Has anyone installed their own heated seats?

[UofMZ71]

i have the front heated seats, so dont have to worry about that but would be currious to the same question for the rear seats. i have the captains in the back and see the spots for the heated seat controls in the rear, and wouldnt think it would be that hard or expensive to do the rear. if so id just skip it but could help retail (sorta, haha)

 

[jb27]

I emailed gmpartsdirect to see if they could send me a pdf of the installation instructions. They emailed back and said they didn't have access to the instructions. bummer.

 

[yukon 04]

yukon 04

I'm having trouble with my heated seats. You turn them on and they shut off after a minute or two . Sometimes if you turn them back on the shut right off again . Both sides will shut off at the same time too. sounds like a relay or something somewhere any suggestions??

 

[snowjay]

Just got a Tahoe and am considering adding the heated seats. Just wondering if the OP ended up tackling the install or just having the dealer do it. Also, was the $600+ for the parts and labor or just the labor?

Thanks

I never did the install. It was $635 for parts and labor from the dealer. The dealer never got back to me on having them installed and it's just not that important to me to have to chase them down to do it. I was never able to find any instructions either on the DIY kit.

 

[blaqout]

I found this kit and it seems like a great deal, comes with the switch and everything.
http://www.sportsimportsltd.com/pecafidutewa.html

 

[snowjay]

Big bump...

Well I went ahead and ordered the GM kit for the heated seats. I took tomorrow off to do it (dealer said it was 4 hours in their books).

The kit arrived today... HFC! I knew I'd have to remove the seats and door panels but none of the wiring for the heated seats is existing so they have you running new harnesses from the seats to the power block, removing the block and tapping into wires etc... If a dealer can do this in 4 hours, all the power to them.

edit:

Ok, now that I've read the instructions several times over it seems the SUV install is much easier than the pickup install. The kit is for both and the instructions are jumbled together. The SUV should be plug and play, well except for having to get a scan tool to activate them. So I'm going to go for it tomorrow I think.

 

[snowjay]

I started at 7:30am and finished at 3:15pm.

The longest part of the day was taking the seats apart since they don't tell you how to do that, they just refer to a procedure number. Seats came out quick and went in just as fast. Wiring was cake and the door switches were easy as well.

Now just need to get it programmed.

 

[snowjay]

Dealer had me in and out in 1/2hr this morning. Now I can keep my ass warm.

 

[deangrell]

So to clarify...did you have to put a heat element in the seat? Did you then run wire under the carpet or did it plug in? Can you scan the instructions in? Thanks!

 

[snowjay]

So to clarify...did you have to put a heat element in the seat? Did you then run wire under the carpet or did it plug in? Can you scan the instructions in? Thanks!

Yes to both. I'll try and get the instructions scanned this week. But to summarize...

- You need to remove both the drivers and passengers seats.
- Then you remove all the trim around the seat. (they don't tell you this in the instructions they just refer to some other procedure - loosen the seat back by removing two rear bolts and loosen the two front ones - this is so you can move the seat back forward to remove the bottom cushion)
- Unhook the bottom seat cover from frame and remove cushion.
- peel back the leather/fabric cover off the cushion and unclip the internal fasteners on one side only (so you are only peeling back half the seat cover)
- install seat heater, stretch leather/fabric cover back over the cushion and reengage the internal clips.
- Remove seat back (this part was tricky, it took me a while to figure out how to get it off)
- unhook seat back cover from bottom and sides only.
- peel back seat cover uncliping as before but leave the top attached.
- install back heater, reinstall cover/clips, and reattach cover to frame.
- mount the seat heater on the frame.
- reinstall bottom cushion.
- same procedure for the passengers seat minus the seat heater (the one heater controls both seats).
- install wiring harness on drivers seat, plug in heating module & heating pads
- install wiring harness on passengers seat plug in heating pads.
- reinstall seat backs and all seat trim.

In the vehicle:
- remove drivers side rocker trim and lower kick panel trim.
- run wiring harness from drivers seat over to passengers seat.
- run wiring harness from under drivers seat up the rocker panel to the power module under the dash.
- plug in two connectors. Coil up excess wire/connectors that are only used for pickups and tie it up out of the way under the dash.
- reinstall seats, plug in harnesses to the seat harnesses.
- reinstall all trim pieces.

-remove drivers door panel.
-unhook drivers latch
-unbolt latch and remove
-install new latch with heat switches.
-plug heat switches into the power window switch module. (I just turned the door panel 90 degrees so I could see the bottom of the switches, it is clearly marked by color, gray, where the plug goes. That was easier and faster than trying to take out the switch module and risk scratching it IMHO.)
- reinstall door panel
- repeat passenger side.

Done!

I can give much more detailed instructions on any of the above should someone else attempt this. It really wasn't that bad as it first seemed.

I had both seats out and all the harnesses run in 1.5hrs. 45 for seats and 45 for harnesses (I was taking my time, being careful and neat).

The first seat took me 2.5hrs to do. It took me a while with the trim and getting the bottom cushion off and then the seat back. I did the second seat in less than 1.5hrs.

Reinstallation of seats and adding the new switches to the doors took less than 2hrs.


The service advisor was impressed I did it all in about 8 hours. His exact words were "Wow, you're a trooper, those are the biggest pains in the ass for us." He said the first time they did one it took them 2 days! LOL

I'm sure the next time I do it I could do it in under 6hrs.

I also did buy some trim removal tools from Amazon that are plastic so I wouldn't scratch anything.