Cooled seats not cooling

[I8ACHEVY]

Sounds like they don't want to have to deal with it. Plug it in show it works for 5 minutes and dismiss it as "working as designed". Lets hope that isn't the case but don't hold your breath.

Yep, my thoughts exactly.

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[I8ACHEVY]

So here is my upgraded mod made out of plastic!

I purchased the sheets from amazon for $10.00. I only built the driver's side but it would take both sheets to build two. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CBWNUR0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00

I removed the unit from the seat. In case someone asks the question this post explains how to remove it: http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showpost.php?p=654492&postcount=299

I actually used the cardboard from the amazon box and built another template. Then I copied all of the bends and measurements over to a sheet of paper. The only piece not shown on the template is a strip of plastic that I left at the bottom to the left of the 1.5" x 1" square. That strip is behind the duct of the second pic. I wrapped two tie wraps around it to secure the duct to the box.

The depth of the box doesn't have to be the same as my measurements if not using a shop vac hose for the duct.

I used a Dremel for all of the cuts and a heat gun for the bends. I probably could have made the bends more precise if I had taken the time to build a jig but it turned out good enough.

I didn't take pictures of each bend. I basically just picked a spot and started shaping the plastic. Heat up one bend at a time if using a heat gun, shape it, hold it for a few seconds and it won't bend back. Repeat until all of the bends are complete. Warming the plastic in the oven would take some more planning ahead of time because the plastic cools quick.

The hole for the duct obviously has to be cut to fit the tube size. I cut it a little small and the shape of the shop vac hose allowed it to stay in place.

Once the box was shaped I sealed the bends with silicone to prevent air from leaking in the cracks on the sides. The entire bottom of the box is open to the fan.

The last step was to drill the two holes for the screws and the slot at the top for the hook. I screwed up and used the Dremel tool for the holes. The screws are extremely tiny so I had to make some washers to hold it in place. It does not move around at all.

It definitely improves the seat. I don't feel the seat warming anymore. I can actually feel cool air but it still isn't equal to the bottom. It's still better than what we were given!

What I guess I lost sight of somewhere was...was this modification made to the under seat fan, OR the one in the seat back?

 

[ctlaw]

I have been keeping up on this thread, but wanted to make sure I understand the issue and see if it's affecting my car. My seat bottoms get cold, I don't feel anything on the back, but I also don't really feel anything getting hot.


Is the issue that the backs are not getting cold?


If my car is affected; I think it may be best to wait until Ford issues a TSB, otherwise its a lot of touching of my car by people I don't want to touching it.

That's what I notice. At most, the seatbacks get slightly warm. However, I almost always am driving after the car has been cooling overnight or in a parking garage during the day. the hot side of the TED is starting out at only 70-80F

Assume the car had been out in the sun for a while and the TED got up to 120F or more. It's easy to imagine a lack of airflow keeping the hot side of the TED at 120F+ leaving the cool side still over body temperature and blasting you with warm air.

To function properly, the hot side of the TED needs to be well cooled by cabin air. Apparetnty because the Mustang does not provide rear AC for whatever legless passenger might be back there, the TED hot side overheats.

 

[GT Pony]

I got my car back with them stating they were able to reduce the temp by 14 degrees. I'll post up my work order so people can see it

You got a big gaping hole in the back of your seats now?

 

[jbailer]

Many of you are missing the point. It's like when my cable goes out and I call the provider. They say, "there haven't been any reports of a problem in your area. We can dispatch someone to your house". That takes a week, sure enough within the next few hours they've gotten many complaints, and they fix the problem.

You can be one of those that just sit back and wait/hope Ford comes up with a fix then capitalize on all of us that took our cars in to register the complaint and hope that there were enough of us that bothered that Ford takes notice and actually does something about it. The alternative is take your car in and let the dealer look at it and register the complaint with Ford Customer Service. Yes, they will see that is working as designed but they will also notice the seat back is not cooling while the bottom is. There IS a cooling unit in the seat back, the design is just inefficient and doesn't cool noticeably. No, they won't be able to fix it, not until Ford comes up with a fix. It amazes me all the people that read this thread and go to their dealer thinking they will get a better result. At this time, you are registering the problem with Ford. The more people that do that, the more chance they will fix it. No, you can't just call Ford Customer Support. The claim needs to be verified by taking your car to a Ford Dealer and have them verify the problem.

No, they didn't find a problem with the "operation" of my car when they checked it. They reported that all systems were functioning as designed but the seat backs were not providing any cooling. That is exactly what Ford needs to hear from the dealer, not us as individuals. We didn't buy the car from Ford, we bought it from an independent dealer who bought it from Ford. Those dealers are the ones that matter.

