Factory Heated Seats Failure

just to show

 

now we have the login and password!!

 

I wouldn't even worry about it, just do with out it. Gotta live hard to be hard.

 

Ya I would be talking with toyota...thats a fire in the making. They should be aware of issue you had. Id have a nice talk with the manager/owner of the dealership you purchased from 1st. Be nice and give them an out. If that doesnt work go up the ladder.

If that happened while plugged in solidly that connector is not up to the amps the heater is drawing. IMHO

 

I searched all over but can’t find it now - recently there was a red totalled 2016(?) that someone’s parting out here on TW listings - I don’t know what the seats have in them but it may be worth checking out..

 

On second thought, you are right- OP should not buy any parts and should just report back to Toyota to get a free fix, even if its past warranty, as it could be a “pants on fire ” issue for Toyota.

 

I am an electrical engineer, but have little experience with PCB's. I can trace a single layer board, but that's about it. The harness all seemed to be in good shape. No burns, besides the one terminal which is fixable. No melting insulation. When I noticed it wasn't working there was not a surge in heat. No smell of burnt electronics even. I am going to try the dealership on Friday. The actual module is locked into the harness and the clip has a tampering lock that can't be put back on, so hopefully they don't blame me for that because all I did was remove it to try and find a replacement. ***Also I undid the passenger side and made sure the driver said is still functional and it was good to go. Then put it back on the passenger side and it was still functioning. So the only issue is the module I believe.***

All of these sites I have seen will say they have it, but when you go to order they will tell you its discontinued. I tried like 6 different places today.

 

OP - You've got the SKU on the part so Toyota should be able to get the part from the SKU number.

 

I think Toyota corporate would be intetetested in making this right. There could be a silent recall on this, or it could turn into a recall.

 

It’s strange to me that the part is already discontinued. Maybe they are aware of an issue already?

 

I hope they do. The part is discontinued because they only offer it with the entire assembly now, not as a single component like they did on the Tundra.

 

Because why would you replace just the broken part when you can replace the whole assembly for more money?

 

I just got the email for corporate and sent them a very detailed email about the experience and failure. I want them to know about the issue and not just have the dealership sweep it under the rug. It wouldn't surprise me to see similar failures like this, even though the part has been in use for several years now.

 

While I am not any kind of licensed electrician, I did spend 6 years in the Navy working as one...
I would be more concerned that the element or wiring inside the seat shorted, and that is what caused the terminal to cook. Buying a new amp and plugging it into the same wiring/element could result in the same exact failure.
Do these Tacomas have a fuse for the heated seats?

 

They do and it was not blown. The wiring harness doesn't show signs of damage, heat, or anything else. The element inside the seat is the only thing that I have not examined. When I tried plugging in the amp from the passenger side into the driver side, the heats seemed to heat as normal with no signs that the wires were overheating in the harness. I took it off afterwards and put it back on the passenger seat because I thought this would be a simple thing to get replaced.

 

Good deal man. I have seen too many electronics cards cooked because of poor technician troubleshooting. Just didnt want to see you going through so much searching for a part, only for it to get cooked in the same manner.
When you tested the passenger box on the driver seat, were you sitting on the seat using the "butt test?" (Wondering if there is a worn spot on the element, and it needs pressure to find a ground)

 

I wasn't "sitting" in it, but I was pressing down with both hands in different areas trying to see if any of the wiring started to heat up from excess current flow.

 

Toyota already responded back with a case # and manager.

 

We all know how that goes "case # and manager"

They're full of carp. No help at all. Very unprofessional. Good luck to you.