2016.5 GT auto light behavior

V

vessel

Member
:
2016.5 CX-5 GT AWD w/i-ActiveSense
So something I noticed today that seemed odd - my lights were set to auto, my wipers were set to auto, there was a solid cloud layer and steady rain - my wipers came on but my lights never did. This is not the expected behavior for me, it seemed dark enough from the cloud cover to warrant lights and it's my understanding that when wipers are necessary then headlights are legally required as well. I don't understand why my lights never came on, and even odder is that after the rain stopped and it got a bit brighter out the headlights did come on. Anyone experience behavior like this? If this is normal, is it possible to tweak the settings for this system somehow? (quick search hasnt turned anything up) I would love to have it be a bit more aggressive about when it turns the lights on, particularly when it is raining.

Totally unrelated thing I discovered today, and this seems to be a common complaint based on the search results I've seen, but holy s*** are the seat warmers pathetic. Full blast it barely gets warm and it takes 15+ minutes to get there. The seat warmers in my last car get hotter on the lowest setting than the CX5 seat warmers on the highest setting, and they get there in about 2 minutes.
 
vessel said:
Totally unrelated thing I discovered today, and this seems to be a common complaint based on the search results I've seen, but holy s*** are the seat warmers pathetic. Full blast it barely gets warm and it takes 15+ minutes to get there. The seat warmers in my last car get hotter on the lowest setting than the CX5 seat warmers on the highest setting, and they get there in about 2 minutes.
Click to expand...

I've had no issue with the seat warmers. My 14 year old son loves turning my seat warmer on as a joke and within several minutes I'm sweating down there. I'm half tempted to look up the fuse and take it out. His "joke" is getting old.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The sensitivity to darkness can be adjusted for the headlights. It's in the settings.

As for the auto wipers. I don't believe that they are in any way tied to the headlights.

Personally I don't like the auto-wipers and I turned the auto feature off. In the auto setting the wipers come on too early and wipe too often, even set at the lowest sensitivity.
 
Conrad 16.5 said:
The sensitivity to darkness can be adjusted for the headlights. It's in the settings.

As for the auto wipers. I don't believe that they are in any way tied to the headlights.

Personally I don't like the auto-wipers and I turned the auto feature off. In the auto setting the wipers come on too early and wipe too often, even set at the lowest sensitivity.
Click to expand...
I agree, couldn't careless about either one of these. When the time comes, I'll turn them on myself...
 
I have the cloth seats with the factory seat warmers. I use the 3 Light setting (high), and I notice the warmth in less than 45 seconds, and usually have to turn off or turn down to low setting (1 light)after 10 min...
 
Thanks for the info! I found the setting, I feel like an idiot for missing it before and not turning up the answer via search. I adjusted the auto lights to maximum sensitivity and they are somewhat better, but still not quite as sensitive as I'd like. I do really wish they were linked with the wipers in some way, like if the wipers are on then adjust the sensitivity of the auto setting to enable the lights more aggressively.

re:heated seats, I guess something must be wrong with mine because they are nothing like what other people are describing here. I tested them again this morning, they barely got warm at all. Digging through this forum this seems to be a common complaint, which as far as I can tell no one has ever been able to resolve. It's weird that some people get great heated seats and others don't. I would say the ones in my cx5 are borderline useless. I am going to bring this up with the service people during it's first oil change but I don't really have much hope they will resolve it based on what I've seen posted here.
 
It is weird re: seats. Mine aren't as great as some people say theirs are. I don't get the discrepancy. Although, maybe it's me? Wife seems to like them? I'll have to ask her about it again. My last car and my MIL's Jeep are better. I have to turn the seats down on the Jeep.

I like the Auto Wiper. Apparently the only one? Use it on my other car, too.
 
Last edited:
7eregrine said:
It is weird re: seats. Mine aren't as great as some people say there's are. I don't get the discrepancy. Although, maybe it's me? Wife seems to like them? I'll have to ask her about it again. My last car and my MIL's Jeep are better. I have to turn the seats down ono the Jeep.

I like the Auto Wiper. Apparently the only one? Use it on my other car, too.
Click to expand...
I think we are dealing with several variables on those seats... Cloth vs Leather, clothing worn, body temp sensitivity, body weight, ambient temp, different warmer suppliers, etc.
 
