Vented seats...not venting?

[Stig]

Hello all,

I have a 2020 gt2 with the heated/vented front seats. I have noticed in this abysmal summer that my vented setting isn't really venting. It used to do fairly decent last year the few times i used them, but this year I will get a very brief tingling of cool for a few seconds, followed by nothing, regardless of which setting it is on. I have tried this with the AC on(different levels) and off. Nothing affects it. I believe the seats have their own independent blowers separate of the main AC system.

Has anyone had this issue or troubleshooting it?

I have also noticed, after the car sat for a few days, a smell of stale near cat pee/litter smell when i crank the car for the first few minutes. Doesn't matter if the AC is on or off. I have a cabin filter coming in today as it's been a year since i replaced, but this feels different. I usually only drive the car 2-3 times a week if that and it has sat for 2-3 weeks with no issue related to smell before. I did do a check and couldn't find a vermin nest or body in the engine bay or at the location of the cabin filter.

Thanks

 

[Snicklefritz]

you've already checked for vermin, which is what I was going to suggest for the smell. your first topic, cooled seats, we have that in the '19 Premium. it hasn't failed, but compared to heated seats the cooling is very anemic. when I run the cooling I always run it on full blast. whereas with the heated seats, after the initial warming, I always turn them down to minimum setting

 

[D.J.]

I will get a very brief tingling of cool for a few seconds, followed by nothing,

Do you hear the fans blowing, or not?

If you hear the seat fans blowing, then It could be a flow issue. It is possible for the leather perforations to be blocked - yielding reduced performance.

If you don't hear the seat fans blowing, then it is an electrical issue - But this is unlikely.

The HVAC system (including cabin air filter) has nothing to do with the ventilated seats.

 

[Ah GetFd]

you've already checked for vermin, which is what I was going to suggest for the smell. your first topic, cooled seats, we have that in the '19 Premium. it hasn't failed, but compared to heated seats the cooling is very anemic. when I run the cooling I always run it on full blast. whereas with the heated seats, after the initial warming, I always turn them down to minimum setting

Yep.

They are totally different modes.

But they aren't "cooled" seats they are ventilated seats. A blower operates in the seat to ventilate the seat with whatever air is in the cabin. The colder you have the cabin the more "cool" air you have coming through the seat.
This is also controlled by the climate control ie, the "blower" speed" and also the "cooling" is controlled with the Climate Control Dial. All the boxes through "settings" need to be ticked to link the auto controls (for seat ventilation and heating and steering wheel warmer) with the climate control dial.

The blower speed is also controlled manually by the ventilation switch with three corresponding blue lights.
To reset it to OFF, Hold the button pressed for more than 1.5 seconds. Saves you stepping through the positions to OFF.

The "heated" seats are different. There is an electric element in the seat and seat back as well. There is no blower involved.
These are also controlled by the Climate Control Dial and raise or lower the temperature of the seat by switching up and down the "heat" element. The corresponding red lights will go up or down. This can also be done manually by using the seat warmer switch. To reset it to OFF, Hold the button pressed for more than 1.5 seconds. Saves you stepping through the positions to OFF.

Now, in the case of the seat warmer it will only work for 30 minutes on high, 60 minutes on medium then switch the seat heater element "OFF". That is according to the technical manual I have posted below. (Note this manual is far more technical and has more than 800 pages and is far more comprehensive than the Operation Manual.

The technical instructions are not great on this mode however. The Climate Control Dial only controls the seat warming function (and the steering wheel warmer as well) under certain conditions and I am yet to learn what that is. It seems to be a combination of the "cabin" temperature and the "ambient" temperature, and my 18 months of owning this My 23 since new, the seat warmer, and steering wheel warmer have only ever activated automatically "ONCE", and by twisting the climate control dial, the seat warmer lights went from three to one and back up and the steering wheel cooled down. Maybe it doesn't get cold enough here to warrant it. I dunno.

Not you personally, but please feel free to "click" your way through the Stinger technical manual here.

Note, as I would rather a complete copy, I did start copy and pasting these pages into a word document, but as I am up to 1800 pages!!!!, I have now given up!.

Kia Stinger Owners and Service manuals online

 

[Snowwhite]

check to make sure some plastic bag didn't get sucked into the fan under the seat.

 

[Snicklefritz]

check to make sure some plastic bag didn't get sucked into the fan under the seat.

is this the voice of experience?

 

[ElChanclo]

The HVAC system (including cabin air filter) has nothing to do with the ventilated seats.

It's a different fan that blows the air into the seat, but I'm pretty sure it takes air from the cabin air lines, since the seat air gets cooled when the AC is running, and I doubt the seats have their own AC line/heat exchanger.

