How-to: Heated seats Attention: only for pro!

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Jenni
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How-to: Heated seats Attention: only for pro!

Post by Jenni » Wed Jan 04, 2012 1:04 pm

How-to make your 2000+ leather seats heated.
(Works similar also with other seats like the SRT viper style)

Attention!
Very complicated job. Only for Pro's!
I will NOT assume any liabilities for damages!
Improper mounting can cause fire hazard!
Pay attention while handling airbags! Disconnect battery!
If you don't know how to remove the seats and how to work with the electrical system in your car - Hands off!!


Needed Material:
2 sets seat heater mats complete with harness and switches.
To find on eBay.
Buy carbon mats not that cheap mats with heating wires. They break very quick and are not good for nothing.
I bought mine here, i think you will find something like that over there.

http://stores.ebay.de/a-w-kfz-teile?_trksid=p4340.l2563

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The set includes 2 carbon mats per seat (seating area and backrest) - better would be a set with 4 smaller mats per seat, you will see the reason later.

Tools needed:

- Ratshed mit 15mm und 10mm
- crosstip screwdriver
- Torx T20
- soldering gun, solder, heat shrink tubing
- zip ties
- universal pliers

time needed: 5 to 10 hours, depending on your skillsfor both front seats


Here we have the removed seat. Removal was very easy - 4 screws 15mm ratch, wiring for height adjustment and airbags.

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Move seatrail into rearward position, remove 2 screws 10mm ratch.

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Pull airbag harness

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Attention! Only remove the screw for the seating area - don't play around with the backreast mechanism!

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Remove plastic cover - here: passenger seat.

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Same game @ driver seat.

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Disconnect switch for height adjustment.

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Same thing on this side: ONLY remove the screws for the seating area, don't touch the backrest!!

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Seat cover is fixated with this plastic rails. If you take them apart without harming yourself: Congratulations!
You cannot see it in the picture - the plastic rails are barbed, you have to squeeze the bolster to lever the plastig rails from the metal rails to loosen them.

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Pull the seat cover till you reach the next obstacle in the middle of the seat. The burn mark is btw from a cheap seat mat that checked out there...

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The seat cover is connected to the bolster in a very special perverted way.
No idea who has such small hands...

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Bend the loop at the end of the metal rod up with you plier...

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...and pull it out to the other side.
Remove the middle ring, don't need it anymore.

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The heater mats with harness.

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Direct comparison between old and new.

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And see how wonderfull the new heater mat looks on the bolster.
Don't forget to push it also into the gap.
Here I would love the set with 2 mats / bolster - to not have the stress with the metal rod and that...

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The carbon filaments in the mat could touch the rings and the metal rod and cause electrical problems - so please cut out a little clearance in that area.

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And now it comes:
The most deviant and tricky part - that stupid metal rod has to find its way back into the old position.
Therefor we have to straighten both sides and stick the rod into the seat cover hemline.
Pull it out till it sits behind the clearance for the 1st ring, bring the seat cover into the right position, run the rod through the ring and the small hemline ending and do the same on the other side.
Bend a loop in both endings of the rod with your plier.

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If everything sits perfect pull the cover over the bolster, don't forget the velcro strips and hook the plastic rails in.
The wiring should lie on the door side so you can hide it later under the plastic cover.

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Seating area is finished, now to the backrest.
You have that plastic cover with the parcel net - be happy, the next trap is waiting for you!
Remove the 2 screws

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Now remove the plastic part with gentle brute force. It is furnished with 2 extra mean hooks that are almost impossible to remove. Once the plastic nose is broken - you will never get it back into the right position.
Thank you Dodge!!!

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There you see the nasty hooks:

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Remove the cover just as at the seating area.
But it is way easier here.

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On the airbag side the cover is secured with to metal rings. Remove them and throw them away...

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The airbag module:

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Attention: Pull the cover on the airbag side only up to the airbag module!
No need to remove the whole cover!


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Ah, we meet again some old friends: The metal rod and the 3 rings.
Remove the rod.
I threw it away - backrest is also good w/o it and the distance between the rings is shorter what makes it more complicated to cut a clearance into the mat.
But if you like the efforts...

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Bring the mat into the right posistion and don't forget the gap.

