Steering Wheel Heater & Seat Heater suck

[DNAinaGoodWay]

I've used mine a couple of times on my ride in this week. Was 35-40 F out at 5am, and my ride is about 20 min. Steering wheel came right on, guessing about 120 F tops but will try to rig a surface thermometer later. Never felt too hot. Stayed on about 5 min, cycled off for 10, then on again for another 5 until I parked. When off, it never felt cold.

Seat got warm and stayed warm. If they cycle, I haven't noticed. Will pay more attention next time.

 

[Berlino]

Of course, If you pre-heat the cabin, you should never see the 3kW spike. (In 40-degree weather)

I ran the heat at 73F with an outside temperature of 46F and saw the same behavior.

Started out 500W-1.5kW, then after about 15 seconds went to 3.0kW for another 15 seconds. Then dived to 500W and mostly stayed between there and 100W with brief spikes to 1.5kW. I'm guessing the original cabin temp was around 50F.

 

[Klayfish]

If anyone else is experiencing the same issues with the steering wheel heater, give Nissan USA a call. I e-mailed them and received a call back from the Nissan EV Support Team. Didn't even know that existed. They told me to take it to a dealer to have it checked, which is what I figured they'd do. I barely have time to sneeze, so trying to get it to a dealer will be fun...the closest to me is about 20 miles. Regardless, they said they hadn't heard of this complaint before. I've tried my heated wheel several times more and always get the same thing. It gets nice and toasty...lasts for 5-7 minutes then goes cold. It refuses to cycle back on, even after being cold for 15-20 minutes. Only way it'll come back on is if I turn it off for several minutes then turn it back on via the switch. Still love my car and don't want to nitpick, but this is annoying.

The Nissan phone number is 877-664-2738. Tell them it's related to case 12134464. Perhaps if others call them reporting the same problem, Nissan will look into it more.

 

[lion]

If turning the switch off for 10 minutes doesn't do the trick for me. I now run the heater for 3 minutes or so, then turn it off for 5, this allows me to have a somewhat warm experience.

I do plan on talking to my dealer about it, but don't want to give the car up for something they probably won't fix/change.

This thermostat/cycling shenanigans is really frustrating, my Prius never did this, just ran the heater as long as the switch was turned on.

 

[JeremyW]

Unfortunately the thermostat is in the heated wheel itself. In order to change it you'd have to take off the leather wrap. Note that 12's also have a 30 minute timer on it as well. The heat (or lack of) will stop after 30 minutes. The light on the switch will go out to let you know so you can angrily toggle it again. :x

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Nice. Thanks.

Used it the past two mornings without a problem. Comes on toasty warm for 5 min, cycles off for ten, back on for 5 until I park. Same as it always has. Seat warms nicely too. Both do seem moderated if I'm also running heat and defrost.

What's more probable, bad timer or bad thermostat? Did they get a new vendor for the '13s?

And what is the "combination switch" in that diagram?

Wish they would simplify the circuit. Maybe just give us a thermostat control dial, and let us set the heat we want.

 

[lion]

What pisses me off is that we already have a button for low/high for the seats. The thermostat shouldn't be cycling the seat on/off, if it's too hot, I'll change it to low. It's how ever car I have owned so far works, but Nissan just had to mess with this. Still no idea when I can drop the car off, hopefully someone else here will talk to their dealer about it.

 

[Klayfish]

Mine is supposed to go to the dealer tomorrow to have the steering wheel looked at. Hope I have time to get there...it's 20 miles from home and I have to get to work.

 

[ASP]

I just noticed this when I went to use the seat heaters and steering wheel for the first time the other day. It's ridiculous - both the steering wheel and seats get all nice and warm, and then they suddenly turn off or something. My BMW seat is always hot no matter how long I have it on. It definitely needs to be addressed; I would be even more annoyed if I lived in a freezing climate.

 

[Klayfish]

My car is at the Nissan dealer, and they just called. The LEAF tech on staff checked all the Nissan manuals and tested the car. He said the car is functioning as normal. They printed out the page from the Nissan books to give me, so I'll have it later. But essentially they said it's doing what it was designed to do. The also said that if the car senses a temp above 68 degrees, the wheel won't heat at all, even if you turn the button on. I'll post more later, once I pick it up.

