Heated Seat Light Issue

[CAW]

Hi All -

I have a 2011 Cruiser.... One of the heated seat lights on the center console above the control switch- is staying on - even when the truck is off and the heated seats are off.

I hope this is a gremlin that will work itself out. That said - I wanted to check in and see if anyone else has had this problem or has any advice.

I'm aware of the window leak leading to electrical problems issue. I've looked under the dash and haven't noticed any moisture or stains

Thanks in advance!

A

 

[GordJ]

Check the electrical panels behind the kick plates ahead of the doors. That’s where mine were corroded when the sunroof drains were plugged and my seat heater light came on as the first symptom

 

[CAW]

Thanks for the advice! How did you unplug those drains? I'll check that too...

A

 

[GordJ]

Thanks for the advice! How did you unplug those drains? I'll check that too...

A

I have a friend with a body shop. He just blew them out wit his air hose. I have seen comments about how that could displace the hose and fishing line was suggested but I’m going with the body shop guys’ method. Pour water in around the sun roof to confirm that water runs through the drains on to the floor.

 

[CAW]

Went to a friends shop... Sunroof drain lines are clear and there doesn't appear to be a leak in the windshield. Didn't see any corrosion under the panel .or signs of moisture Hoping it is just a bad switch...

A

 

[drewdat]

Went to a friends shop... Sunroof drain lines are clear and there doesn't appear to be a leak in the windshield. Didn't see any corrosion under the panel .or signs of moisture Hoping it is just a bad switch...

A

Im having this same issue. Did you ever figure it out?

 

[TimCFJ40]

I had this issue, along with a missing knob on the heater module. I ordered a new heater switch module and it fixed the problem. They're pricey from the dealer, but can be had on ebay direct from China for about $40 if you can wait 4-6 weeks for delivery.

 

[ranger474]

Another quick and easy way to declog drain plugs is to use a edge trimmer tool string line, cut the length to your preference and viola! Works like a charm, cheap and easy.

 

[CAW]

@drewdat I never figured out the problem... It stopped. I don't have any water issues that I can find. It has happened one other time - but stops after a couple of days. Electronic gremlins...

 

[lx200inAR]

@ranger474 Were you able to fish the trimmer line all the way to the frame at the bottom of the vehicle. I was only able to get my line to go about a foot past the top of the fender. Basing this on how much string i was able to get to go into the sunroof drain. Maybe i should try fishing on the other side to see if i can get any further.

 

[ranger474]

@ranger474 Were you able to fish the trimmer line all the way to the frame at the bottom of the vehicle. I was only able to get my line to go about a foot past the top of the fender. Basing this on how much string i was able to get to go into the sunroof drain. Maybe i should try fishing on the other side to see if i can get any further.

Your best bet would be to open moonroof, work trimmer line up&down in drain plugs, then take a small water bottle and pour a little into the drain, see if it drains properly outside, instead of pooling under door sill, especially on the passenger side.

 

[lx200inAR]

Your best bet would be to open moonroof, work trimmer line up&down in drain plugs, then take a small water bottle and pour a little into the drain, see if it drains properly outside, instead of pooling under door sill, especially on the passenger side.

Sorry, I wasn’t clear in my original post. I was fishing from the top towards the bottom. I just wasn’t sure if I should expect to get the trimmer line all the way to the lower frame? I wouldn’t expect it to come out the bottom where you can see it, but I know I did not get enough line in to get down to the frame. Also, I did pour water in the sunroof drain and it came out the bottom very quickly. So it seems okay, but I’m not sure what the failure mode of disconnected/split tube would be. Possibly water still flows as normal, but also splashes or spreads to other undesirable locations.

 

[Nooooooooob1]

I’ve got this problem as of this morning.

Passenger seater heater light will not go out. Even with the car fully shut down. Light stays on. The actual seat heater does not appear to be hot so it seems to just be the light.

From my 4Runner days I know that the light and actual heater are on different circuits so pulling the seat heater fuse will not help. So I’m guessing this is simply a seat heater controller fault?

Just don’t want it to drain my battery if it sits there all day like that.

