Heated seats w/o a running engine?

mannytranny · Jan 27, 2008

Do I have to have the engine running in order to have the seats heat up?

Anyone know!?

40X40 · Jan 27, 2008

I assume so as they would run the battery down pretty quick otherwise.

Bill

mannytranny · Jan 27, 2008

Thats what I was thinking too, but I thought Ide ask

Drivbiwire · Jan 28, 2008

Yes you can run the heated seats, thats why you should have an 80Ah rated battery...don't try it with a gutless Optima!

DB

RT1 · Jan 28, 2008

mannytranny said:
Do I have to have the engine running in order to have the seats heat up?

Anyone know!?

I don't know if it's my misperception, but it seems when I start out on a cold morning that the seats don't really come into their heated glory for about ten minutes; about the amount of time it takes me to get to the highway. It's almost as if the battery has to recover its charge, from the effort of turning over the engine, before the electrons can move on to a secondary use like heating backsides. It will feel a little warm but then I'll get a sudden burst of heat as if a current limiter shut off.

SoaceMunky · Jan 28, 2008

RT1 said:
I don't know if it's my misperception, but it seems when I start out on a cold morning that the seats don't really come into their heated glory for about ten minutes; about the amount of time it takes me to get to the highway. It's almost as if the battery has to recover its charge, from the effort of turning over the engine, before the electrons can move on to a secondary use like heating backsides. It will feel a little warm but then I'll get a sudden burst of heat as if a current limiter shut off.

Could be the heaters warming up... I think they are slow. Try getting on the highway first, then firing up the butt-toaster. I dont remember what the outcome of that was, but i think it took just as much time to warm up on a warm engine.

jettawreck · Jan 28, 2008

Foam. The seat cushion is foam padding, an excellant insulator, so it takes a bit of heating time to transfer. I would never leave the seat heaters on w/o engine running even if the battery could "handle" it. In fact, I always shut them OFF prior to glow time and cranking the starter when its COLD. Any extra deep discharging of an automotive battery usually leads to earlier demise in my experience.

(the battery's demise, not yours/mine)

RichS · Jan 28, 2008

Yeah they will work.

Your heated seats will work fine without the engine running. You will need to have the ignition in the RUN position to use them.

ScorpionBoy · Jan 28, 2008

mine seem to heat up pretty quickly, granted it stays in the carhole overnight.

Funguy · Jan 28, 2008

My wife's subaru has heated seats that run in the Accessory position. I never thought to run the tdi's seats without the engine running. I just can't imagine the battery could power them very long and then be able to start on a cold day.
Anyone have some computations on how long the battery could run say the drivier's seat and then still be able to cycle the glow plugs and crank the engine?????????

Nico3d3 · Jan 28, 2008

I always shut them OFF prior to glow time and cranking the starter when its COLD.

I'm in the same situation than you. In fact, I prefer not to use it when I go to work since the ride isn't so long (around 10 miles) and I don't want to drain the battery especially when it does not have a long time to recharge itself.

dariod · Jan 28, 2008

Mine heated seat (driver side) does not even work when the engine is running and fully warmed up

burpod · Jan 28, 2008

mannytranny said:
Do I have to have the engine running in order to have the seats heat up?

Anyone know!?

and why would you ever want to do this?

i see you're in california... i can't imagine any situation where you would turn on the seat heaters on w/o having the car running in the first place. are you trying to save fuels?

jettawreck · Jan 29, 2008

Nico3d3 said:
I'm in the same situation than you. In fact, I prefer not to use it when I go to work since the ride isn't so long (around 10 miles) and I don't want to drain the battery especially when it does not have a long time to recharge itself.

I have no issues with useing them on any length trip, although my usual commute is 40 miles, just never prior to glowing and cranking when its COLD. The TDIs have a high capacity alternator, never had a problem keeping the battery charged.

Funguy · Jan 29, 2008

jettawreck said:
I have no issues with useing them on any length trip, although my usual commute is 40 miles, just never prior to glowing and cranking when its COLD. The TDIs have a high capacity alternator, never had a problem keeping the battery charged.

