Heated seat inop

[Matt In Detroit]

Looking for a little help. My drivers seat heater doesnt work, I know its a common MM issue. Passenger side works. I replaced the drivers door switch because it was blinking so i am confident its not that. Is there a common problem? is it more likely the heating element or the module? Has anyone seen the seat bottom work but not the back, or vice versa? im just wondering if the elements are wired in series or parallel. Meaning if one goes out they both do or they work independantly of each other. Since my seat back and bottom both dont work i am temped to blame the module, but i need more info. I plan to get out the ohmmeter and do some testing tonite.

Anyone have any comments?

Car has 26k on it and the seats look perfect. So its not like they are beat all to hell.

[fastblackmerc]

Looking for a little help. My drivers seat heater doesnt work, I know its a common MM issue. Passenger side works. I replaced the drivers door switch because it was blinking so i am confident its not that. Is there a common problem? is it more likely the heating element or the module? Has anyone seen the seat bottom work but not the back, or vice versa? im just wondering if the elements are wired in series or parallel. Meaning if one goes out they both do or they work independantly of each other. Since my seat back and bottom both dont work i am temped to blame the module, but i need more info. I plan to get out the ohmmeter and do some testing tonite.

Anyone have any comments?

Car has 26k on it and the seats look perfect. So its not like they are beat all to hell.

Common problem? Haven't heard that one before.

Test the circuit breaker in the battery junction box under the hood (25A drivers side (hot at all times), 15A passenger side (hot in run only)) . Check the switch. Check that there is power into the heated seat module (one for each seat) and out to the element.

BTW... the heat element is only in the cushion not in the back rest.

[Matt In Detroit]

I just printed off the seat wiring pages from Oasis. I see the 25A and the 15A fuses. Ill check them tonight. I assume the pass 15A is ok since that seat works. Im surprised they are on separate circuits. Ill check it all tonight, thanks.

Well i thought it was a common issue, I remember some posts about inop seat heaters before.....

[jonroe]

I had the problem. There is a controller under each seat (I think) and in my case one of the controllers was replaced and one of the heating elements was replaced all under warranty. My driver's seat - both bottom and back quit. For passengers seat only one element quit.

[Got_1]

check the heated seat element. pull the connector and check resistance at the element itself. if the element is burned up then it should be OFL or a very high value. this is very common in fords.

[MyTMerc]

I just printed off the seat wiring pages from Oasis. I see the 25A and the 15A fuses. Ill check them tonight. I assume the pass 15A is ok since that seat works. Im surprised they are on separate circuits. Ill check it all tonight, thanks.

Well i thought it was a common issue, I remember some posts about inop seat heaters before.....

My passenger side seat heater hasn't worked since the warranty expired and both driver and passenger side lights are out. Probably a little more common than some thought. Never mentioned it. Any progress on your fix? Pics?

[SC Cheesehead]

Had the same problem on the driver's side on my DTR, was fixed under warranty before the wreck.

[DOOM]

Had the same problem on the driver's side on my DTR, was fixed under warranty before the wreck.

What was the problem? :confused:

I have never heard fo this happening before.

And i agree with fastblackmerc I though only the bottom part of the seat got hot and NOT the back part.

[SC Cheesehead]

Just quit working.

Push the button = Nothing happened.

Can't recall what the fix was, but once fixed it kpet working until the car got wrecked.

+1 on the seat bottom only.

[RUSTY]

The back gets hot?

[FordNut]

There is a heater element in the back also. I swapped heated seats into mine from another car and they were bonded to the foam so I had to swap the base foam as well as the back foam. The heater element in the back is in the lumbar area.

BTW, since somebody will ask why I didn't just swap out the entire seats I'll go ahead and explain: the replacement seats had been wet so the seat frames had surface rust which I didn't like as well as the replacement seats being from a 300B which didn't have the seat pockets. I think there's a thread on here somewhere that explains what I had to do, the wiring harnesses for the seats as well as the rest of the car had to be modified as well as the occupancy sensor for the passenger's side.

[UncleLar]

The backs are heated?I've never felt heat from mine.

[FordNut]

I saw the heaters personally. Mine and my wife's both have heat in the lumbar area. Both have heated seats from an '03 300B, so I can't say if the '04 has heated lumbar.

[imorb1994]

My 04 has heated lumbar

[UncleLar]

I'll have to check both of my seats tomorrow and see.

[Matt In Detroit]

No fix yet. I did check all the fuses, all good. I replaced the switch on the driver door since it was blinking, still no luck. I swapped the heated seat module from driver to passenger side (pass works) and the passenger still worked and driver did not. There is voltage at the driver module in the harness. So i am down to the seat elements. I did some checking on the bottom seat element with an ohmeter and the readings are the same R- L, at that time i was under the assumption there was no back element, so this confused me why the readings were the same and its the last item to check and i expected the driver side to have an open circuit. But now if you guys say there is a back element i need to go back and check that. Onr thing for sure is there is a lot of wiring in that seat, power seat track, lumbar, heat, airbag.

[jonroe]

Yes, my 04 has heated lumbar area.

[rickey1987]

My 03 only heats the bottom (as far as I know) and I'm not sure about the passenger side, ill have to check that out, maybe my passenger side is working and my driver isnt.:dunno:

[Matt In Detroit]

I am going to pull the drivers seat this weekend or next to investigate and likely disassemble the cushion to find the problem. Any pointers from the experienced on taking the seats out? how concerned do i need to be about de-powering the seat airbag? pull fuses?

[UncleLar]

My 04 DTR does have heated lumbar,pretty neat.All it needs now is a heated and telescopic steering wheel.

[FordNut]

I am going to pull the drivers seat this weekend or next to investigate and likely disassemble the cushion to find the problem. Any pointers from the experienced on taking the seats out? how concerned do i need to be about de-powering the seat airbag? pull fuses?

I didn't do anything special, just raise it up so you can get your hands under the seat before unplugging. Unless you have a driveshaft loop, everything is accessed from inside the car.

[offroadkarter]

my 04 has a butt warmer and a back warmer....

[Matt In Detroit]

Finally got to the seat today. Pulled the seat to get into it deeper. After checking the elements i determined the one in the back was bad. Look what i found after i peeled back the cover. Looks like it could have potentially cought the car on fire. The element was open in this spot. I pulled the element wire out enough to get some clean wire, I tied it in a knot and soldered it. Im gong to see if this takes care of it. After my fix, the element had continuity. So we will see. Just need to install it and try it out.

Confirmed, the seats have a butt and back warmer.

[Matt In Detroit]

Tried out the seat, works great. Apparently my fix did the job.

[Got_1]

very common to see an element burned in that fashion. glad you fixed it!