 

[D.J.]

I'm pretty sure it takes air from the cabin air lines,

Nope.

It takes ambient cabin air. No special cabin air lines.
Just regular air from the cabin.

You can have the seat fully forward, or fully back, and it still just vents ambient air from the cabin.

 

[Snowwhite]

is this the voice of experience?

just sayin'.

(disregard the highlights and note that huge fan close to the rear of the seat)

 

[ElChanclo]

Nope.

It takes ambient cabin air. No special cabin air lines.

I'm pretty sure there's a special duct (LH) under the seats that feeds conditioned air into that fan.

 

[Ah GetFd]

I'm pretty sure there's a special duct (LH) under the seats that feeds conditioned air into that fan.

Here is the tech manual

Dig through it and show us where

Kia Stinger Owners and Service manuals online

Kia Stinger - Body (Interior and Exterior)

Kia Stinger - Front Seat - Body (Interior and Exterior)

Kia Stinger - Floor Console - Body (Interior and Exterior)

 

[Ah GetFd]

It's a different fan that blows the air into the seat, but I'm pretty sure it takes air from the cabin air lines, since the seat air gets cooled when the AC is running, and I doubt the seats have their own AC line/heat exchanger.

that's pretty dumb

 

[ElChanclo]

that's pretty dumb

It's actually pretty smart. It lets you blow cabin air into the seat whether the central air is on or off. And if the AC is on it picks up conditioned air from that LH duct and cools your rear =)

I just drove a 2 days through 40c temp and was comfy as a dog in a lake! It's probably my favorite feature, and rare even on new $50k cars!

I wonder if it blows hot air if you have the central heat on MAX and the seats on COOL?

 

[D.J.]

I wonder if it blows hot air if you have the central heat on MAX and the seats on COOL?

Ambient air - it vents ambient air through the seats. Whatever temperature is in the cabin, that is the ambient air that the vented seats vent.

 

[ElChanclo]

Ambient air - it vents ambient air through the seats. Whatever temperature is in the cabin, that is the ambient air that the vented seats vent.

Ambient air UNLESS that LH duct is blowing central/conditioned air into the seat fan (pictured in Snowwhite's #9 post).

I THINK. When I take the seat off I'll get a better look, but the design is very clever if it works how I think it works.

 

[D.J.]

Ambient air UNLESS that LH duct is blowing central/conditioned air into the seat fan (pictured in Snowwhite's #9 post).

I THINK. When I take the seat off I'll get a better look, but the design is very clever if it works how I think it works.

Do you think it matters how tall the driver is?

Seat all the way forward vs rearward... Does that change the seat intake air in your perception?

 

[ElChanclo]

Do you think it matters how tall the driver is?

Seat all the way forward vs rearward... Does that change the seat intake air in your perception?

There might an optimal positioning of the seat-fan over the floor-duct, but if the duct is forward enough, the air flows under the seat and the fan picks it up sooner or later.

It's very tight under there you'd need an inspection camera or a small mirror to check for obstructions without removing the seat.

You might be able to run the AC and the seat cooling and feel around under there, see if the duct is blowing cold air and stick your fingers in the fan, see if it's spinning .

 

[D.J.]

air flows under the seat and the fan picks it up sooner or later.

That's called, ambient air.

It's very tight under there you'd need an inspection camera or a small mirror

It's not tight at all, the seat has like ~3 inches or more of vertical travel,
There is no conduit or duct to the seat vent intake from the under seat rear duct.

The vented seats just use ambient air!

 

[Snicklefritz]

I wonder if it blows hot air if you have the central heat on MAX and the seats on COOL?

It felt pretty danged cold the first time that I pulled on the button, in the middle of the winter, before I even knew the Premium had cooled seats. in the GT1 of course pulling turns the heated seats on. we got very cold bums for the first minute or so before we realized you have to push the buttons to get heat to the seats. but Ima sure it was just frozen ambient air.

 

[ElChanclo]

It's not tight at all, the seat has like ~3 inches or more of vertical travel

If 3" is enough clearence to stick your head in and check the fan for obstructions, go right ahead. I just used a mirror.

For reference, on my 2022 GT elite AWD, it was as pictured in post#9.

This seat fan runs when the ventilated seats are turned on. The dual ducts (marked E) on the floor are right under the seat fan, and only blow when the cabin fan is on (and set to lower body flow).

With the cabin fan off, the ventilated seats just draw cabin air off the floor, but if you run the cabin fan, the ducts blow air directly at the seat fan, giving you either ambient outside air, recirculated cabin air, or cold/hot conditioned air depending on your climate controls.

So it IS possible to warm your butt using the ventilated seats, though the seat heaters are a better option.