Blackwing

Got my 2002 SC430 in September of 2015 all is good but the drivers seat heat does not work. Passenger side works fine. Both lights come on when the switchs are turned on but no heat on the drivers side. Looked in the manual for separate fuses but no luck. Anyone had a similar problem and got answers or fuse locations? Thanks for any advice.

JohnnyCake

Same situation, although mine works intermittently (mostly not).

There are some threads on this and the upshot is that this is usually caused by a break in the heating grid that is glued into the seat. The repair is next to impossible and a real PITA. If you go to the dealer, they say buy a new seat, which is several thousand dollars and then it won't match the passenger's seat color/wear.

Of course, check the switch first, but you say you are getting a light there, so doubtful that's the problem.

Blackwing

Thanks. I figured as much. Guess I was hoping that the heat element was on a different fuse than the switch.

Harold57

I agree with JohnnyCake.

You can also look for a used seat but then it is kind of a crap shoot as to whether the leather color will match (most likely not) and if the element in it is good also (regardless of what the ad states).

JDaveSC430

Agreed with JohnnyCake. My 02 driver seat with 60K started this last year (2014) by working intermittently. After lots of hard work by my Lexus dealer ( switching seats, etc., to check if the working passenger would work on driver's side controller and wiring), they determined it was indeed a break in the embedded heating element. Solution was to replace the top and bottom leather cover with OEM. Luckily, my dealer got it covered through my dealer purchased warranty. Even though black in color, it did not match passenger so I asked dealer to have the passenger re-dyed to match at my cost; they did so and it's a perfect match. They also chipped in $100 of the $200 cost of re-dying.
Cost of seat cover installed would have been almost $3 thousand. Yep, that paid for warranty right there.
Had the car for 5 years before the seat element broke. Dealer says it is just usually age and brittleness of the wiring, and, always the driver's seat for its constant usage.
No other fix except to replace the leather; so sorry!

JohnnyCake

I was told this was not possible. RU saying that the driver's and passengers seat can be swapped?

mrblister

I have 2005 sc430 no issue with this car. My other daily driver a 2004 gx470 with extended warranty same issue the drivers side bottom and back rest did not work they removed the seat and took off leather seat bottom and back and replaced grid . Under warranty would of been expensive

OBP

Same thing happened to my 2005 about 4 years back, Replaced under extended warranty or it would have cost more than $2000. Now got newish leather on drvrs seat and seat back.

JDaveSC430

It isn't possible to switch the seats for use. I should have explained a bit better. They removed both seats and just connected the passenger seat electrically on the driver's side to test the operation of both the console switch ( which lit up for either seat ) and the driver's side under seat controller. When connected temporarily to the driver's seat connections, the heater worked on the passenger seat like it should, so, they knew it was within the driver seat element grid since the controller and switches worked fine.

They hooked both up to the driver's side electrical several times with the same results and they were correct. When they replaced the leather, they showed me the area which had an apparent crack or wear and had become overheated and triggered a safety shut off designed within the grid. It had a darkened area that was surface damaged.