They gave me a Nissan Murano as a rental...which I have to pay for up front. I hate SUVs, and it's a fuel hog. You can be sure I'll be reaching back out to Nissan USA for reimbursement.

The dealer also said we should wait for some really cold mornings and then we can see what it does, which I agree with. Still love my car, but if this is how the wheel is designed, this is definitely something that needs correcting on the next gen LEAF.

 

[NYLEAF]

I took delivery of my 2012 SL in January of 2012, so I've already taken my Leaf through two NY winters. What you are all describing is totally normal, unfortunately. The wheel is designed to stop heating once it gets too hot. As the wheel cools down, it starts heating up again. There is a period of time where the wheel becomes cold before it starts heating up again, which is really annoying. With the cloth seats, I can never tell the seat heaters are even on. They are useless to me. At least you folks with the 2013 have the Heat Pump! I typically won't turn on the heat in my car unless it's below 40F outside because I don't want to lose the range.

 

[Klayfish]

The wheel is designed to stop heating once it gets too hot. As the wheel cools down, it starts heating up again.

But it doesn't, and that's what most people on this thread are complaining about. Mine cools down and never heats up again. It stays cold. The only way to get it to come back on is to shut it off for several minutes, then turn it back on and maybe it'll come on.

 

[garsh]

The wheel is designed to stop heating once it gets too hot. As the wheel cools down, it starts heating up again.

But it doesn't

It does. Keep waiting.

Not that I enjoy this feature - I too wish it would just keep heating. But it does eventually kick back on. I need to pay closer attention, but I think it will do two heating/cooldown cycles before it completely shuts off (ie the switch light goes off).

 

[Nubo]

But essentially they said it's doing what it was designed to do.

Yep. The design sucks. It's not a problem with your car. They're all that way.

 

[knightarmor]

I'm curious as to why you need the steering wheel heater on for more than two minutes? I had mine on for a couple of minutes at most and that's all I needed, the cabin stayed toasty warm during my 45 minute commute with the heater on :roll:

 

[LeftieBiker]

I'm curious as to why you need the steering wheel heater on for more than two minutes? I had mine on for a couple of minutes at most and that's all I needed, the cabin stayed toasty warm during my 45 minute commute with the heater on :roll:

There two answers to that: some of us don't want to have to keep the whole cabin extra warm just to have warm hands, and some of us also have poor circulation that makes for cold hands (and feet) even in a fairly warm car. It's a shame there isn't a good foot warmer available for cars...

 

[JeremyW]

I'm curious as to the idea of replacing the thermostat. Yes you would have to remove the leather wrap to get to it. Wonder how much it would be to get it put back on.

 

[garsh]

I'm curious as to why you need the steering wheel heater on for more than two minutes?

There two answers to that: some of us don't want to have to keep the whole cabin extra warm just to have warm hands, and some of us also have poor circulation that makes for cold hands (and feet) even in a fairly warm car. It's a shame there isn't a good foot warmer available for cars...

Exactly. If I want to make my 60-mile round-trip commute in cold weather, I can't run the heater too much. I wear a heavy coat, hat, and gloves, and make use of the seat & steering wheel heaters.

 

[Klayfish]

I'm curious as to why you need the steering wheel heater on for more than two minutes? I had mine on for a couple of minutes at most and that's all I needed, the cabin stayed toasty warm during my 45 minute commute with the heater on :roll:

There two answers to that: some of us don't want to have to keep the whole cabin extra warm just to have warm hands, and some of us also have poor circulation that makes for cold hands (and feet) even in a fairly warm car. It's a shame there isn't a good foot warmer available for cars...

This. I'm actually normally a very warm person, I sweat easily. But the one part of my body that does get cold is my hands. So the heated wheel is nice. Would be great if it stayed warm. Doesn't need to be hot, but at least lukewarm.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

I'm curious as to the idea of replacing the thermostat. Yes you would have to remove the leather wrap to get to it. Wonder how much it would be to get it put back on.

What about jumping the timer out of the circuit?