Edit: Adding a photo of the schematic. This makes no sense. How is the light even getting power?

 

[Nooooooooob1]

The seat itself always has power. It just gets a signal from the switching module to activate.

Could the passenger seat heater controller be sending voltage back to the switch? Would make sense that only the passenger side light is on because the diodes would prevent the voltage from reaching the drivers side light. And there's an unrestricted path to ground from the pass side light.

Edit: I take it back because the seats also only have power when the vehicle in on/running.....

 

[cruiseroutfit]

The seat itself always has power. It just gets a signal from the switching module to activate.

Could the passenger seat heater controller be sending voltage back to the switch? Would make sense that only the passenger side light is on because the diodes would prevent the voltage from reaching the drivers side light. And there's an unrestricted path to ground from the pass side light.

Edit: I take it back because the seats also only have power when the vehicle in on/running.....

Did you ever sort this out?

My 2008 started doing the same thing today. The light on the switch stays dimly lit for my passenger side and my passenger side seat heat control module getting hot.

So I removed the PS/RH seat heater module (87501-60010/87501-60060/87501-48020) and opened it up and it has a fried circuit board.

But, like you, my light stays dimly lit even with the module fully removed on that side. So odd. Where is the switch getting power to illuminate that light?

 

[JohnJB]

Did you ever sort this out?

My 2008 started doing the same thing today. The light on the switch stays dimly lit for my passenger side and my passenger side seat heat control module getting hot.

So I removed the PS/RH seat heater module (87501-60010/87501-60060/87501-48020) and opened it up and it has a fried circuit board.

But, like you, my light stays dimly lit even with the module fully removed on that side. So odd. Where is the switch getting power to illuminate that light?

Hey Kurt, I believe had the same issue that you and the other member described in my 2011. The passenger side seat heater light would stay lit. We pulled every dang fuse you’d think could send power to the thing and it never went off. So clearly I don’t understand how it gets power. I ended up replacing the switch itself, 84751-60191. The crazy part is when we plugged in the replacement switch, the dang passenger side light illuminated! So I turned the switch on and off, and that got the light to finally go out. Haven’t have had an issue for two years now. Maybe this helps, maybe it doesn’t. It all felt like witchcraft to me.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Hey Kurt, I believe had the same issue that you and the other member described in my 2011. The passenger side seat heater light would stay lit. We pulled every dang fuse you’d think could send power to the thing and it never went off. So clearly I don’t understand how it gets power. I ended up replacing the switch itself, 84751-60191. The crazy part is when we plugged in the replacement switch, the dang passenger side light illuminated! So I turned the switch on and off, and that got the light to finally go out. Haven’t have had an issue for two years now. Maybe this helps, maybe it doesn’t. It all felt like witchcraft to me.

That does sounds like witchcraft and I'll take it

I have a spare seat heater switch here at the shop or home somewhere. My 200 came with the knobs missing so I grabbed a replacement. Now to find it and test it.

 

[camino70]

Hey Kurt, I believe had the same issue that you and the other member described in my 2011. The passenger side seat heater light would stay lit. We pulled every dang fuse you’d think could send power to the thing and it never went off. So clearly I don’t understand how it gets power. I ended up replacing the switch itself, 84751-60191. The crazy part is when we plugged in the replacement switch, the dang passenger side light illuminated! So I turned the switch on and off, and that got the light to finally go out. Haven’t have had an issue for two years now. Maybe this helps, maybe it doesn’t. It all felt like witchcraft to me.

I started having this issue. I had a Chinese switch (for the knobs), and the light stayed... It's lit like normal, not dim.
I have noticed if I turn the passenger seat on/off after shutting the truck off, the light will go out for some time, otherwise it stays lit.

 

[Ponny]

Just had this problem on my 2011. After replacing the switch with an OEM one, the light stayed on still even after turning it on and off several times.

Took apart the passenger kick panel, inspected the connector mentioned in previous posts, and found corrosion.

The light finally went off after cleaning off the corrosion with contact cleaner. Snaked the moonroof drain holes with grass trimmer line and applied dielectric grease to the connector to hopefully prevent this from happening again.

Thanks to everyone for all the helpful tips.