There are floor vents for the AC/Heater system directly under the front seats. The floor vents are for the rear passengers feet, generally used when the heater is on. I remember a thread in the 2IS forum (can't find it) where people in hot areas were buying a small piece of ducting and hooking it up to the floor duct on one side, and redirecting the air directly into the front seat fans. With the AC on and going to the feet, people reported greatly improved seat cooling.

 

I found the posts detailing the mod.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...eats-easy.html

 

That is correct !!!!! By blowing out cold air for the feet it also gets blown up your bum and back based on where the seats fans are located. It works great, and today is going to be 114 degrees so I will need to have my bum and back cooled off.

 

First time seeing this thread. Thought I was crazy. Glad I'm not the only person. Misery loves company.

 

Thanks for this. I did not even think about vents being under the seat. I'm certainly going to look into this. I don't transport people in the back, but if I do they can live without AC on their feet. I never even used the bi-level until I started having this issue.

I'm sure that I'll still have to fix whatever causes the heat in the shoulder blade area though... unless the colder air is able to prevent the fan motors from overheating, if that's the cause.

 

i tried this and it works! The shoulder are is still warmer than the rest of the seat but it is MUCH better than before. In my case, I used an iPhone box with one side removed to redirect the airflow upwards into the seat.

 

Even owner's on this message board will downplay the frustration level of an owner with this problem! Someone will say "no big deal," another person will ask "how much do you weigh." Unless you have this issue (I do), you really don't fully understand the frustration of having a $50k car with a feature that you don't use because it is BROKEN!!!! Even the article detailing the new RC last year said that the cooling seats "do not work as intended." But still nothing.

It is not as easy as telling your dealer. First of all, they think you don't know what you are talking about and they also assume you do not know how to "properly" use the feature. Because the percentage of BROKEN units are pretty small, the chances of getting this fixed is slim to none.

Gearhead--you say "What you all have to remember is that there are only fans in the seat, and it only picks up the surrounding air. If you use bi-level at the coldest setting, and have the fan set to a 3 or 4 you can now feel the cold air coming out of the seat." How does this address the actual hot air blowing out of the middle of the back when the ambient air is cooled? You even measured it coming out at 80 degrees! I know you are relatively satisfied now with the feature, but I can't figure out how that happened? You were one of the first owners to prove these seats has major issues with cooling.

It's not about the money....it's about Lexus selling me a feature that has been tried and true in many vehicles for decades now without issue, and not acknowledging that there is a problem.

I would love to have this feature...I was excited when I bought it and even more surprised when not only did it not work, it BLEW OUT EVEN HOTTER AIR!!!!!!!!!!! I thought I was nuts until I found this message board.

:/

 

Before all I used was the system on blowing out towards my face, upper vents only, now I use the bi-level, and it is better but not perfect. I still have the warm air at the spot I measured when I switch to upper vents only. It's a compromise that I deal with. I get the same BS from the dealer about how do you know what you are talking about. When I drove my custom 65 Mustang Fastback to the dealer, and all the managers and techs came out to look at it, and they asked who built it. I told them I did, every freaking nut and bolt. They don't ask me how do I know any more.

 

Now the problem is that my feet get cold in order for the rest of me to be comfortable. I guess I need to block the vents at my feet now, lol...

 

Haha, this is hilarious now.

Also I don't think the European cars have cooling seats until recently? ?? Yes, the European cars had heated seats way back, but cooling seats? IDK.

 

I have the same problem on a 17 RC350. Seat ventilator on with ac running on a 90 degree day. Top tuft near shoulder blades heats up hot on both driver and passenger seats if each is turned to high (3 green lights).
I have seen this problem posted ion IS 350's. Is there a Lexus fix for this?

 

I'm guessing since the number of units having this problem is so small and replicating the problem isn't consistent, even Lexus headquarters didn't know of this issue until I emailed them about it and this thread.
I'm one of the lucky ones that doesn't have this problem.

 

I have a 2015 RCF and the seat (cooling) ventilation is a joke. I addressed this to the dealer and Lexus 2 years ago and nothing. I was under the impression that there was some kind actual cooling was going to take place. Wrong, the only thing that happens is hot air from the cabin on warm days is redistributed to the upper and lower portions of the seat. My seat is actually warmer with them on than off.

 

I also have this issue. The cooling is supplied by a fan underneath the seat. The back or upper portion of the seat is heated electrically. I pulled the two fuses, inside the cabin, for the heated seats. I will reinstall the fuses come winter time. The fuses are very very hard to remove as they are spaced too close together.

 

there's a fuse puller in the engine bay fuse box. works wonders.