Vented seats...not venting?

[D.J.]

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.

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.

Too bad we can't turn on BOTH the ventilated seats + the seat heaters simultaneously. That would be interesting


Notably, those vents are OFF when you select Max cool (face level).

Pretty sure nobody intentionally uses the ventilated seats in the winter in order to feel warmer

 

[ElChanclo]

Too bad we can't turn on BOTH the ventilated seats + the seat heaters simultaneously. That would be interesting


Notably, those vents are OFF when you select Max cool (face level).

Pretty sure nobody intentionally uses the ventilated seats in the winter in order to feel warmer

View attachment 87269

Yeah, I just checked and the seat fan doesn't run with the heated seats on. Would be nice to have a "convection oven" option for those extreme cold snaps.

 

[Stig]

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.

I plan on taking the seats loose this weekend when I clean the carpets. Wondering if something got spilled by my toddlers causing my smell issue. I will be checking the motors.

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

This was my first thought having 2 kiddos. But a blind feel revealed no obstructions.

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.

Maybe this is the issue. Last year, I may have run the lower air to cool my feet ( they don't smell but I'm a bigger guy and hot natured) and it also led to blowing cooler air out of the rear at the fan level for the seats and it was sucking up cooled air since they used ambient air in the cabin. I will be testing this tomorrow when I take the boys to daycare.

 

[Stig]

@ElChanclo this worked... Of course it was a simple issue. I thought that the seats actually had a dedicated vent that blew cool air when the seat fan was turned on. But you were correct. When i went to get my kids yesterday, i turned on the "foot cooling" zone and let it blow for a couple of minutes before turning on the vented seat option and voila, i had a comfortable ride.

 

[ElChanclo]

@ElChanclo this worked... Of course it was a simple issue. I thought that the seats actually had a dedicated vent that blew cool air when the seat fan was turned on. But you were correct. When i went to get my kids yesterday, i turned on the "foot cooling" zone and let it blow for a couple of minutes before turning on the vented seat option and voila, i had a comfortable ride.

Every day this car throws me for a loop with all its tech and how all the sensors interact. There's a 108 page thread about it.

 

[Ah GetFd]

Short of any official explanation by Kia.

Seat and steering wheel warming occurs automatically with "Auto Controls that use Climate Settings" when the ambient (outside temperature) is 10C or less whilst Climate Control is set in the heat range.

Seat ventilation happens automatically more frequently in Summer. I have yet to discover what that ambient temperature is.

Kia seems to have not provided any information on these settings other than to say it is subject to ambient and cabin temperature.