Ramp up weak 4th gen seat heaters?
- Thread starter Enigma 4
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gaterose
Senior Member
I know this doesn't really help you, but my '03 limited seat heaters DO heat your lower back. Just this afternoon I had to turn mine off cuz my lower back was getting too hot.
Wonder if yours is broken or they changed it on newer models.
edit- In fact my seats work tremendously, no matter how cold it is after a while I always end up turning it down because it feels like it's burning my back.
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Enigma 4
New member
I wondered the same thing...According to other posts I've read here on the forum, there seems to be a varying degree of satisfaction with the 4th gen heaters, so that might be the question I should have asked...Are the heaters different according to the year of the vehicle, or does the quality degrade over the life of the vehicle?
gaterose
Senior Member
Can't comment on different years, but mine is an '03 with 205K miles so I don't think age is the issue.
Enigma 4
New member
Wow...Are yours leather or cloth? That seems to make a difference, too. Mostly the people with leather (like mine) are the ones complaining.
gaterose
Senior Member
Mine are leather
gshadow325
New member
age is not the issue. wear and tear is the issue. A heated seat is just a thin piece of wire in one continuous web loop that gets shorted out, thus creating heat. if there is a break in the wire, or several breaks in the web. it will make the seat heater less and less efficient.
in my seat repair thread, last picture will show a seat heater element broken. i tried to repair it but it crapped out before winter hit. i have since replaced drivers seat element and added in rear seat heaters too for my rear passengers
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-g...-seat-$0-00-repair-priceless.html#post1364496
rear heated seats, give you a idea on how the seat elements work and look like. its the same stuff i used on my front seats.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/157159-diy-mod-how-add-rear-heated-seats.html
My 07' Limited heated seats work ok. Mostly warms up the tushy. I really don't feel any heat at all in upper/lower back regions.
But damn almighty can the HVAC system blow some heat!!
My girlfriend has a 2013 VW Jetta with heated leather seats, and they start a fire on your butt. The amount of heat generated is very intense. They warm up your back and lower back quite nice. But I don't feel heat in the upper back region.
But damn almighty can the HVAC system blow some heat!!
My girlfriend has a 2013 VW Jetta with heated leather seats, and they start a fire on your butt. The amount of heat generated is very intense. They warm up your back and lower back quite nice. But I don't feel heat in the upper back region.
Enigma 4
New member
Thanks! I will check these out. It seems odd that wear and tear would be the problem in this vehicle...It has 118,000 miles, but was garaged all its one owner life and appears to have been very gently driven. The lady I bought it from was a school teacher and seemed to baby it. The seats don't appear to have much wear at all. All that aside, thanks for your reply. This will give me ideas to begin my first mod.
TRDCal
New member
That's funny because the lower back isn't heated on mine and I always though that was a bit stupid. I wonder if its broken. Oddly enough my heater is feeling weak too. It use to get uncomfortably hot if I left it on the high setting for a while, this year its on high and I forget about it. I can feel heat but not like it use to be.
H20skier70
New member
Mine is pretty weak too. But I can feel it on my lower back. My wife says its the same on the passenger side as well.
