Ventillated Seat Performance Degrade

[mooneywa]

When I purchased my 2015 last August, the ventilated seat on the driver's side worked great. It now seems that it provides less ventilation, and thusly less cooling, than even a couple months ago. I couldn't see anything blocking the vent on the motor and was curious if anyone else has noticed it. I found a thread on here that referenced some people in earlier models having some issues, but no real solutions.

Anyone see this? Notably has anyone had any success at the dealer with this?

 

[terdrocket]

I feel like mine barely works, yet if I turn on the passenger side, it feels like air is coming out like it should.

 

[cru1s3r]

The ventilation in the seats in my '17 LC is very weak (driver AND passenger). I kind of figured that's just the way it is, but when compared to other vehicles I've experienced, these things seem like they aren't even on.

 

[codyaustin5]

I am getting close to taking mine in to have it checked out as very little air comes through mine. On the high position it is very loud and very little air. I recently had a new mustang as a rental which had cooled seats and I actually had to turn it off as it was very cold and blew a lot of air. It was very impressive!

On our GX it cools very nicely and blows cold air.

Seems like the fan is blocked or needs a good cleaning.

 

[NC237]

Ventilated seats in general are less effective. Cooled seats are different. But Toyota/Lexus doesn't do cooled.

However, see if there is improvement by setting the a/c to floor / bi-level. This should blow cool air under the seat near the ventilated seat intake.

Also the blower intake might be clogged or dusty. You can take some compressed air to it.

Someone else posted this- you can see what the parts look like.

 

[mcgaskins]

My buddy has a fancy new Ram 3500 with cooled seats, and when I rode in it after we went wakeboarding and my shorts were still a touch wet, well let's just say the cooling was quite noticeable

 

[Jcruiser5]

I am getting close to taking mine in to have it checked out as very little air comes through mine. On the high position it is very loud and very little air. I recently had a new mustang as a rental which had cooled seats and I actually had to turn it off as it was very cold and blew a lot of air. It was very impressive!

On our GX it cools very nicely and blows cold air.

Seems like the fan is blocked or needs a good cleaning.

We took ours in but they said it was fine. It's very weak. I feel the heat works better but the cooling, forget about it.

 

[Redbull]

Put the AC down to your feet and if your stuff isn't clogged - you will feel very cool

It's not as good as my Explorer and about the same as my Lexus.

That being said I'm still very grateful for this feature, I have one car that doesn't have any form of ventilation and there is a huge difference between driving that and the Landcruiser.

 

[mooneywa]

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like the consensus is that it's not every strong anyways. I did notice that taking the AC off "auto" and putting it both in my face and on my feet seemed to help somewhat.

I had this feature in my last truck which was a '13 F-150. It also seemed to have become less intense as time went on, but it could be I just got used to it and didn't notice a net cooling difference nearly as much.

If anyone find anything else, please keep it coming on here!

 

[NC237]

On the F150s the intake filters get easily clogged. They're also thick and restrict air flow. Rumor is there was a TSB/recall where they changed to different filters.

Check out the pics on page 1 & 2 here>
heated/cooled seats "filter" - Ford F150 Forum - Community of Ford Truck Fans

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like the consensus is that it's not every strong anyways. I did notice that taking the AC off "auto" and putting it both in my face and on my feet seemed to help somewhat.

I had this feature in my last truck which was a '13 F-150. It also seemed to have become less intense as time went on, but it could be I just got used to it and didn't notice a net cooling difference nearly as much.

If anyone find anything else, please keep it coming on here!

 

[mooneywa]

I changed and even tried removing the filter on mine. It wasn't dirty, and there was little difference. I was hoping suddenly I'd be back to noticeable cool, but that wasn't the case unfortunately.

I wonder if just the buildup of every day normal dirt clogs up some of the perforations on the seats where the air comes through. Doesn't sound like an easy job to remove, inspect, or clean.

 

[NC237]

Could just be things in the seat get squished over time. Some cars with perforated seats have a plastic barrier between the leather and the foam cushion. The idea is to prevent spills from being absorbed by the foam. This too can prevent air flow.

Cleaning perforated seats is tedious... Plus you'll never get all of the debris.
Although there isn't much you can do about it without tearing the seat apart.

I use the brush shown here. I also use interdental brushes to clear any visibly blocked holes.



I use the pink size brush.

 

[82SC]

Reviving this thread.
noticed my seat fan isn’t very strong.
It is running because I can hear the fan. And if I lift my back off the seat I can feel the slight breeze.
Seems like the fan isn’t strong enough to push the air when the holes and padding are compressed.
I’ll look for any blockages but wondering if the fan can just be upgraded to a stronger one….hmmmm

 

[jronpaul]

I've had the same issue with my '17. Seat ventilation worked great early on and is now hardly noticeable except for the loud fan noise. One interesting thing I noticed though is if I put my hand in front of the bottom seat vent, it is blowing air OUT. It seems like it should definitely be sucking air IN. Is it possible the fan direction got reversed somehow??

 

[tbisaacs]

I've had the same issue with my '17. Seat ventilation worked great early on and is now hardly noticeable except for the loud fan noise. One interesting thing I noticed though is if I put my hand in front of the bottom seat vent, it is blowing air OUT. It seems like it should definitely be sucking air IN. Is it possible the fan direction got reversed somehow??

if you can turn a wrench you can pull the seats and see what's going on. 4 bolts and you can leave the harness plugged in and tip them up to see what's going on.

 

[NKP Garage]

The ventilated seats in Toyota/Lexus vehicles and SUV's have never been great.

 

[82SC]

Yeah I wondered if there is a way to swap it to a bigger or stronger fan. Wonder if it would be that simple. Or is it the density of the foam….