I like the auto wiper so far. It is a bit odd how it behaves though, it's pretty sensitive to turn on and it seemingly adjusts the speed based on whether you are turning (going through a long turn it cranked up the wiper speed even though the rain turned into mist). So far I don't mind how it behaves and I really appreciate not having to constantly adjust wiper settings - one of the big annoyances on my last car.

re: heated seats, I have leather. I tried pushing my hand into the leather to get closer to the heating element and it did not feel significantly warmer. I don't think it's the seat material insulating the heating element that is at fault for it not getting hot, I think it's the heating element itself is just majorly underpowered. I've tried to find documentation about what temp. it's supposed to reach but no luck so far - I'm sure that's got to exist somewhere though, and if it can be found then we can reach some objective conclusions about the differences in performance being reported and possibly get this issue fixed. I can't believe that Mazda would put such a useless seat heater in the CX5 intentionally, and given that some people report theirs gets hot I also can't believe that mine is operating as expected.
 
My heated seats sweat me out in a minute or two. Of course to the simple touch they don't feel that warm on their own, but when you're sitting on them its a different story.

I agree with mazdadude about the personal body differences/types being a key contributor regarding performance of the heated seats.
 
I will also agree pressing down on a heated seat doesn't like bring out the warmth. No seats really work like that.
 
banjos-n-beer said:
I agree with mazdadude about the personal body differences/types being a key contributor regarding performance of the heated seats.
Click to expand...

While that definitely is a factor, they are objectively much less warm than the heated seats I have experience with and do not reach a temperature that could be described as "hot", nor do they heat up quickly - which apparently they do for other people. I tend to be fairly sensitive to temperature, I would expect my subjective experience of the heaters should be closer to the "they get hot fast and so hot I have to turn them down" end of the spectrum vs. the "are these things on?" side of things.

I have contacted Mazda to see if they can provide me with an actual temperature specification on the heated seats. Hopefully they are willing to share that info and then we can do some actual testing to determine whether they are performing as expected.
 
7eregrine said:
I will also agree pressing down on a heated seat doesn't like bring out the warmth. No seats really work like that.
Click to expand...

Compress the insulation to get your skin closer to the heating element? It makes sense to me.
 
In practice, it doesn't. The heating elements are thin little wires. My last 5 cars have had them. Pressure needs applied across a wide area for them to even activate.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
I just read the seat warmers section of the 2016.5 owners manual pages 2-7, and 2-8.

There was an interesting **note, apparently "the seat temperature can not be controlled beyond Low/medium/high as the temperature is controlled by a thermostat."

Where is that thermostat? Where is the temp sensor? I want to see a wiring diagram now and see the circuit.
 
mazdadude said:
I just read the seat warmers section of the 2016.5 owners manual pages 2-7, and 2-8.

There was an interesting **note, apparently "the seat temperature can not be controlled beyond Low/medium/high as the temperature is controlled by a thermostat."

Where is that thermostat? Where is the temp sensor? I want to see a wiring diagram now and see the circuit.
Click to expand...

I found a diagram someone posted previously - the sensor is in the seat, it looked like about half way up the back. I'm wondering if there is inconsistency is the sensor hardware being used - that could explain why some people have great working heaters vs. those of us who don't. I've run into issues like that in other mass produced items, factory thinks it's using hardware that is equivalent but it turns out it isn't. Alternatively, it could be variations in the sensor install location that put it too close to the heating element. I don't know whether the sensor is accessible but if it is then we could potentially resolve the issue by better insulating it. I'd be a bit sketched out doing that though, the potential for producing a heated seat that can cook your ass seems like a real risk.
 
Pretty sure they all work like that and the thermostat is mainly to shut them off at a certain temp. They probably don't activate at a certain temp.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 
vessel said:
While that definitely is a factor, they are objectively much less warm than the heated seats I have experience with and do not reach a temperature that could be described as "hot", nor do they heat up quickly - which apparently they do for other people. I tend to be fairly sensitive to temperature, I would expect my subjective experience of the heaters should be closer to the "they get hot fast and so hot I have to turn them down" end of the spectrum vs. the "are these things on?" side of things.

I have contacted Mazda to see if they can provide me with an actual temperature specification on the heated seats. Hopefully they are willing to share that info and then we can do some actual testing to determine whether they are performing as expected.
Click to expand...

We also have a 2015 CRV. The heated seats in that car are just slightly warmer and faster to heat up than the CX5. Bear in mind, the CRV has cloth seats versus the leather in the CX5.

I'm definitely on the skinny side, so I am quite sensitive to temperature changes. And my GF is a cancer survivor, who is also quite skinny and very sensitive to temp. Both of us find the heated seats more than adequate. And both car's seats heat up quickly, 1-2 minutes tops. Usually on the lower end.
 
Could it be that cloth seats are easier to warm up than the leather/vinyl ones?
 
Please log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
Headlights not turning-on on 'Auto' (2019 CX-5)
Replies
7
Views
2K
shooter357
S
H
2013 CX-5 Wonky Intermittent Wipers
Replies
1
Views
882
hooked
H
A
Setting for 2021 Signature that makes headlights come on whilst wipers are on during the day?
Replies
9
Views
2K
186746
1

Latest posts

Back