heated seat - aftermarket replacement?

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azaizai
Posts: 83
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 7:28 pm

heated seat - aftermarket replacement?

Postby azaizai » Tue Nov 11, 2014 3:21 pm

Just curious if anyone had done any research regarding this?

Judging from the electrical diagram its getting a simple 12v from the switch and grounds itself. The only part that has any complications is the thermostat (that presumedly switches the seat from high to low once a certain temp is attained). I dont know if it gets a higher voltage from the switch for "high" or if the t-stat figures all that out.

Dorman makes a replacement kit thats affordable that comes with all necessary wiring.

Currently my system works but only on the seat back. At least thats how it feels, I havent gotten a DVOM to see whats actually getting warm. Both seats are doing the same thing really.

Any advice/comments would be appreciated!


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RedPathy
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Re: heated seat - aftermarket replacement?

Postby RedPathy » Thu Nov 13, 2014 10:05 pm

azaizai wrote:Just curious if anyone had done any research regarding this?

Judging from the electrical diagram its getting a simple 12v from the switch and grounds itself. The only part that has any complications is the thermostat (that presumedly switches the seat from high to low once a certain temp is attained). I dont know if it gets a higher voltage from the switch for "high" or if the t-stat figures all that out.

Dorman makes a replacement kit thats affordable that comes with all necessary wiring.

Currently my system works but only on the seat back. At least thats how it feels, I havent gotten a DVOM to see whats actually getting warm. Both seats are doing the same thing really.



Any advice/comments would be appreciated!


Weird, my '05 has seat heaters that get hotter than hell if I leave them on high for too long. That being said, the seat back as well as bottom are both heated, however without a doubt the seat back feels much hotter than the seat cushion. I think it has something to do with the amount of padding in each section, but I could be wrong.

The voltage going to the heating coil is the same regardless of the setting (high/low). There is a built in thermostat that controls how long the heating coil is on, similar to a home thermostat. On high, the heating coil stays on in longer intervals - 5mins on, 1 min off (or similar) on high, and 2 min on, 1 min off on low.

azaizai
Posts: 83
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 7:28 pm

Postby azaizai » Fri Nov 14, 2014 5:59 am

I gotcha. I think I need to get in there and do some investigation lol

Last night I didnt feel any major temperature increase when the switch was on low. So, I guess I'm going to probe the connectors and see what kind of resistance I get.

Maybe the thermostat is the only thing getting voltage and its only letting high get to back rest? I dunno.

If nothing else, and before I take the seat apart, Im probably just going to put an aftermarket pad in. Assuming the factory pad is difficult to remove.

Thanks for the info!

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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Fri Nov 14, 2014 10:21 am

It's probably just as much work to replace the factory heating element as it would be to install the aftermarket element...maybe less. In either case, you'll have to remove the seat bottom and take off the upholstery to get to where the grid is/needs to be. I would imagine you may have to change or convert the electrical harness connector to get the aftermarket grid to work with the factory harness. I would just replace the factory heating grid if it was bad. That said, it feels like it takes longer for my bottom to get warmer than my back in my 06 LE. I, too, figured it was just more padding on the bottom cushion...on the seat as well as my fat butt! :wink:


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