Fixed heated seats, pics!

48825 Views 23 Replies 18 Participants Last post by Bansheefast, Apr 25, 2018

HawaiiBake

Discussion Starter · Oct 23, 2010

4

My drivers side heated sea hasn't worked since I bought the truck in may, and it has gotten chilly so I figured it was time to do something about it. Did a search and found some info on here, and I thought I had a good idea of what I was getting myself into.

I first tired to remove the leather seat cover with the seat installed in the truck total PITA. It only takes 2 minutes to pop the seat out and it was a lot warmer in my garage.

I also took the power seat assembly off the bottom. 4 more bolts and 30lbs later the seat was a lot easier to work with.

I ended up unbolting the recliner bracket on the door side of the seat to be able to pull the leather seat bottom up.

The fun really begins with the hog rings that hold the leather to the seat. I used a pair of needle nose pliers and a flat head to try to pry the hog rings apart. It took me about an hour to get the heater pad exposed.

I did not see any fried wires that others had mentioned in their posts, but I did peel the felt apart on the two little tiny black boxes at the back of the pad that the wires go into. Sure enough several of the wires had snapped off at the soldered joint. The ones that hadn't snapped off I broke trying to pull the felt apart.

I stripped the wires back a bit and re soldered the joints. I suck at soldering so I figured the safest way to go was to put a lot of it on there.

I sprayed adhesive on both sides and stuck the felt back together around the boxes. it was somewhat lumpier than before and I can just feel it if I push my butt back in the seat, so low profile may be important depending on how you have the seat adjusted.

Everything goes back togther nicely, I used some of the spray adhesive to stick he heater pad back onto the foam.
Started the truck up and in a few minutes I had a hot seat!

Start to finish probably about 2.5 - 3 hours

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Reactions: 1

1 - 20 of 24 Posts

azkcr

· #2 · Oct 23, 2010

Good job! I needed to see this b4 I dove into the seats of my gf's trailblazer

PGreenSVT

· #3 · Oct 23, 2010

Nice. Congrats on doing it yourself. I love to see guys doing their own work. :thumb:

6.0DSLPWR

· #4 · Oct 23, 2010

Thanks alot man. You have given me something to do today after I get back from the BD dyno days. My drivers seat stopped working about 2 years ago and it has just started to get cold here at night so getting into the truck in the morning really sucks.

I did some research too and it seemed the common problem was broken wires in the pad. So last year i pulled the seat out but couldn't find any broken wires in the pad. I am wondering if mine is broken like your....i never checked those connections! That will be awesome if I can get it fixed.

hazard

· #5 · Oct 23, 2010

my backrest heat works on both settings but the actual seat area does not get warm at all on either settings, do you spose this is most likely my problem?

Goose350

· #6 · Oct 23, 2010

I still need to fix mine. Good job

HawaiiBake

Discussion Starter · #7 · Oct 24, 2010

hazard said:
my backrest heat works on both settings but the actual seat area does not get warm at all on either settings, do you spose this is most likely my problem?

It really is a simple system. There can't really be that many things that could go wrong. I think if you open up the seat you will probably be abl to fix it if you own a soldering iron.

It is hard to tell if the wires that go into the little black boxes are broken until you pull the felt apart, which invariably will break one I am sure. Pretty easy fix once you get everything exposed.

ssamsom

· #8 · Nov 18, 2010

My driver's seat works, but it takes forever to warm up and it usually just gets warm. Occasionally it gets nice and toasty but not very often. I always assumed I needed a new element, do you think i might just have a few bad connections? I know nothing about this so thank you in advance for any more info.

colinmacdon

· #9 · Nov 27, 2010

ssamsom said:
My driver's seat works, but it takes forever to warm up and it usually just gets warm. Occasionally it gets nice and toasty but not very often. I always assumed I needed a new element, do you think i might just have a few bad connections? I know nothing about this so thank you in advance for any more info.

That's exactly what mine does.

motorhead440

· #10 · Nov 27, 2010

Mine are inconsistent too. I'll tear into them soon.

ssamsom

· #11 · Nov 27, 2010

Let us know what you find, its around -15 Celsius up here in Winnipeg and I don't feel like tearing my seat down in the driveway. Sure would be nice to have a toasty @$$ though

gblauf

· #12 · Dec 20, 2010

any updates, mine get smoking hot for bout 5 min once an hour!

suscribed

HawaiiBake

Discussion Starter · #13 · Dec 20, 2010

ssamsom said:
Let us know what you find, its around -15 Celsius up here in Winnipeg and I don't feel like tearing my seat down in the driveway. Sure would be nice to have a toasty @$$ though

Takes maybe 10-15 to take the seat out then you can put it on your kitchen table

@ the guys with intermittent heat, there is a little black box that I believe controlls the thermostat. It is mechanical, I'm not sure they can really break. Still might be a loose wire.

preston77

· #14 · Dec 27, 2010

After 2 years I finally fixed mine. The little tiny wire that runs through the seat actually burnt and broke apart. A little solder, some hot glue and a few hours is all it takes. Instead of fighting those clips with a flat head and pliers I used 1 those C clamp ring pliers and just opened them up. While I was at it I went ahead and sewed the seam on the seat that had been coming apart since I bought the truck. Great post dude!

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stevenc1

· #15 · Jan 30, 2011

Well, I gave it heck today and had no luck.

I got all the way through this, found the gizmo's and they looked fine. Didn't see any loose wires anywhere. And I'm tellin ya', this was fairly straightforward to get through except for the dang hog ties, those things will help you meet your cusin' quota for the day!
Guess my heating pad is shot all together so I'll need to just take it in...dang it.

hndacr

· #16 · Jan 31, 2011

I am having the same issue with just the drivers seat. I have a couple question.
1. Everyone has mentioned the hogs rings being difficult to remove. Once you open them up or whatever it takes to get the seat cover off, what do you do when it is time to put the cover back on?
2. I have on 04 F250, is there any fuses, relays under the hood, or just the panel by the drivers knees?
3.Is there a way to check continuity before tearing the seat apart...if so, what wires in the harness do you check?

hndacr

· #17 · Feb 3, 2011

Anyone have suggestions

AndeyHall

· #18 · Nov 18, 2011

hndacr said:
Anyone have suggestions

I'd recommend going to ford-trucks.com and doing a search in their 6.0 forum to find you a wiring diagram of the heated seats. There is a connector under the seat where you should find a yellow wire with a light blue stripe. This wire should read 12V whenever you flip your heated seat switch on. PITA part is that you can't take that connector apart or the switch won't work, so you have to find a way to probe inside that connector.

HawaiiBake

Discussion Starter · #19 · Nov 18, 2011

As far as the hog rings, I did them back up with a pair of needle nose pliers. It was a nightmare, I HIGHLY recommend doing whatever it takes to find some hog ring pliers.

Make sure you have some spray adhesive to stick it all back together again.

amdriven2liv

· #20 · Nov 18, 2011

Hawaiibake,

I had mentioned your thread to another forum. A question was asked about whether or not these seats were weight activated or not. I thought since you had gone that deep into your seats, you would be one to know.

Thanks for taking the time sharing this thread.

1 - 20 of 24 Posts

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