Hi there! I just registered on the forum though I have been using it a great deal this past month. I have an issue that I need help with, and I was unable to find the info I am searching for. I have a 2001 CL-S. I bought a used driver's seat today that came out of a 2003 CL-S. I thought the 2 seats would be a simple swap based on my (not-so-good-apparently) research, but when I went to install the new seat this evening, I realized that the plugs are different. My old seat has an 18-pin plug and the new seat has a 22-pin plug.

If anyone is familiar with the 2 different plug configurations, my question is this: Is this going to be a royal PITA to swap these seats, or is it less complicated than I am guessing?

I realize that I may need to provide some more info and that my personal ability is a factor here as well. Just wanted to post up and provide a good starting point for now.

Thanks so much!!!

 

I don't think it would work. there a few small differences with the seats especially since they have built in computers on the bottom of them and also the airbags built within the seat back. there are likely differences with the seat memory module and seat heaters. unless your really good with removing and installing each individual pin in the connector and also able to read semi-complicated wiring schematics, you may have bit more off than you can chew. you have a better option of trying to return that seat and find the correct one for your vehicle.

 

That's what I was afraid of, man. Unfortunately, I bought the seat from a guy on CL who was parting out a wrecked car and lives a pretty good distance away from me, so I am stuck with it. Oh well - lesson learned... lol

Thanks so much for the reply, BAG!

 

Ok, so I was actually able to pull off the swap if anyone is interested. It was a bit of a pain and a little time-consuming, but it was more tedious than it was difficult. I removed the seat bottoms from both seats and swapped the black control box and wiring harness from my old seat ('01 CL-S) to my new seat ('03 CL-S). After putting the seat back together and reinstalling it into my car, I can confirm that the electronic adjustments, seat heaters, and seat memory are all functioning just as they should.

Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions or need any help with a similar swap...

 

Good job!

 

Thanks, man! I was a little worried at first. I knew that if it came to it I could swap the padding and leather from the new seat to the old one, but that wasn't something I was looking forward to undertaking. Just glad I was able to figure it out - it's getting tough to find these seats still in great shape like the one I found, so it's nice to know that the options are a little less limited this way...

 

Some day I'll need to either swap seats or preferably pull the padding and covering off to repair the seat heaters.

 

I'm astonished at the many little changes to the 03 CL vs 01 and 02! Didn't Acura know it would be discontinued? What was the point?

 

i know you posted this almost a decade ago but curious as to how you made the swap work? When you say you removed “the seat bottoms”, what all did that include? Was it the main cable with the mismatched connector and all its connections and the black box? Are the main cable and the black box the only thing you needed to remove? FYI, I’m actually using a driver seat from a 2001 CL in my 2003 CLS6. Thanks for any help!