Electrical issue; seat heaters?

[Quetico]

Has anyone had electrical issues from using aftermarket seat heaters? I am having an issue with the head unit and gauge cluster shorting out at times. The dealership is blaming the aftermarket seat heaters, after initially stating that they were plugged into a separate system.

Here's the run down of my issue:

Purchased truck new in May 2012.

Installed aftermarket seat heaters in April 2013. This was done by a dealership in CO, by a tech that does only seat heater installs, so he was qualified.

Starting in fall 2013, when driving the truck the head unit would occasionally short out by turning off/on really quickly. This happened about ~6 times.

Now in 2014, the head unit would short out, but now so would the gauge cluster. The whole dash would go dark, and then come back on. The problem has become fairly frequent. This almost always happens when I am braking at a red light or stop sign. The engine does not turn off when this happens.

Took it to the dealership here in MI last week. They couldn't duplicate the error or find any issues, so they sent me on my way.

The problem is predictable now, so I made a cell phone video and took it back to the dealership this week. They reportedly couldn't find anything wrong with it, so they are unplugging the seat heaters as a solution. This sucks because it's 10* here every day.

I know there are thousands of Toyotas running around out there with aftermarket seat heaters. What do you guys think? Should I write off the seat heaters, or could there be another issue here?

 

[N/A]

if they installed them shouldn't they back them?

 

[eddiebx]

Has anyone had electrical issues from using aftermarket seat heaters? I am having an issue with the head unit and gauge cluster shorting out at times. The dealership is blaming the aftermarket seat heaters, after initially stating that they were plugged into a separate system.

Here's the run down of my issue:

Purchased truck new in May 2012.

Installed aftermarket seat heaters in April 2013. This was done by a dealership in CO, by a tech that does only seat heater installs, so he was qualified.

Starting in fall 2013, when driving the truck the head unit would occasionally short out by turning off/on really quickly. This happened about ~6 times.

Now in 2014, the head unit would short out, but now so would the gauge cluster. The whole dash would go dark, and then come back on. The problem has become fairly frequent. This almost always happens when I am braking at a red light or stop sign. The engine does not turn off when this happens.

Took it to the dealership here in MI last week. They couldn't duplicate the error or find any issues, so they sent me on my way.

The problem is predictable now, so I made a cell phone video and took it back to the dealership this week. They reportedly couldn't find anything wrong with it, so they are unplugging the seat heaters as a solution. This sucks because it's 10* here every day.

I know there are thousands of Toyotas running around out there with aftermarket seat heaters. What do you guys think? Should I write off the seat heaters, or could there be another issue here?

Has disconnecting the heater resolved the problem? From what you describe, it sounds like a loose connector or wire that's ever so slightly making contact (and loosing contact when you brake). Unfortunately, the only way to find that is to physically look for it, lol :tape:

 

[Quetico]

Has disconnecting the heater resolved the problem? From what you describe, it sounds like a loose connector or wire that's ever so slightly making contact (and loosing contact when you brake). Unfortunately, the only way to find that is to physically look for it, lol :tape:

So far, yes, it has. Although I haven't had it back too long, so the jury's still out. I'm going to have to find another installer that can go looking for it. There's no reason that I know of why aftermarket seat heaters wouldn't work in this vehicle.

@ N/A, they didn't install them, another dealer out in CO did. So they've taken the stance that "all aftermarket products are going to cause problems."