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Climate controlled seats not heating seat back


bigal2946k

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I recently traded in a 2014 Equinox LTZ on a 2017 Edge Titanium.  My 'Nox had heated seats, and the seat bottom and seat back both got warmed nicely by this function.  I'm disappointed that my Edge does not warm the seat backs at all!  Is this normal?  The owner's manual does not discuss this. 

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6 hours ago, bigal2946k said:

I recently traded in a 2014 Equinox LTZ on a 2017 Edge Titanium.  My 'Nox had heated seats, and the seat bottom and seat back both got warmed nicely by this function.  I'm disappointed that my Edge does not warm the seat backs at all!  Is this normal?  The owner's manual does not discuss this. 


Hmm, good question! I have a 2020 Edge ST now and have had 2 Fusion Titaniums ('14 & '17) and a 2017 Explorer and can't say I've ever paid attention. I will say that Ford's heated seats get so hot so fast that I rarely leave them on for very long after the car has warmed up. My question would be have you turned on the passenger seat and checked that to see if it exhibits the same behavior? I'll have to check mine soon and get back to you.
TT

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I assume you also have the cooled seats.  In that case the heat is provided by the fan and not by a heating element in the seat.  So they won't get super hot and it takes a few minutes.  If they aren't getting hot at all then that might be a defect.  There was a TSB for the cooling function but it may apply to heat as well since it involves the fan ducts into the seatback.  Worth a question at the dealer.

 

Also - the back won't get very cold either if you have cooling for the same reason - poor airflow.  Not much you can do about it - Ford has done all they're going to do.

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10 hours ago, akirby said:

I assume you also have the cooled seats.  In that case the heat is provided by the fan and not by a heating element in the seat.  So they won't get super hot and it takes a few minutes.  If they aren't getting hot at all then that might be a defect.  There was a TSB for the cooling function but it may apply to heat as well since it involves the fan ducts into the seatback.  Worth a question at the dealer.

 

Also - the back won't get very cold either if you have cooling for the same reason - poor airflow.  Not much you can do about it - Ford has done all they're going to do.

 

Yes akirby is right if your seats have both heat/cool functions then the heating does take a while to warm up vs. heated only seats.  I've had it on 2016 MKX, 2017 MKX and 2018 Edge all with heated/cooled front seats and both functions take a while to have any noticeable effect.  Our MKX's also had heated rear seats and they do heat up much faster than the front seats because there's no fan just an element.  With that said the front seats do heat the backrest a little bit as well as the seat bottom but the back is nowhere near as intense.  I would say heat distribution is about about 75% bottom and 25% back.  If you're wearing a jacket you may not even feel the heat on the back its not that noticeable.

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Thanks for the replies!  I do have the heated/cooled seats.  I checked more carefully today and found the upper seatbacks do warm up a bit and the seat bottoms much more and faster.  I'd agree its about 75/25. I can hear the blowers working on heating the seat backs.   The driver's and passenger seats were warmed identically.

What I'll really miss is having good heat in the lumbar area, which after 10 minutes had not warmed at all.  My 'Nox was toasty in the lumbar and my wife ran her seat warmer even in summer, it was like a heating pad.  The 'Nox had heat only.

On my Edge I could not hear a blower in the seat bottom, just the back.  I'm guessing the bottom is heated by an element and the back from some other source.  Might the back be heated by air blown across a heater core nearby using engine coolant?  That might explain why it takes longer to warm up.

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23 minutes ago, bigal2946k said:

Thanks for the replies!  I do have the heated/cooled seats.  I checked more carefully today and found the upper seatbacks do warm up a bit and the seat bottoms much more and faster.  I'd agree its about 75/25. I can hear the blowers working on heating the seat backs.   The driver's and passenger seats were warmed identically.

What I'll really miss is having good heat in the lumbar area, which after 10 minutes had not warmed at all.  My 'Nox was toasty in the lumbar and my wife ran her seat warmer even in summer, it was like a heating pad.  The 'Nox had heat only.

On my Edge I could not hear a blower in the seat bottom, just the back.  I'm guessing the bottom is heated by an element and the back from some other source.  Might the back be heated by air blown across a heater core nearby using engine coolant?  That might explain why it takes longer to warm up.


I'd be dumbfounded if your seats don't warm up fast. My prior Fusion and my current Edge got way hot quite fast. I have to turn them on low or off altogether when getting into the car after it's warmed up. Then again, we had a really mild winter this year so I'll have to wait and see what happens next year. Enjoy your Edge!

TT

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9 hours ago, TobyTime said:


I'd be dumbfounded if your seats don't warm up fast. My prior Fusion and my current Edge got way hot quite fast. I have to turn them on low or off altogether when getting into the car after it's warmed up. Then again, we had a really mild winter this year so I'll have to wait and see what happens next year. Enjoy your Edge!

