Hi everyone. I'm a long time lurker but first time poster. I've learned a lot from reading your posts. Now I have a question of my own. If there's an existing thread to reference, please do; I couldn't find it, but I was struggling a bit with the search.

I have a 2004 LS430 I recently purchased from my father with 114,000 miles, making me the car's third owner. It's a great car and in excellent condition aside from some low-speed dings. I'm determined to keep it in stock, running order.

This car has heated and cooled seats. I've seen some debate on the ways this tech works between various models, so I'll just say that, from what I can tell, my seats cool using blown air, and heat using in-seat mats. I'm basing this entirely on the fact that, in a quiet environment, I can hear the blowers turn on for the cooling function, but not for the heating function.

My issue is that neither the heat nor the cool seem to work all that well. If I turn up the heat all the way on the driver's seat, after a long time I will eventually get a sense that my seat has warmed, but it takes a good 20 minutes to get to that point, and even at its highest setting it's not that warm. Is this typical of the design, or is it likely I have a problem to track down? Passengers tell me the same about the righthand seat, and the indicator lights on the seat temperature controls turn on/off as expected.

For the cool function I can faintly hear a blower, but I have yet to get a sense that the seat has cooled in any way. Again, maybe normal?

Bottom line: how well do these features work when they're in good nick, and where do I start troubleshooting if it sounds like I may have a problem or two?

 

Mt '05 seat heating behaves exactly as you describe. For the seat cooling, I believe there is a filter under the seat for the cold air; make sure it is clean and not clogged. You might need to replace it. I never use the cooled seat function living in western WA but others may have opinions about how it should perform.

 

Thanks, TominPT. I had a look at the under-seat filters, and they're really bad. Probably original. I just ordered a few replacements. Will be interesting to see if that helps, but I think these needed to be done either way.

 

I just toss filters in with a load of laundry, not paying that much for that little, no way
driver side was much dirtier, not much cool, but heat works fine

 

I'll definitely keep and clean the old filters if I can, then start a rotation.

 

My experience is that cooled seat on driver side seat bottom does not work well. Seatback is better and passenger side works better. Could be the cushion is somewhat more crushed? The "ventilated" seats n other cars are much more effective for cooling. I have UL 2005, and at one point the heated seat failed to warm. Dealer said they had to reattach some wire or heat connection (physical warm air blowing? not sure), and the heating has been fine since. Not sure if that is blown or coil-in-the-seats to be honest, but the cooling is not great.