My driver's side seat doesn't heat up...WTF? I check the fuse and it was fine. Any help is welcome.

no airbag light?

What year is the car???

No there's no air bag light and the year is a 2000 LS V8

your pants are too thick. :)

My driver's side seat doesn't heat up...WTF? I check the fuse and it was fine. Any help is welcome.

Heating element is broken. Common issue discussed billions and billions of times before on this board.

Don't you mean heated vinyl? :) And yes +1, heating element.

Don't you mean heated vinyl? :) And yes +1, heating element.

Kind of off topic, but I'm curious. I read online that most cars with leather had leather on the front, and the sides and back were vinyl, so I looked in my 03, and I can tell a texture difference from the front to the sides, so I assumed that the LS had real leather, am I wrong?

Kind of off topic, but I'm curious. I read online that most cars with leather had leather on the front, and the sides and back were vinyl, so I looked in my 03, and I can tell a texture difference from the front to the sides, so I assumed that the LS had real leather, am I wrong?

"Leather-trimmed" = Leather where it touches the skin, vinyl everywhere else.

Heating element is broken. Common issue discussed billions and billions of times before on this board.


So how do I go about changing this kind ppls?

uhhhh... the seats in my 03 sure as hell appear to be 100% leather...

My seats are made from cut up old raincoats. Was this a factory option?

uhhhh... the seats in my 03 sure as hell appear to be 100% leather...

Look at the difference in texture and smoothness from the front of the seat to the back. Mines an 03 as well, and I'm pretty sure it's half-and-half.

pigskin actually.......................................... ................ you can prob fix that element... unzip your seats.. take it out.. see if anythings unplugged........ if not... get an old heater (window unit) take out the entire element.... jam it under your seat and plug it into your cig lighter when yer cold.. youre gonna have to do some splicing.. but hey.. at least you wont be cold.





















na frill... seats are on ebay right now.. 3 or 4 peeps parting out their ls.

So how do I go about changing this kind ppls?


You have to remove the seat, peel back the leather, replace the element, and put it all back together again. Its probably easier said than done.

Question: what does the airbag light have to do with the heated seat? I have an airbag light on (but I think it's clockspring, as my cruise control buttons are confused)

My driver seat heated seat light is green and does not work while the passenger button is orange and does work. How do I check the connection? Are the fuses for the heated seats the same fuse (both driver and pass on same fuse?) How do I find out if I need to replace the element?

Question. Anyone know which wires under the seat I should check for 12volts? I want to ensure Im actually getting a signal to the heated seat element, before just blindly assuming both elements are bad.

I have no heat to my drivers side seatback or bottom. Passenger side working fine. Thanks

anyone?

heating element?

The drivers seat in my suburban doesn't work either, someone told me to pull the leather cover off the bottom of the seat and there is a wire that gets messed up just from normal wear and tear... I don't know if that will help you but maybe.

heating element?

The drivers seat in my suburban doesn't work either, someone told me to pull the leather cover off the bottom of the seat and there is a wire that gets messed up just from normal wear and tear... I don't know if that will help you but maybe.

yes. Most heated seats in autos (including 00-02 LS's) have an element which consists of material covering very thin wires..almost like the wires in a rear defroster. The element lays on top of the seat foam and underneath the leather cover. It most likely looks like this:

http://www.roverconnection.com/Disco2%20Parts/Land_Range_Rover_Discovery_Heated_Seat_Element_HGT 500020_A.jpg



it's not uncommon after a few years, for one of the tiny metal wires inside the element to break from years of stress. When this happens, the heated seat stops working.

See the plug on then end of the element in the pic? That plug, plugs into another plug somewhere under the seat. The under the seat plug gets 12v from the cars electrical system once you hit the heated seat switch. Im looking for that similiar plug in the LS, and then determiing which of the pins gives off the 12volts. If I press the heated seat button and get 12volts at the plug? Then I pretty much know its the element. If I press the button and dont get 12 volts at the plug? Chances are its not the element, but something else. I want to find this out BEFORE i go to the trouble and cost of ordering the element and removing the seats..

yes. Most heated seats in autos (including 00-02 LS's) have an element which consists of material covering very thin wires..almost like the wires in a rear defroster. The element lays on top of the seat foam and underneath the leather cover. It most likely looks like this:

http://www.roverconnection.com/Disco2%20Parts/Land_Range_Rover_Discovery_Heated_Seat_Element_HGT 500020_A.jpg



it's not uncommon after a few years, for one of the tiny metal wires inside the element to break from years of stress. When this happens, the heated seat stops working.

See the plug on then end of the element in the pic? That plug, plugs into another plug somewhere under the seat. The under the seat plug gets 12v from the cars electrical system once you hit the heated seat switch. Im looking for that similiar plug in the LS, and then determiing which of the pins gives off the 12volts. If I press the heated seat button and get 12volts at the plug? Then I pretty much know its the element. If I press the button and dont get 12 volts at the plug? Chances are its not the element, but something else. I want to find this out BEFORE i go to the trouble and cost of ordering the element and removing the seats..

Be very careful playing with the connectors under the front seats. One of them goes to the airbag ignitor in the seat side airbag.