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Reinstall the backrest cover, reassemble the seating area - and here you can see all the wiring coming together (extra wiring is for my head rest screens)

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And now all the wiring is hidden under the plastic cover:

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I choosed this area under the armrest to mount the switches. Perfect for me.
Other positions are also possible - like the panel under the radio, but therefor the wiring is too short and must be elongated.

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The wiring clew ready for install::

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Under the seats you will find a prepared hole in your carpet for wiring harness (airbag...) - there you can perfectly sneak through the seat heater harness.

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There they are - straight from the ebrake lever.
Harness should look like 8" out of the carpet - so you can move the seat w/o problems.

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Find 12V for the seat heater in your fusebox. Therefor you have to route wires through the dash board.
(Just plus and ground)
Don't forget to use a fuse.
And don't take those cheap connector thingies - only solder, nothing else!
Seat heater takes 70 watts per side - with cheap connectors you will end up in a nice fire!

No pictures for this part - but the whole how-to is only for professionals so you should know where to get some 12V...

Now just reinstall the center console, the seats, plug all the connectors and finish.


Have fun with your toasted butt!




(Please excuse my english - dictionary was a big help but i am pretty sure that i was using some special words completely wrong...) :lol:

r/tguy02
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Post by r/tguy02 » Wed Jan 04, 2012 1:28 pm

nice writup, although none of us here in the america's have to worry about removing the panel for the height adjustment switch :lol:
wish i had me some toasty buns though :thumbup:
Justin
[02 R/T sold][00 Highline sold][04 r/t scrapped][95 NYG Sport coupe][01 r/t DD]
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2931823

occasional demons
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Post by occasional demons » Wed Jan 04, 2012 2:05 pm

:thumbup:

With the correct upholstery tools it should be easier. I don't have them either, but on the Concorde seats I used, I was able to get the rods in and out without removing the loop at the ends. If the rod is rusted, it makes it very difficult to get through the cover. Pulling out a rusty rod sucks, but after you polish it up, it goes back in much better.


Ratshed mit 15mm und 10mm


Not sure if that is a typo or German. It would be "ratchet" in English. :lol:
Bill
Olha Koba, a psychologist in Kyiv, said that “anger and hate in this situation is a normal reaction and important to validate.” But it is important to channel it into something useful, she said, such as making incendiary bombs out of empty bottles.
2000 Neon MTX swap with '02 R/T PCM
1999 neon coupe 2.4 swap
2021 Forester

Jenni
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Location: Berlin, Germany

Post by Jenni » Wed Jan 04, 2012 3:38 pm

typo. dammit. i looked into the dict and misstyped nonetheless...

occasional demons
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Posts: 20304
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Post by occasional demons » Wed Jan 04, 2012 6:22 pm

I have to admit, you got me at first. "WTF is a Ratshed?" :rofl:
Bill
Olha Koba, a psychologist in Kyiv, said that “anger and hate in this situation is a normal reaction and important to validate.” But it is important to channel it into something useful, she said, such as making incendiary bombs out of empty bottles.
2000 Neon MTX swap with '02 R/T PCM
1999 neon coupe 2.4 swap
2021 Forester

stdlystdmufn
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Post by stdlystdmufn » Wed Jan 04, 2012 8:07 pm

great write up. just to make it much easier for anyone that might do this in the future. you don't need to pull the metal rod out. those little rings are called hog rings. the best way to get them out is to cut them with a set of side cuts (the longer the handle the easier they will be to cut). to install the hog rings you use a set of hog ring pliers. here is a write up for using hog ring pliers on a PT cruiser.

i do these sometimes at work. with the hog ring pliers and side cuts i can have a seat cover swapped and installed (and a break for a cigi O:) ) in 30 minutes.
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in the middle of a DOHC and MTX swap and going with an ASP kit pwered by the S259 batmowheel

Midnight_Rider
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Post by Midnight_Rider » Thu Jan 05, 2012 3:26 am

Fantastic write up! Off-topic but I wish that we had been able to order the power seats here in the US...
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Jenni
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Location: Berlin, Germany

Post by Jenni » Thu Jan 05, 2012 3:56 am

good tip about the ring pliers, thank you.

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