 

[willmkent]

Although I haven't had a chance to test them yet in hotter weather, but at 70 degrees this morning my bottom and back had cooled down

 

[jbailer]

Although I haven't had a chance to test them yet in hotter weather, but at 70 degrees this morning my birthday and back had cooled down

First of all congrats and happy birthday, I hope the problem really is fixed for you! That is potentially very good news. Can you give more information on what they did? I can't read all of what's on the paper as the right side is cut off. I'm not sure if what it says will make it clear anyway.

Also, was your car one that was actually heating your back? I know several have said their seat backs are actually heating when cooling is turned on. I'm sure some of that is true but thinking others may feel like it is heating because it is so much warmer than the seat it just feels like it. I know when I check my seat back it reads just under body temperature.

Any chance you can get a temperature reading from your seat bottom and back after about 15-20 minutes with it on and you sitting in there?

 

[willmkent]

Hey man I'm not exactly sure why you wished me a happy birthday as my birthdays in September, am I missing something? The other thing is they took the seats apart and apparently they were able to doctors and route the piping I guess a little bit better is what they told me they brought it down by 14° I came outside of my lunch Break to test it out and I've been sitting out here in my car and 80° weather and the seat did not get cold the back did not get cold at all either so I still have the issue, I wouldn't say that my backseat extraordinarily bad but when I'm driving the car and I use the cool Shiva noticed that my back will start to get sweaty and warm but I don't think it's to the point where it's almost burning

 

[RockStang]

look at the message you posted. Did you send it from your phone? Auto correct typed your birthday.

 

[jbailer]

Hey man I'm not exactly sure why you wished me a happy birthday as my birthdays in September, am I missing something? The other thing is they took the seats apart and apparently they were able to doctors and route the piping I guess a little bit better is what they told me they brought it down by 14° I came outside of my lunch Break to test it out and I've been sitting out here in my car and 80° weather and the seat did not get cold the back did not get cold at all either so I still have the issue, I wouldn't say that my backseat extraordinarily bad but when I'm driving the car and I use the cool Shiva noticed that my back will start to get sweaty and warm but I don't think it's to the point where it's almost burning

look at the message you posted. Did you send it from your phone? Auto correct typed your birthday.

This^

Your message said, "Although I haven't had a chance to test them yet in hotter weather, but at 70 degrees this morning my birthday and back had cooled down."

Oh well, happy birthday in advance and sorry to hear your seats aren't any cooler.

 

[willmkent]

Oh haha yea Siri talk to text, supposed to say bottom!!! Sorry guys

 

[GT Pony]

Although I haven't had a chance to test them yet in hotter weather, but at 70 degrees this morning my bottom and back had cooled down

The write up says nothing about the seat backs ... only the seat bottoms, that they cooled to 60 F when the air beneath the seat was at 85 F. We all know the bottom cushion cooler works good.

As noted many times, the seat backs may or may not for some, cool down for the first 15~20 min then the cooling goes away entirely. Next time you're on a long drive leave them on high the whole way and you'll probably see what I mean.

 

[Darko66]

As noted many times, the seat backs may or may not for some, cool down for the first 15~20 min then the cooling goes away entirely. Next time you're on a long drive leave them on high the whole way and you'll probably see what I mean.

For anyone who has some luck with the seats for the first 10-20 minutes of a long drive before the cooling goes away, maybe you could try, if you haven't already, turning the cooling off for a few minutes and then back on. Or, perhaps, stop and shut the car off briefly. There's a chance that the cooling units are dropping into a lower power mode that's meant to maintain the temperature only, but isn't doing a very good job of that.

The '02 Navigator system that I mentioned earlier dropped into low power mode after 12 minutes (from 4.5 amps to 2 amps).

If ours does the same, I don't know if just turning the cooling off would reset it and give another 12 minutes or if you need to cycle the ignition.

 

[Free Agent]

The write up says nothing about the seat backs ... only the seat bottoms, that they cooled to 60 F when the air beneath the seat was at 85 F. We all know the bottom cushion cooler works good.

As noted many times, the seat backs may or may not for some, cool down for the first 15~20 min then the cooling goes away entirely. Next time you're on a long drive leave them on high the whole way and you'll probably see what I mean.

Yep that says NOTHING about the upper seat cooler. Another failed diagnosis on the dealership part and another reason I don't want to waste my time taking it in. It also shows that the lower unit is far superior in that it can drop the temps by 25 degrees. We already know that anyway, the bottoms get icy cool and the uppers do nothing or warm. They will just plug in the stupid data logger and its going to show that the back drops temps by 14 degrees during those 5 minutes they test it. They need to test it for 15 to 30 minutes and they need to record actual seat temperatures. I don't give a damn what the computer says the temperature difference is. The uppers don't cool at best and at worst they heat. So what if the upper unit drops the temps by 14 degrees when the temperature inside the seat is 120 degrees. 106 degree air blowing on my back is going to feel warm/hot. :rant:

Okay, I feel better, done ranting.

 

[willmkent]

Just trying to provide direct insight from the dealer guys. I wish I had the solution too but this is all I have to contribute as of yet....

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