thallium

I have a 2013 GS350 that I recently had at the dealer to replace one of the climate control servos. Something interesting happened after I got it back. I noticed that if I had been using heated or ventilated seats that they came back on at the same level I had set them after turning the car off and starting it again. Since I bought the car, they had never come back on when starting the car the next time.

I thought I had read that later versions of the GS added the ability to have the seats controlled by the auto climate control as needed. Is it possible that they did a firmware update to the system when working on my car that modified how they work? Anyone experience this? How do your heated/ventilated seat settings work? I don't know if this was a glitch or intentional.

909

Sounds like S-Flow . Disable it if you want.

thallium

No, I don't think so.

From the GS350 manual:
Operates S-FLOW mode on/off. When the S-FLOW switch is pressed, the airflow changes as follows. Without rear air conditioning system: Air flows to the front seats only. With rear air conditioning system: Air flows to the front seats only, and if the passenger seat is unoccupied, the set temperature, outside humidity and temperature inside the cabin are assessed, and air flows to the driver seat only

S-flow, as I understand it determines where the air is directed in the cabin, ex front vents, dash, floor and front vs back depending on passengers in the car. What I'm talking about is the front heated/ventilated seats returning to previous setting when starting the car. I don't have s-flow even turned on.

bclexus

@thallium - Seat heating and seat ventilation will automatically come back On at the same intensity level they were last used before turning the car Off.

Later 4th Gen GS models had an Auto Mode (one green light beside Auto) feature which has the seat's heating and/or ventilation automatically come On based on a combination of your HVAC desired cabin setpoint temperature and the outdoor temperature.

It sounds like it is working as it should.

I personally always use Auto Mode in my 2018 GS 450h for seat heating. The colder it is outside the more orange lights light up - and the higher the cabin temperature is set the more orange lights light up. Works like charm!

bloodbean

On the 2013 models there is no auto mode button as this was introduced in 2014 for US based GS models. I recall seeing this option in Techstream though on my 2013 GSh. Maybe when you had the climate servos replaced the dealer adjusted this setting for some reason...

thallium

This was what I thought about the 2013 models. My heated/ventilated seats never operated like this before I took it to the dealer whether the climate system is in Auto or not. There is no mention of this feature or way to customize it in the settings and the 2013 manual makes no mention auto seat heat/ventilation.

bclexus

@thallium - In that case then - since you do not have 'Auto Mode' on your 2013 GS 350 - your seat heating and seat ventilation should automatically come back On at the same intensity level they were last used before turning the car Off. That is how it worked on the 2013 GS 350 I had.

jgscott

iTrader: (1)

It’s actually incorrect technically to say the 13 does not have Auto. It has a different type of Auto feature that reduces automatically the setting.

It’s also a reach to say the Seats are Cooled with the Climate also in the 14 -20. The function just blows interior air only. There are cars that do blow a/c air but the GS does not. So thinking your Climate temp is adjusting the seat cooling is wishful thinking. It’s just increasing or decreasing the fan speed. The 13 does this also but in a different way.

About the 13 if the button is on when the car is turned off it does come back on when the car is restarted.

bclexus

Jamie - I don't think anyone in this thread has used the term 'cooled' or 'cooling' when discussing the seats, only 'ventilated' was used as a description which is the correct terminology.

obadea

I used to have a 2013 and that year, the seats will NOT remember the previous setting. You would need to upgrade your Amplifier (HVAC computer). What TRIM do you have? If you have the Luxury trim, I can an HVAC computer for sale, which will give you both the RESUME feature and if you swap the heated seat buttons, you can get the AUTO feature as well.

jgscott

iTrader: (1)

I will test today. I do know that sometimes during like cold weather at night and I put on the seat heaters, then the next day I get in the car and it's warmer weather, I have looked down being a bit too hot, and low and behold those warmers are lit up and still on.

obadea

On my 2013 it only came on automatically if the temperature was under 36 degrees or so. They can be either auto or manual, but you have to use a scan tool to change it. If you have CARISTA, you can change them to manual vs. automatic, but in the 2013, it won't remember where you left them.

jgscott

iTrader: (1)

My 2013 Lux Package GS350. Just got in the car and started it. Have not driven it in like 5 days. As soon as I started it the Seat Heaters came on from the last time it was like 12 degrees here in Atlanta no less. They came on Hi setting (3 light dots). Same as I left them 5 days ago when I pulled in the garage and cut the car off.

So I cut the seat heater off while car was running. Cut car off, started back up, they were off, same as I left them when I cut it off.

Started car back, put Heaters on position low, cut car off. Got out, locked doors with remote. Went back 15mins, unlocked started car, they were immediately, back on low where I left them last. Repeated same thing with Heaters on High, cut off, went back, restated, they were on High.... Just Like I left Them when I Cut the Car off!

I have Toyota Techstream myself. I have never made any change to the Seat Heater functions. I have only had my GS350 for like 6 years now. I know what mine does. That's what mine does. Period. They also do Auto change the Temp.

thallium

The point of this thread was to find out if others had seen this and why or how the dealer could have changed how my heated/ventilated seats functioned.

1. My GS is a 2013 Luxury and at least someone posted here that the 2013 model did not have an Auto or return to previous setting for the seats.
2. Before I had it at the dealer to replace a climate servo my seats never functioned this way no matter the climate setting in Auto or manual.
3. I'm more or less glad that it returns to previous setting now but just confused as to how/why this happened.
4. I used Carista years ago to change some settings but to my knowledge there was no option to change this feature. I think I would have remembered as I probably would have changed this.

bclexus

@thallium - I don't understand why it's so important for you to find out (understand) why or how the dealer could have changed how [your] heated/ventilated seats function.

Maybe it was just a simple software update for your car that made this change in how your heated/ventilated seats function that you are so interested in learning how it came to be that way.