TT

 

Do you have the standard heated seats or heated and cooled?   Different mechanisms altogether.  The regular heated seats with the element heats up fast.   The fan version takes longer.

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7 minutes ago, akirby said:

 

Do you have the standard heated seats or heated and cooled?   Different mechanisms altogether.  The regular heated seats with the element heats up fast.   The fan version takes longer.


Heated & Cooled, current Edge and last 2 Fusions.

TT

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21 hours ago, bigal2946k said:

Thanks for the replies!  I do have the heated/cooled seats.  I checked more carefully today and found the upper seatbacks do warm up a bit and the seat bottoms much more and faster.  I'd agree its about 75/25. I can hear the blowers working on heating the seat backs.   The driver's and passenger seats were warmed identically.

What I'll really miss is having good heat in the lumbar area, which after 10 minutes had not warmed at all.  My 'Nox was toasty in the lumbar and my wife ran her seat warmer even in summer, it was like a heating pad.  The 'Nox had heat only.

On my Edge I could not hear a blower in the seat bottom, just the back.  I'm guessing the bottom is heated by an element and the back from some other source.  Might the back be heated by air blown across a heater core nearby using engine coolant?  That might explain why it takes longer to warm up.

 

Well if you're looking for a faster+hotter seats get yourself into a 2020 Aviator as your next vehicle!   The front seats on my Aviator (heated/cooled) heat up very fast (less than 2 min) and get quite hot at level 3 (highest) almost to the point of uncomfortable.  They definitely heat the entire backrest and I can feel the heat even with a jacket on.  Maybe because I ordered the "Roast" interior they tuned the settings higher than normal to roast you.....

 

There's definitely no engine coolant involved in seat heating everything is powered electrically.  Just look under the seat and you'll see only wiring harnesses no coolant lines.

 

If you find the heating function on your Edge to be mediocre, wait till you try the "cooling" you will be disappointed!  Barely a breath of air comes through the bottom and back even on high setting, at least that's what I found on our MKXs/Edges.

 

How's your heated steering wheel?  If you have Edge Titanium that should be standard.  I found at least the heated wheel works well in the Edge and MKX, not as great in Fusion but definitely better than nothing on a cold day.

 

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3 hours ago, rampagex7 said:

 

Well if you're looking for a faster+hotter seats get yourself into a 2020 Aviator as your next vehicle!   The front seats on my Aviator (heated/cooled) heat up very fast (less than 2 min) and get quite hot at level 3 (highest) almost to the point of uncomfortable.  They definitely heat the entire backrest and I can feel the heat even with a jacket on.  Maybe because I ordered the "Roast" interior they tuned the settings higher than normal to roast you.....

 

There's definitely no engine coolant involved in seat heating everything is powered electrically.  Just look under the seat and you'll see only wiring harnesses no coolant lines.

 

If you find the heating function on your Edge to be mediocre, wait till you try the "cooling" you will be disappointed!  Barely a breath of air comes through the bottom and back even on high setting, at least that's what I found on our MKXs/Edges.

 

How's your heated steering wheel?  If you have Edge Titanium that should be standard.  I found at least the heated wheel works well in the Edge and MKX, not as great in Fusion but definitely better than nothing on a cold day.

 

 

The heated seats and steering wheel in my 2020 Edge ST get uncomfortably hot quickly, not sure if the seat part is thanks to the partial leather/partial miko? The cooled seats in all my Fords have also been very sufficient to the point that it starts to feel like my pants are wet, which is soooo odd.

 

I live in Western Michigan, do some of you live in more extreme areas like further North or the deep South?

TT

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I don't have the heated steering wheel.  For 2017 that's part of the "Cold Weather Package" I don't have ... which would include just the heated wheel and front & rear floor liners, which I'm guessing are deep rubber mats.  Maybe I'll buy a set of WeatherTech or similar come fall.

I haven't peeked under the seats yet, but if there are only wiring harnesses they must use thermoelectric cooling in the seats.

As for the Aviator, since I just got the Edge (under 27k miles) I'll not be making a change for some time unless I find this is a lemon.  I plan to drive this into the ground, like I did my 1993 and 2003 Explorers.  Well, the 2003 is not quite in the ground yet.  Wife uses it as her winter car and drives a 2012 Fusion the rest of the year.

Poor me.  I just got the Edge a few weeks ago, just before the stay-at-home orders in Michigan, and I've barely put on 100 miles.  But it looks great in my garage.  Ha.  Ugh.

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  • 4 months later...

Is there a definitive answer on this topic? I just got a 2019 Titanium with the AC seats and have spent a few hours driving it... the seat bottoms get nice and cool after a short while however my drivers side seat back actually feels like it gets warmer while the AC Seats are on. Should the seat backs be cooled or just the bottoms? Thanks!

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