Heated seats - removal of base element - help please?

[Irish Storm 0]

Has anyone removed the base element for heated seats. Main dealers have told me it's a 3.5 hour job! I have managed to acquire an element but have no idea where to start! Help would be appreciated. Thanks

[GIXXERUK 0]

take a look here mate ..........

 

http://www.the-corrado.net/wiki/index.p ... eat_repair

[Irish Storm 0]

Thanks GiXXERUK....... any idea how you rule out a faulty relay...... i have buzzing noise when i switch the heated seat on... ?

[GIXXERUK 0]

is the buzzing coming from the passenger side quarter panel mate

[GIXXERUK 0]

thats where the relays are , one for each seat , i had exactly the same on mine , the relays are £35 +vat each at vag and they couldnt tell me where else to get them (electrical manufactures)

 

so i took mine apart and it was a dry joint, de-soldered and re-soldered and its been fine since (18months ago)

[Irish Storm 0]

yeah that is where the noise is coming from....... VAG told me that I needed a the element in the heated seat replacing. Is it easy to desolder..... resolder? Never took that panel out before..... is it difficult or just on clips?

 

Many Thanks

[GIXXERUK 0]

i found it quite easy but i have soldered before , the panel has a couple of screws iirc

theres a screw at 2b and a screw in the plastic guide for the seat belt No4 , they'll be fairly obvious mate, take the base of the rear seat out to make it easier

[Ice White Socks 0]

I have replaced the heating element in the seat. From my experience it was the broken element in the seat that caused the relay to buzz..

 

There is a very good how-to which talks you through the seat stripdown. On my car one of the wires had come off the heat sensitive resistor in the seat pad itself (looks like a watch battery). I cut through the fabric, carefully soldered it back, and used elastoplast to cover it back up. Its worked fine every since :)

[GIXXERUK 0]

Ice White Socks, hmm it wasnt with mine which i'm glad about :-) but it could be either, so the easiest way to check is to swop the relays over ,if its the relay it will buzz on either seat connection

[GIXXERUK 0]

There is a very good how-to which talks you through the seat stripdown

 

link is above ^^

[Ice White Socks 0]

Aye- like you say, better of switching the relays first and seeing if that fixes it- stripping the seat down is a bit more involved! (although on the plus side you can replace the seat base & bolster at the same time :) )

[Irish Storm 0]

Thanks to both of you. I will give it a go and let you know how i get on

[ReekieVR 0]

I have a buzzing relay, but had the offending seat out and thought i'd give it a go. I couldnt spot anything obvious and i had visions of the leather never going back on properly - so i chickened out and put it all back together :oops:

[Irish Storm 0]

Took both relays out today ( not too difficult a job but the relays were difficult to remove) and switched them over..... no buzzing now but the seat does not work. Will try the heating element fix at the weekend

[GIXXERUK 0]

thats odd , the buzzing relay should of either shown itself in the the other position or buzzed showing it was the element ?

 

how do you know which element it is , the seat or the back ? have you checked the wire that links them ?

[Irish Storm 0]

I was told it was the seat element! It does work intermittently which makes me think the wires linking them are ok? When the buzzing starts the seat stops working? Do you think it could be a short in the element?

 

When i pulled out the relay the cover for the passenger seat came off. Don;t think i damaged it but i suppose it's a possibility.

 

Are the relays easy to get hold of?

[Ice White Socks 0]

Thats just what it could be- a broken wire/ connection in the element. Mine was as you describe- either seat worked or the relay buzzed.

 

I would take the base pad element out (its the one which gets most abuse and is most likely to be damaged). You should be able to see where the damage is and whether its repairable.

[GIXXERUK 0]

i checked my seat elements for continuity thats how i traced it to the relay

[Irish Storm 0]

How long does it take to take the seat out and remove the element?

[STORM 2 0]

Hi Irish Storm, I submitted the guide you looked at earlier.

Taking the seat out and stripping down to the element scared the hell out of me but it really isn't a big job. In fact my element has gone again so I'm going to have to do it again, but I'm resisting until after my exams.

Let me know how you get on. Where did you get your element from by the way?

 

Oh it took me about 2 hours being very careful

[Irish Storm 0]

http://www.vagparts.com supplied the element but i think i'll try and repair the original one first. Good luck with the exams

[Irish Storm 0]

Took seat out today. The guide really helped. Found that the wires had disconnected at a note at the base of the element. Soldered these but unfortunately still does not work. Will check other wires tomorrow