First cold night...no heat? Anywhere? Grr

[damnameisinuse]

So it's been 5 days since I leased my 2013 SV. Is there some magic trick to the heater, or is mine jacked up? The steering wheel, the seats, the air, nothing would get hot. Is there some magic trick I should be doing? The first day I had it, I was LOVING the heated steering wheel, used it to keep my hands warm while the rest of me was nice & cool in AC heaven on a hot day. Now that it's actually cold at night, the wheel won't warm up, the seat won't warm up, and the vents just blow ambient air. Before I take it to the dealer, am I being a moron & left some energy saving switch set to "don't make this guy warm" or something?

 

[LeftieBiker]

The website ate my first reply... Your car isn't heating normally. Using Normal mode instead of Eco will help, but the seat and wheel heaters should be working. How cold is it there? My SV heater works ok in Eco and fine in Normal mode in 45F weather, so far. It helps to first heat the car with Normal mode, then switch to Eco to reduce power use. Use recirculate as much as possible when heating in Eco mode.

 

[damnameisinuse]

It's not very cold out at all, low 60's high 50's...I live in GA so it's just barely started to get cool out. The steering wheel & seat heaters I'm feeling nothing at all. When I first tested 'em they did work and felt awesome, so I think something is definitely fishy there. So far since the car is new & I'm enjoying the pep so much still, I haven't been driving in eco mode very much, so I've been in normal almost exclusively while trying this. I didn't have recirc on though. I'll try that & see if it does any good. Can't imagine with all these advancements that the heater would work like a mid 60's volkswagen though!

 

[dgpcolorado]

^Fuse problem? Hard to explain otherwise. Do the pilot lights on the switches show?

 

[damnameisinuse]

Yes, lights on all the switches come on...same amber light for everything, including both the high or low setting of the seat warmers. I'll check the fuses before I take it in, I was sort of hoping it was operator error. :roll:

 

[jmjatlanta]

Same problem. Bought 2, mine works fine, the wife's heat won't work. I'm looking for a fuse or relay, but don't know which one. There are 3 fuse/relay boxes under the hood, looking for the right one, as the caps over the fuse box are too cryptic. I'll update here if I find out what fixes this one...

Update: Checked all 3 fuse boxes and the one on the driver's side dash. All fuses are fine. The wife will make an appt with the dealer. I'll ask her to ask them for details on what work will be done.

 

[adric22]

Well, you can open the energy screen and see how much energy use the climate control is using. If it is at or near zero, then there is something wrong. I'm not sure if you can do that on an S model or not.

 

[damnameisinuse]

When I've got the heat & AC on, thermostat set to 90, fan set to high, front & rear defrost on, the energy says climate control is using about 1.5 kwh...does that sound about right? If I cut AC off that drops to below 1, but if I put AC on and cut heat off it drops to a little over 1 so if I had to guess I'd say they look like they're functioning right. the air that comes out the vents is just not hot.

For the seat & steering wheel warmers, I'm limited how much I can test it because I live in Atlanta & while I know it's almost October, it's still pretty warm out so I can only test 'em in the wee morning hours & late at night. Seems like the steering wheel will warm up for about 5 minutes, then cools off. The seats are noticeably warm on some trips and seem to do nothing on other trips. Going to have to take it in I suppose, I was really hoping to go more than 1 week before my first trip to the service dept.

 

[planet4ever]

Well, you can open the energy screen and see how much energy use the climate control is using. If it is at or near zero, then there is something wrong. I'm not sure if you can do that on an S model or not.

Unfortunately there is nothing corresponding to the energy screen on the S model. You would have to get some add-on meter which reports that.

Ray

 

[jmjatlanta]

The wife called the dealer and made an appointment for Saturday. Incidentally, I'm in Roswell, GA. Care to share your whereabouts?

She also called the dealer we bought it from. Our sales guy says its the first he's heard of the problem. Not sure if he's pulling my leg, but perhaps GA got a bad batch.

 

[LeftieBiker]

Maybe you got the "Warm Weather Package": no real heater. Those things used to be optional on cars...

 

[damnameisinuse]

I'm not far from you JMJ, I live in Woodstock & work in Atlanta. Bought it at Regal Nissan on Holcomb Bridge...you?

 

[shanley]

I'm having a similar problem in San Diego, CA. The seat won't stay warm. I'm not running the heater just the seat heater and occasionally the steering wheel heater. It doesn't get very warm so I wish it would just stay on.

 

[morlglums]

I'm having a similar problem in San Diego, CA. The seat won't stay warm. I'm not running the heater just the seat heater and occasionally the steering wheel heater. It doesn't get very warm so I wish it would just stay on.

Does being in "Eco" mode affect the heater/warmers (on the MY13 S)?

-m

 

[TonyWilliams]

The steering wheels have always gotten too hot, then cycle to off, then too hot, etc.

The seats tend to do a lesser version of that.

If the heater isn't blowing heat, take it to the dealer. They fail a lot, as there is a known manufacturing error in the Denso 6kW resistance heater. I have no real experience with the heat pump, but again, of it doesn't work, get it fixed.

 

[damnameisinuse]

Yeah that's what my steering wheel & seat seem to be doing now, give it 5-10 minutes & they get nice & toasty, then they get cold for the rest of the trip. The heater does apparently "work", but its very anemic. In about the 10 minutes the seat warmers & steering wheel give out on me, the cabin temperature has warmed up to like 70 from an outside temp of 60...the air coming out feels luke warm, far from the hot air I'm used to feeling come out of regular heaters. Is it just weak maybe?

My work schedule has been nuts, haven't had time to take it in for service to check out yet...I love everything else about the car and it's still relatively warm here in Atlanta, so it hasn't been much of a concern.

 

[palmermd]

I guess my aftermarket seat warmers are pretty good then. I do wish I had the steering wheel heater though. Any solutions for all the seat heater problems. Does it cut out on both the hot and cold setting?

 

[shanley]

I'm having a similar problem in San Diego, CA. The seat won't stay warm. I'm not running the heater just the seat heater and occasionally the steering wheel heater. It doesn't get very warm so I wish it would just stay on.

Does being in "Eco" mode affect the heater/warmers (on the MY13 S)?

-m

I tested it out with "Eco" mode off and it's the same issue. This is in my 2013 Leaf SL. I'll try to get it in to the dealer for an opinion soon.

 

[damnameisinuse]

I've tried it both ways, same thing. Noticed something interesting this morning though...the heater is doing the same thing the steering wheel & seats do. For a few minutes it'll start to blow warm, then it blows cold again. It's like it's hitting a cutoff from either building up too much resistance or too much heat, or both? Who knows. Hoping I have time to get to the dealer before the weather gets much colder!

 

[damnameisinuse]

Ok, so check this out...this is interesting.

I took it to the dealer to let 'em have a look, and they agreed the air coming out felt too cool & couldn't understand why the seats & steering wheel wouldn't stay hot & everything seemed as messed up to them as it seemed to me. So after some digging they found there isn't anything wrong with it...it's just smarter than we are. Basically, the heater operates on a heat pump, and the warmth depends on the ambient temperature, the colder the air is to start, the hotter the air will get...so on a 65 degree day it just sort of feels luke warm. It should get nice & toasty when the weather turns colder from what they say. Likewise with the steering wheel & seats, they cycle on & off based on ambient temperature, so once they decide it's warm enough in the car they just turn off. Everything is functioning as it should, it's just not what I'm used to.

Of course I feel a little silly hearing that, but it's good news that my car isn't jacked up! I sure hope when it starts getting colder outside the heater keeps up with the cooler temps. I guess only time will tell!