LS460 Heated seats

[abdallian]

Hi Guys.  Needed some help again. I have just recently bought a 2006 LS460 SEL from a main dealer and so has 1 year extended warranty. I'm having an issue with the front heated seats. They turn on just fine but after 15 minutes switch off. They then don't come back on until either switched off or car restarted. Now this to me seems to be a problem. I discussed it with the Lexus dealer and he seems to think this is what is meant to happen. He says that the seats acclimatise with the interior temperature of the car and then switch off. Now I owned the same model a few years ago and don't remember this being the case. I just traded in an LS430 after 3 years ownership and it definitely was not the case with that car. Also the rear heated seats remain on during the duration of the journey. I understand the newer LS model has climate concierge where the temperature alters according to passenger temperature but even there I don't think the seats are meant to switch off. Before I reply back to the dealer, wanted to know what the other LS460/600h owners are experiencing. Many thanks in advance

[NemesisUK]

From the owner's handbook for my RC ...

"Seat heater timer control
To enable seat heater timer control, press and hold the driver and front passenger seat
heater switches at the same time when the vehicle is stopped until a buzzer sounds once.
If a seat heater is turned on while seat heater timer control is enabled, the intensity of the
seat heater will automatically change from Hi→Mid→Lo.
The timing of the change in seat heater intensity differs depending on the temperature
inside the cabin, etc. when the seat heater is operating.
To disable seat heater timer control, press and hold the driver and front passenger seat
heater switches at the same time until a buzzer sounds twice."

I wonder if it's the same for your model? No mention regarding having to switch off before being able to use again though?

[steve2006]

There was also a topic some time ago where the owner had the same problem and even after Lexus had replaced the heating elements under warranty the fault was still present, from what I remember the cause was eventually traced to a faulty relay.

Try as Peter suggests first and if the problem persists I will try and find the thread concerned.

[cruisermark]

hi the members name is mr2lad if you need to find the thread

[abdallian]

thanks for the suggestions guys. I have read that thread which seems to suggest that this isn't normal behaviour. I'll have a go at your suggestion Peter and feedback. Would be good to hear from LS460/600 owners and what their real life experiences are. 

[abdallian]

Pressing the heater buttons produces no response so I guess that has nothing to do with it

[Tulpen]

I've got a 2007 460.........I have never experienced this problem, if I select the heated seats on they stay on until I de-select them. Trying to think logically, the seats have variable heat (or cool) settings, therefore there must be some sort of thermostatic control. Steve's suggestion of a relay problem sounds very likely. Try selecting various temps and see if that makes any difference.

[abdallian]

thanks Brian. i thought so. It's still under warranty and the dealer has agreed to look at it in a couple of weeks. hopefully will get sorted

[mr2lad]

I wondered why my ears where getting burning hot unlike your seat coz my name mentioned  (sorry i just had too)

yes my seat initially worked fine when i bought car but a year later started to heat up then just blew cool air up my jacksy after 10mins and like you described wouldnt heat up till car restarted but again 10mins later no heat,

lexus replaced heated seat leather with element but again didn't operate correctly so sent back and fault ended up being a relay, all covered by my warranty 

 

[abdallian]

I hope they change my heated seat leather 1st too. that would be a real bonus

[abdallian]

Can anyone make any sense of this document. Took the car into Lexus and they noted heater going off and decided to discuss with Lexus tech who forwarded this document to them. They are saying that no error code was detected with the seat heater

Seat Heater Information LS460-SE-L.pdf

[mr2lad]

The was no error codes for mine either but after replacing seat element (and leather as all 1 part) it still didnt work and again no error codes stored anywhere, took back to lexus and upon further investigation it was the relay (even tho i had pointed this out to them the first time they ignored me and fitted a £1350 + vat element instead of a £10-20 relay... hayho there loss and my gain of a new leather seat lol

[abdallian]

I think I may have been wrong all along. Lexus state that the front seats have climate control so they warm up to a specific temperature and then switch off and then the climate control maintains that temperature. This is independent of the AC climate control. So drove to Birmingham yesterday and it was cold and I noticed that they were right. The seat was maintained at a certain temperature and turned on and off during the 2 hour journey. Since I'd been doing short journeys prior, I probably kept getting to the end of the journey as they were going off. Also I've noticed the front passenger seat goes warm and then switches off. It then doesn't go back on unless someone is seated on it. Maybe it has a sensor in it to detect that. The rear bench remains warm irrespective but apparently that's not connected to the climate control system. Perhaps I got confused coming from an LS430 as the seats in that don't do this. Anyhow I have a year left on the warranty. Will continue to monitor the situation and will speak to the dealer if I feel they are misbehaving. Thanks for all the input