Stearing Wheel Heat - 02 Lesabre

The next-door neighbor has a 2002 LeSabre. He or his wife can't use the car for trips over 2-hours when it's warm out because the steering wheel mounted controls for the cruise and radio become so hot that the whole wheel eventually heats up to the point they can no longer keep hold of it. He has been fighting with the dealer and GM for a while over it and the response he gets back was that it's normal. It never ceases to amaze me how GM treats their good paying customers and seem to actually believe that a customer would simply blindly accept the insane idea that a steering wheel that gets so hot you can't hold on to it after lengthy drives is really normal! What the heck is going on over at GM...have they completely lost their minds!? It's always a great idea to alienate your loyal customer base so they will buy their next car elsewhere (he's been buying GM for years)!

Enough of the commentary over inept GM customer service management. Does anyone know what his problem may be? What should he should ask the dealer to check for? Is there a heater in the wheel (like in the seat) that should only function in the winter and not in the summer (he says he thinks there is)?

Reply to
James C. Reeves
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That is rather bizarre, there is nothing in the steering wheel that could generate heat like that, unless perhaps there was some kind of short in the steering wheel controls, but even then it should be current-limited. (If all the controls work properly, a short is not likely).

Reply to
Robert Hancock

Unlikely.

Reply to
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Yes, I think the only solution for James is to tell his neighbors not to use DRLs.

---Bob Gross---

Reply to
Robertwgross

Does he have a choice to turn off the DRLs? ...hey, you started it (this time) ;-)

One of the reply posts regarding the possibility of the heat coming from the lamps used for illuminating the controls on the steering wheel sounds like a reasonable possibility. I would think that LEDs would be a better design choice of illumination in places where heat would be a concern though. The reason why I say that is because somehow he has set up his lighting system so that the lights (all of them) are on day and night when the car is running...which would likely mean that the lamps contained within the steering wheel are also on all the time when driving as well. Thanks for the responses! I'll keep everyone posted.

Reply to
James C. Reeves

I'm glad your Buick works fine...and using that irrelevant fact to apply to a completely different car to come to the incorrect conclusion that this one must be just as fine as well is ludicrous. You must work for GM...this is a typical response from those buffoons. Don't try and help the customer...blame them instead...make them the problem...don't try and find out what's going on or what might be able to be done to help the customer better enjoy the drive. Or, work a future product design improvement suggestion (like use cooler operating LED's instead of filament lamps). Just tell them it's all in their head and to just go away. Boy, that will sell a bunch of cars in the future, won't it!? They just might go away...FOR GOOD! By the way, there are three people that drive the car...their daughter is the third one. Can all three have the problem and there not be something strange happening with the car...I don't think so.

That aside, your comment about heat from the lamps that illuminate the controls is a real possibility and something to look at...(see my earlier post in a later thread). He has stated that the heat starts out around the controls and slowly encompasses the whole wheel after several hours of driving. Since he has set his lights (all of them) to always be on day and night (somehow), this would be a good place to start looking.

Reply to
James C. Reeves

JCR.

If I remember correctly the 02 Park Avenue I rented had the identical shape wheel, but the cruise control functions were not in the lower portion of the steering wheel like on the Le Sabre..

I thought I heard that the lights for the buttons are fiber optic and not real light bulbs so much heat shouldn't be generated.

Have your neighbor turn down the dimmer switch and see if the wheel heats up. I can't see how the wheel could get so hot that it can't be touched, even at the 11 & 2 o'clock positions which are the furthest most point away form the buttons.

Does this occur only at night when the dash lights are on?, or does it happen during the day. Maybe your neoighbor has thin skin on the hands.

Is there a fuse controling just the steering wheel buttons that can be removed to test if it still heats up ?

Let us know how this turns out.

========= Harryface =========

1991 Pontiac Bonneville LE ~_~_~259,700 miles_~_~~_
Reply to
Harry Face

Will do... I appreciate the suggestions.

Reply to
James C. Reeves

Reply to
John

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