quite a bit of time to heat up. In the TL it takes about 5-7 minutes to feel some warmth, and then 10 minutes to have your butt-cheeks burnt. In the MDX it's more like 4-5 minutes, and in my 7 it's about 3 minutes to having your butt on fire!

BLACKURA_NY

iTrader: (6)

of every car ever.... the 2G Jeep Grand Cherokee had the HOTTEST seats (we owned an 04 Special Edition)

a few months later, we got a recall notice... seat heaters were too hot!! (i knew i wasnt crazy)

some dude put the heating elements in his rear seats of his 3G... thats a ballsy DIY

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Nothing needed in the driver's seat, as when the ignition is in the run position and car in gear, somebody must be driving the vehicle, so the bag is armed.

The Grands (ZJ/WJ) were known to have element wires that were easily fractured, but the '03/'04 were a cut above as the heaters became so warm that fires would break out in the seat which necessitated the NHTSA to do a recall on about 120,000 vehicles..

LoveMyTL-S

Can you say "Rump Roast!"?

1995hoo

It's never taken 5–7 minutes to feel warmth in mine. To feel full heat, yes, but it often starts getting warm within two minutes of leaving my driveway. I wonder if this is a function of your location, since I see you are in Florida. I doubt you have single-degree Fahrenheit temperatures, or even 20°F temperatures, too often! When the temperature is around 20°F or so, my seat heater warms right up.

I use the thing all the time during the winter because I prefer not to wear a coat or jacket when driving if I don't have to do so.

LoveMyTL-S

In north Florida I've seen single digit temps, but like you said, not often. One reason I live here.........

Oswald Vater

The coldest it's ever gotten in Key West is 42 degrees. However, when you're used to 80-90 most of the time, your blood gets so thin that 60 feels cold! I am thankful that the TL has seat heaters even in a sub-tropical climate.

1995hoo

This is the coldest temperature reading I've seen in the TL, back in January 2006. The wind chill was more like –30°F or so. Funny thing is, that day I didn't notice the seat heater as much because I was wearing polarfleece-lined jeans that were thick enough that the heat didn't really pass through so much.

01tl4tl

the passenger seat has OPDS- see owner manual for more info on how it protects your druken friend from airbag injury

Seat heat- read owner manual--my gen2 says use High for a few minutes to warm, then set to LOW
High runs full current without a break period- it can cook the wires and break one, especially under a wallet where there is extra pressure on the seat
High reaches a Max Temp Overlimit switch and shuts off until its cooled below limit again
Low uses a thermostat to cycle the heater on and off to keep a comfortable temp
A few minutes of high is all you should need- then switch

People not feeling any heat after leaving on high and going back in the house,,maybe you hit the over limit switch

There is a wealth of info in the owner manual- if you dont have one here is the free link- click year then model https://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/...01_OMANUAL.asp

Babnik

That's very interesting. Mine doesn't do that.

I tried it many times, turned on the engine and seat heater then cleared the snow off my car which takes abotu 5 minutes, when I get in the seat is as cold as ice.

If I turn it on when I'm sitting in it, it will heat up in about 3 minutes.

WayneJay

That's interesting. Funny thing is... my wife who's always cold uses the bun warmers often, but I rarely use it. Maybe I can convince her to drive my car more if she knows the back on seat bottom of the driver's seat provide heat.

sweating_ice

I don't think I have ever turned on my seat warmers....hmm, I will try that on the drive home tonight.