heated seats

[Nummyx6]

Anyone experienced a problem with their heated seats switching off when you try to use both at the same time?

Suddenly mine started shutting off in about 3 seconds when you have both on at the same time. We have been using them all winter this way and they have worked until this last weekend. What's up?

2003 Yukon XL

 

[Nummyx6]

No one?? Well now, they won't even stay on seperately. Help!!! My @$$ is cold.

 

[jdpromo33]

No one?? Well now, they won't even stay on seperately. Help!!! My @$$ is cold.

This has been discussed many times. Do a search on heated seats.
Many of us have had this issue.
It's the heating control unit under the seat that operates both seat heat cushions.

$700 repair at Dealer unless you buy the control unit $475 and install yourself

 

[yargnits]

$700 repair at Dealer unless you buy the control unit $475 and install yourself

That's insane! Can these things be repaired? I'd sooner open mine up before if mine goes.

 

[jdpromo33]

That's insane! Can these things be repaired? I'd sooner open mine up before if mine goes.

I did some research and found out that this is the problem.
It's the heat seater element under the drivers seat and because it's connected to the passenger side seat, when it shorts out it then shorts the passenger side also
Here's how to fix the problem

The heating element is like a piece of fabric that sits under the leather. Its held in place front and back by what amounts to tape to the foam. The new one comes with it - peel and stick like a band-aid.

To change, you unscrew the seat control switches and plastic panel on the side of the seat. The switches or connectors unscrew from the inside of the panel also IIRC. With the switches out of the way, the leather is pulled off the seat cushion. Its held on by way of plastic channels that are part of the cover that sit over the edge of the metal frame. Pull the channel off the metal and up it comes to reveal the heating element. I didn't completely remove the cushion leather from the seat and left it attached in the back. I pulled the element up (ripping an insignificant amount of foam with it due to adhesive). The element wires snake through the back of the seat and simply plug into the truck harness. If you are looking underneath the seat, the connector is bright green. I used a long pick to pull the wires to where I could reach them with my hand. The key is to lay the new element as flat as possible when sticking the adhesive to the foam. The "right way" is probably to take the seat apart or at least to fully remove the leather from the cushion in order to get it perfectly flat in the back where the seat cushion and seat back come together but I was able to get it pretty flat just pushing it back with my fingertips then peeling the adhesive strip. Installation of the leather and switches is reverse of removal.

Its really a piece of cake job. Budget 30 minutes. The old one should look burnt up in spots which will confirm that its the issue. Element was like $90 through a friend in the industry.

 

[bubbalouie]

i took out my driver seat by removing 2 star shaped nuts in the front, a star bolt on the rear right side and then, using a hand wrench, inserting it into the bottom of the rail to remove 2 standard nuts (actually quite easy)
once the seat was loose, i disconnected the main power junction and unclipped a yellow end from under the seat; now the seat could be removed
after that, i unclipped the 2 white plastic clips from each side underneath the seat; you have to thread the 4 clips attached to upholstery through a tight slot; when those are freed, remove the long black plastic clip from each other (buried between the back and the bottom of the seat); a long flat screwdriver would be useful to get things started
once this is removed, you can peel back both the bottom and the back; there is thin strips of velcro that must be pulled back; remove the old heater pad and carefully lay out the new one; make sure it is flat;
put the seat upholstery back in with the clips (the new seat heaters might come with new clips); try to get your seat fabric/leather as tight as possible; it might be hard to reinsert the white clips through the frame slit; try using an allen key that is angled at 90 degrees; you can use this to catch the plastic hook and pull it through the slot; be careful; i broke the plastic clip off the leather strip because i had used a flat screwdriver to push it through the slot
you may have to re-route the wiring a different way; make sure the vertical strips on the heater pad for the velcro seat backing are in the right place ( i couldn't route the wiring the way the old heater was because the wiring of the new pad was on the opposite side); make sure the sticky part of the heater pad is on the seat itself and not the fabric/leather
put the seat back and screw nuts back on; reattach the wiring before you do this
total cost was about $150 for both the back and the bottom pads and for shipping to canada (my dealer wanted $200 for ONE of the heater elements); it took about 3 hours to replace; it works great now!