I have a 2001 lincoln ls v8 black interior.
Tackeled the heated element on the weekend
Took a little less then 2 hours and I took my sweet time.
I got the elemenet of ebay for about 45 plus shipping.
Took the 4 bolts off the seat mount and unplugged all the wires. I then flipped it down on the back seat (pull the handle in the trunck to drop the seats down) remove the headrest and flop it down. There are 4 bolt underneath that hold the cushion on. Remove the 4 bolts. Out comes the seat that you need. Flip over cut all the hog rings. I then pulled the leather and removed the steel. Next cut the rest off the hog rings that hold the leather onto the cushion. Fix or replace the element. To fix remove an inch of the bad wire and resoldier the connection. Now put everything back together. I used about 24-30 Hog rings and a thin pair of hog ring pliers that are on a 45 degree tip on the end. I would say the job was a 1.5 out of 5 for hardness. I have been using it for 4 days now and works great. I am doing a Buick LeSaber after christmas and I am just going to fix the element.
My Lincoln LS element had a nice little burn hole that looked like a cigarette burn. NO SIGN ON THE LEATHER THOUGH.

nice. I need to do this on my expedition. Now I'm not so scared. :)

I have a 2001 lincoln ls v8 black interior.
Tackeled the heated element on the weekend
Took a little less then 2 hours and I took my sweet time.
I got the elemenet of ebay for about 45 plus shipping.
Took the 4 bolts off the seat mount and unplugged all the wires. I then flipped it down on the back seat (pull the handle in the trunck to drop the seats down) remove the headrest and flop it down. There are 4 bolt underneath that hold the cushion on. Remove the 4 bolts. Out comes the seat that you need. Flip over cut all the hog rings. I then pulled the leather and removed the steel. Next cut the rest off the hog rings that hold the leather onto the cushion. Fix or replace the element. To fix remove an inch of the bad wire and resoldier the connection. Now put everything back together. I used about 24-30 Hog rings and a thin pair of hog ring pliers that are on a 45 degree tip on the end. I would say the job was a 1.5 out of 5 for hardness. I have been using it for 4 days now and works great. I am doing a Buick LeSaber after christmas and I am just going to fix the element.
My Lincoln LS element had a nice little burn hole that looked like a cigarette burn. NO SIGN ON THE LEATHER THOUGH.


Thanks for the info.

A couple of questions. Was your seat bottom and seat back both no longer heating/working? Neither on mine are working on the drivers side, and the dealer parts guy says that there are two separate elements for the 2000-2002 LS seats. One for the seatback and one for the seat bottom. Did you replace both, or just one?

Sounds like you left the seat in the car while working? Not quite sure Im understanding the laying it on the back seat part. On my BMW, once you remove the 4 bolts and unplug the harnesses, the entire seat comes out of the car to take in the house for easy working.

bump

There is only a heated element in the cushion there is nothing in the back. I think what you feel heating up the back is the area of the cushion that your butt doesn't touch that kind of rolls into the crease of the back. When that heats up HOT air rises and you feel it on your back. Its like a small triangle of empty space.The 2003-2006 had a back heated element with heated air duct bottom.

If I were to do it again I would have tried to just fix the element buy soldering a wire in the spot that it was broken. I only replaced the bottom drivers side element cause the passenger side works fine.

I didn't remove the whole seat because of the seatbelt. Why do more work then you have to I always say. I folded the back, back seat down. Because if you don't the back seat isn't deep enough to lay the drivers seat on it. You have plenty of room to remove the 4 bolts in the cushion. I don't know whats is all involved in removing the seatbelt, but why remove the seat if you don't have to? Risk scratching the leather or a door panel.

The other day I fixed a 04 Ford F150 power window regulator. Well I looked online and on a forum the guy said it took 2 hours and the hardest part was removing the window and putting it back in with out breaking it. It took me 20 minutes to do the job from start to finish. I used duct tape to hold the window up.

Hope that helps you out. Merry HO HO

Thanks for the additional info. And per the local Lincoln Mercury dealership, per the parts lookup at www.fastpartsnetwork.com, and per the Ford Service CD, there definitely is a heating element in the backrest of 2000-2002 LS's with the Heated Seat option. I only have the bottom cushion out, so I havent confirmed the backrest pad yet.

And sure enough, here is the issue thats the root cause of my problem. (The element wire is extremely thin. I cant even see the wire inside of the blue sheath/covering of the element. Has to be just one strand. The wire is smaller than 26guage, which is the smallest my wire stripper goes. No chance for me of soldering this puppy. I'll have to get the replacement pad/element..around $100

http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/showthread.php?t=40405

fix it yourself

With the dealerships closed, I figured what the heck, I'll try to solder it. Took my time, used my fingernail to slowly scrape away and peel back the insulation on both ends, was able to tie the ends together nicely, put a bead of solder down the entire length of the exposed/re-wrapped wire, wrapped it in electrical tape, then taped it back down to the insulation/pad. Put it all back together and been working great ever since, even the lower back, which I didnt even touch. Just did the cushion. Saved myself over $200 as I had planned to buy the cushion and seatback elements.