[Carl3208]

Driving home this morning, I turned on the steering wheel heater. My palms got burned by the heaters in the 9 and 2 position. I drove straight to the dealership and theyvare looking at it now.

 

[K5 Optima Store]

Wow never heard of that before. Wonder if it is an isolated incident, or something on a larger scale.

 

[ragg]

And that is why I like base models... Darn fandangled technology always burning people lol

 

[MacDogg]

I turned mine on this morning and it got pretty darn hot and I turned it off. Then back on to warm my digits...then back off. **** got hot.

 

[Carl3208]

They looked at my car and took temp readings with the steering wheel heater on. They said that it only got to 142 degrees. The service manager put in a call and bulletin to Kia Engineering. I'm curious to what they have to say. I have only used it 3 times. It burned me in the 9 and 3 position (not 9 and 2 as quoted earlier). They said that Kia Corporate will be contacting me. It sounds like the heating element is getting way too hot. Of course the problem didn't happen when it was in the service lane at the dealership. I recommended a steering wheel change after I smelled something burning too.

 

[sh30469]

I just used mine this morning and only had it on for about a minute, not more than 2. It does get very warm very fast. I just use it so the steering wheel isn't ice cold. It's currently 33 degrees for me. Speaking of smells, has anyone else noticed that it almost smells like burning solder when the heat is cranked? That's gotten me slightly worried a few times, no smoke or anything, but smells like hot metal/burning solder. I have gotten my hands pretty warm on the steering wheel, but never burned them because I always turn it off.

 

[MadMax]

Used mine a couple times, I actually didn't think it got warm enough. 142 is scalding hot for contact surface...

 

[Every1zgot1]

Oh wow, I use mine almost every morning. No burned hands, just toasty fingers and palms...hope its an isolated incident....

 

[ryan064]

Living in upstate NY, it gets quite chilly. I use my heated steering wheel all the time, and find it pleasant, and wish it would get a little hotter.

 

[brandontaz2k2]

Living in upstate NY, it gets quite chilly. I use my heated steering wheel all the time, and find it pleasant, and wish it would get a little hotter.

Maybe you and Carl should switch steering wheels.. haha:laugh

 

[Carl3208]

I tried to post pics of my hands but I don't know how to add pictures on this site.
The dealership called and the have someone from Kia coming to look at my car. Still waiting to see what happened.

 

[MadMax]

Still waiting, or was there a resolution?

 

[ramzoom]

The response will be that it is "Normal" for Cadenza..lol

 

[Beezwax]

mine gets hot but not burning hot

 

[kzookid]

What's the big deal folks??? When we were kids we loved "Hot Wheels".......

 

[Carl3208]

I got my car back after the regional repair manager looked at my car. They said that they could not duplicate the issue and refused to change the steering wheel.

 

[ragg]

Sounds like a Kia.

 

[ryan064]

Since my original post, I have used my heated steering wheel all winter. It now gets much warmer than it originally did. Occasionally, it feels actually hot, but never dangerous. I like it much better now.

 

[Scynthyace]

When I first got my Cadenza, the steering wheel did get way too hot, but after 5-6 uses, it mellowed out.

Wonder if its just a faulty temperature control module, or if it needs to be used a bit to find a happy median... I did notice when using it with the heater on auto 80(we had some sub zero days) it barely warmed up at all over the 15 minute cycle.

-Scynthyace