In my 2003 Montero Sport, the leather seats heated up to the point that they actually started burning!! No joke... My girlfriend was driving and she turned on the driver heated seat. Within a couple of minutes, she started to smell something burning and smoke started to appear inside the vehicle. She stopped, turned around to see what was going on and then noticed that there was a small burn-through hole about the size of a penny, in the upper back surface of the leather seat. The coat that she was wearing actually burned in a small section right where the leather seat had burned.


Needless to say, I will not be turning on the heated seats any time soon.
Will remove the fuse for the seats also -- assuming that there is one.

Has anyone ever heard of this happening??
Any suggestions on how to approach this?

Yes, I've of this happening but was on a Toyota Landcruiser. They work just like an electric blanket so I suppose if they short out and do not exceed the current rating of the fuse they can ignite the foam seat padding. Probably a rare ocurance but the damage can be very extensive.

Jim

Hi there,

If you mean disconnecting the heaters, just open up the center console and disconnect the connectors, wrap them up nicely in thermo duct tapes and you are done. No need to go for the fuses.

Here in Malaysia we have no use at all for the heaters, and it's annoying when you accidentally turn them on. So, I just disconnected them and left it at that. No problems at all for the past 10 years.

Good luck.