My seat feels like it is burning up!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by fourleafclover, Dec 11, 2010.

  1. fourleafclover

    fourleafclover Junior Member

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    I have a 2008 Prius that I just purchased about three months ago. It has 12000 miles on it. Everything was fine until about a week ago. Now I have something going on and I have no idea how serious it is. When I start my car, about a minute or two later my driver's side seat starts to heat up. It lasts for about five minutes or so then cools down. It may do it again while I am driving or it may not. When it first started, it was very cold outside and I was wearing a leather coat and I barely noticed it, but today it was about 50 degrees and it felt like the seat was going to burn up.

    I really don't know anything about cars in general and this one in particular. I have no idea if the car is even safe to drive or if it is going to catch fire. Any idea about what is going on, or if I can safely drive it until I am able to get it in to be serviced? On a side note, I have not even had the oil changed yet. Do I need to take this car to a Toyota dealer, or can a regular mechanic work on it?

    Thanks so much for any help. I am supposed to go somewhere tonight but I am staying home because I am afraid to drive my car.
     
    #1 fourleafclover, Dec 11, 2010
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i'm not sure if the gen II had a heated seat option. check the owners manual. look under the seat to see if there are any wires or something the previous owner may have installed. it should be pretty clear under there. whom did you buy it from?
     
    #2 bisco, Dec 11, 2010
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  3. fourleafclover

    fourleafclover Junior Member

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    Thanks for your answer. I bought it from a Toyota Dealer.
     
    #3 fourleafclover, Dec 11, 2010
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i would call the service dept. and run it by them before bringing it in.
     
    #4 bisco, Dec 11, 2010
  5. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    You have leather seats right? I see there's an option for heated seats. There will be a button on the dash somewhere with the picture of a seat on it and waves/lines representing heat on the face of the button.
    What package do you have?
     
    #5 edthefox5, Dec 11, 2010
  6. fourleafclover

    fourleafclover Junior Member

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    I just went out to try to do a bit of detective work. I do not have leather seats and as far as I know there is no button on the dash. What I did find is this: There are black boxes under both seats that have a lot of electical wires. should those be there? There is also a button on the bottom of the side of the seat, where the hard plastic is, that is some sort of seat adjustment. That button does not show up in my owner's manual at all. It has a picture of a seat and some squigly lines, one below the picture of the seat and two above the picture of the seat. Again, I have no idea what this is. Could it be a seat warmer that the previous owner installed? If so, it doesn't work very well! I started the car and waited until it heated up and tried to look under there with a mirror and a flashlight, but I didn't see anything that was obviously wrong.

    My next question: I think that is what it is, I am just guessing of course. If I am right and they are not working properly, is it unsafe to drive the car?

    Thanks again.
     
    #6 fourleafclover, Dec 11, 2010
  7. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Yes thats the seat heater button. I tried to find a picture of that on Google I just saw a second ago but I forgot my exact Goog search wording. Try Googling the hell out of it. You'll find yours.

    Its aftermarket for sure. But most refer to leather seats with that after market. Its about $500. Any paper work in the glove box about it? Try pushing that button and see if it turns off. Is the button lit?
    I see complaints of seat heaters not auto cycling off. If you don't like them they can easily be permanently disconnected I would imagine.
    Maybe dealer. Or a stereo install shop. But yeah if there stuck on all the time it would be unsafe not to mention uncomfortable.
     
    #7 edthefox5, Dec 11, 2010
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  8. fourleafclover

    fourleafclover Junior Member

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    Well, I am embarrassed. I'd have been a lot more embarrassed if I had taken the car into the dealer and they said, "If you turn the switch off on your seat heater you won't have that problem!"

    The good thing is that once I turned it off and tried driving it, when I saw that it wasn't heating up, I was able to go out to the party I was missing. Oh yeah, and we all got a good laugh over it too!
     
    #8 fourleafclover, Dec 12, 2010
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  9. kenmce

    kenmce High Voltage Member

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    The one under the drivers seat is the disc for your GPS and related circuitry. The one under the passenger seat is for the JBL stereo.
     
    #9 kenmce, Dec 13, 2010
  10. fourleafclover

    fourleafclover Junior Member

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    Thanks, I thought they were aftermarket seat heaters.
     
    #10 fourleafclover, Dec 13, 2010
  11. ML Diggs

    ML Diggs Junior Member

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    Congrats on the free seat heaters (or on getting equipment you didn't know you had). I love mine, and I would think in Boston you will love yours too, now that you know the sensation of having wet your pants is totally normal ;-).
     
    #11 ML Diggs, Dec 17, 2010
  12. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    Thank goodness someone thinks it feels like you wet your pants as well! We have them in our Lexus RX350 and I hate them. Everytime they are on it is just such an uncomfortable and disconcerting feeling. The cooled seats however are awesome. :)
     
    #12 2k1Toaster, Dec 17, 2010
  13. ML Diggs

    ML Diggs Junior Member

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    LOL! I must be really sick. I LOVE them. It's all the warmth and relief of wetting your pants with none of the embarrassment or diaper rash.
     
    #13 ML Diggs, Dec 18, 2010
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