Heated Seat Mod?

My butt portion of the drivers seat heater doesn't work. I was looking into fixing it and was wondering if anyone has modded theirs so that they have a separate switch for the butt portion. That way I could control both sections, back and butt, separately.

 

BTW, I'm a mechanical engineer and know only the basics about electrical systems.

 

Anyone done it? Any ideas to make it happen?

I can't really help with isolating the seat from the back with switches, but have you seen this walk-through to possibly fix the seat portion?

 

Fix Your Heated Seat

i dont think my butt portion works either

mine doesn't either but there's NO way I'm trying that walkthrough. My ass can warm up the old-fashioned way

x 2

If you read that whole thread some guys were also just reaching in and tugging the heat element out enough to re solder the wire. Sounds like the route I will be trying.

I have a question from another angle: Neither front seat heater is working. I get illumination at the two switches, so there must be power there. Is there a relay somewhere which sends the heavy duty current to those toaster grids? Seems like there must be a problem other than broken wiring. I don't think anyone has sat in that passenger seat for more than 5000 miles!

The butt portion on the drivers side of our Outback doesn't work...but all the other sections work. Its so annoying, guess we'll be doing the mod to fix that.

BACK FROM THE DEAD!!!

 

I've taken the skin off a few seats *other vehicles* and it's not nearly as hard as it looks. Yes it's not super easy but not as bad as it appears.

 

What I've always done is use small zip ties in lieu of hog rings. Has worked fine and never failed for me.

 

What led me here is my seat heater elements seem to work fine but they cut off just when they're starting to get toasty, trying to find a way to make them stay on longer.....I'll keep searching.

BACK FROM THE DEAD!!!

 

I've taken the skin off a few seats *other vehicles* and it's not nearly as hard as it looks. Yes it's not super easy but not as bad as it appears.

 

What I've always done is use small zip ties in lieu of hog rings. Has worked fine and never failed for me.

 

What led me here is my seat heater elements seem to work fine but they cut off just when they're starting to get toasty, trying to find a way to make them stay on longer.....I'll keep searching.

 

Maybe put a capacitor in the line to keep the current up longer?

There's usually a thermostat in the seat to limit the power the heat seats provide in order to avoid the toasted butt syndrome.

Sorry to have sidetracked this thread, but it was dead anyways.

 

Studying the heated seat circuit schematic last night it didn't show any thermistor or heat activated cut off's in the seat itself but I'll look harder.

 

It appears our seats are completely controlled by the switch assembly. The BCM plays no role in the seats.

 

I'm planning on dismantling the seat switch soon to see if a mod can be done to have more control over temps.