I had my 2003 TL transmission replaced by the dealer and since then the seat heaters don't work. The button lights up fine, but the seats stay cold. The dealer tells me this is unrelated to their work. Any suggestions?

 

is it the driver seat butt portion doesnt work but the lumbar still gets hot?
thats common failure and if you are up to removing the seat and its cover-
$3 of wire and shrink wrap will fix the prob
Often found where wallet makes more contact pressure on seat,
those who run seat heat on high a lot may be more prone

Its just an 18 guage wire loomed like an electric blanket in a fabric cover- over the seat

 

some years seem not to operate unless weight is detected
Is it both seats?

power at switch
ck for power under seats at connection harness
ck fuses and relays to be sure
no relation to trans work I can think of

 

^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1Ftv3hnDXk

 

Videos are worth a thousand pictures. Words are just useless at that point.

My passenger seat won't heat up, but it may just be the weight as 01tl4tl said. I have an 02 TL-P, but I'm not sure if it's one of the years in which the seat warmers are weight dependent. Either way, I live in AZ and don't ever turn them on, so it may just be a loose wire.

 

wow awesome video thanks a million, i think im going to give this a shot next weekend. my arse doesnt get heat right now and it been unseasonably cold in the northeast.

 

the back heater also likes to go out too, not just the cushion


and for where a wallet makes more contact, mine broke at one of the fabric seams (fixed it last year, so don't completely remember) towards the front of the seat, no where a wallet would be really
and as far as on high more susceptible, yes in that the wire is hotter on a regular basis, but still does not matter too much, they like to break even if they are not really even used much
it seems to be more from when people get in and out of the car (or shift around in the seat) causing the wire to flex too much, which over time fatigues spots, which then break at a later date



but yes a little wire and some time, can fix those $100+ seat heaters (per cushion btw, so 100+ for the bottom and another 100+ for the back section)

 

but about the only thing i can think of even related to the trans work, is the battery being disconnected and reconnected, but even that is a very long shot though

personally have never even heard of such a thing, but in theory very possible (and it would keep it from burning up prematurely, especially if left on, with only a driver in the car)
but i seriously doubt ours cars would actually do that though



but for passenger seat, probably the exact same thing has happened to the ass warmer, a wire has broken inside of it, just like on the driver side (so again seat just needs to be pulled apart; but have to be careful of the weight sensor though over there, to not damage it [just a matter of paying attention really and working around it])


edit: wait isn't the passenger sensor in the backrest.... (reason for no back warmer for the passenger ); which would make the ass warmer even easier to fix due to the sensor not being there

 

the thing about using High all the time is that runs the system until it reaches a temp over-limit switch and shuts off
when its cooled enough it comes back on--
thats not great for leather or taking care of the wiring

use high to warm seats then Low- it will cycle on and off with a thermostat to keep in a close temp range but allow system rest cycles
Yes fries- thats from the owner book~
what would you do with your day if it were not spent picking on my post

 

Mine was broken where it passed under one of the rods that secures the cover on- stresses the wire. And the wire is much smaller than 18 ga.- more like 22 or maybe smaller.

 

I thought I saw somewhere on here that a member did the repair without taking out the seat. (But cant find it).

Is that true? I'd hate to remove the seat if I can avoid it.

 

was it at the front rod... cause as said iirc, that might have been where mine also broke too

removeing the seat is not that hard, and personally it will be easier to just remove the seat, so you can work on the underside, with the seat on a bench or flipped upside down on the ground

 

Be far easier to just remove the seat. There is NOTHING hard about doing it. If you have a problem doing that, the rest of the job is going to be much harder (which its not a hard job)

 

maybe I remember 18 guage from the diy parts to buy?
there seem to be many points of stress on the wire that cause friction and break areas
I stand ---or sit--corrected

 

Funny 01TL made the comment about weight sensitive seats. Many times I have started my 02TL-S and have turned the heated seats on.... and went back inside. When I come out the seats are ice cold, but when I sit on them they begin to warm up!

 

you are also probably making the seat heater wire flex and now make contact, cause on the driver side there is ABSOLUTELY no weight sensor