Same here. I don't leave the seats on when the glow plugs are going but I have no real concern about using them once the engine is running. It takes about ten miles before I feel them getting warm though so it might be pointless to use them on a trip that long.

Still I wonder how long, roughly, the battery (engine off) could run one seat and still have reasonble power left to glow and crank?????

40X40 · Jan 29, 2008

The seats will heat with the engine off? Wow.
Well, You learn something every day.... I didn't think the engineers would allow this... It does have automatic load shedding though as a backup.

Doesn't it?

Bill

david_594 · Jan 29, 2008

Funguy said:
Same here. I don't leave the seats on when the glow plugs are going but I have no real concern about using them once the engine is running. It takes about ten miles before I feel them getting warm though so it might be pointless to use them on a trip that long.

Still I wonder how long, roughly, the battery (engine off) could run one seat and still have reasonble power left to glow and crank?????

Both seats are run through a single 15 amp fuse. So max of 7.5 amps per seat. The seats run at full current till they reach their desired temp, then run at a reduced duty cycle to maintain that temp. So 7.5 amp draw is defenitely a worst case scenario.

So running 1 seat for a full hour shouldnt be a non issue if you have a good battery.

(and dont blame me if you try this and your car is dead after an hour)

Funguy · Jan 29, 2008

david_594 said:
(and dont blame me if you try this and your car is dead after an hour)

No blame Bro. I asked for it. Makes sense. There were times in the past were I could have used a warm seat while waiting for my kids and the like. Now they are about grown but who knows I might find my butt sitting in the cold waiting for somebody one day and put your one hour to the test.

Does anything run that could be damaged by leaving the ignition on without the engine running?

Brock_from_WI · Jan 30, 2008

A single seat pulls about 45-50 watts or about 4 amps which is less then the DRL's (about 80 watts). So don't worry about using them or not using them while the engine is running. With both seats on it's like leaving your lights on, how long can you leave them on without running the battery down? Don’t know for sure, it should be about 10 hours if you have a good shape 80+ AH battery, although I don't recommend trying it to find out

Now the glow plugs, those baby’s pull a nice 50-60 amps, of course that is for less then a minute before starting, but they do come back on if it’s cold enough and then switch over to the three coolant heaters if you have a stick. Again these run while the car is running.

Funguy · Jan 30, 2008

So if I leave the key on, without the engine running the glow plugs and coolant plugs will continue to cycle on and kill the battery?????

SoaceMunky · Jan 30, 2008

Funguy said:
So if I leave the key on, without the engine running the glow plugs and coolant plugs will continue to cycle on and kill the battery?????

to cycle on is to turn on and then turn off. i believe the glow plugs stay on for as long as the light on the dash. im not sure about coolant.

Funguy · Jan 30, 2008

SoaceMunky said:
to cycle on is to turn on and then turn off. i believe the glow plugs stay on for as long as the light on the dash. im not sure about coolant.

I thought the glow plugs stay on after the dash light goes out until the engine reaches a certain temperature???????

Brock_from_WI · Jan 31, 2008

The glow plugs stay on about 3-5 seconds after the light goes off and stay off unless I re-cycle the ignition key (turn the key back off and on again). Once the engine is started they can come back on but won't unless you actually start it, at least on my car anyway.

I have never seen the regular glow plugs and coolant plugs on at the same time (don't think they can?), usually the glow plugs shut off and the coolant plugs turn on, again after the engine is running.

Funguy · Jan 31, 2008

Thanks Brock. I "assume" the coolant plugs won't come on either??? Sure wish I knew this all those years waiting in the cold outside my kids dance classs.............Grandchildren one day and history will repeat with me sitting in the cold waiting for a kid............

UhOh · Feb 20, 2017

This site is the BEST! I had this same question and an Internet search brought this thread up.

OK, folks have asked WHY one would want to run the seat heaters w/o the engine running. My reason is this: I bought a parts car (gasser) that really doesn't run (well, it does a bit, but not well enough to leave running- bad rod) and I want to find out if the seats heat up; the seller said the passenger heat worked but that the driver's did not- I want to troubleshoot this and would like to swap the switches around to see if that is where the problem lies- I need to power things up to check.

Heated seats w/o a running engine?

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