Heated Leather Seats Question???
- Thread starter $m0k3LS
- Start date
camthman
Dedicated LVC Member
no airbag light?
NYC LS8
Dedicated LVC Member
What year is the car???
MMAFIGHTER121
Dedicated LVC Member
your pants are too thick. 
ToddG
Dedicated LVC Member
Heating element is broken. Common issue discussed billions and billions of times before on this board.
aaronearles
Well-Known LVC Member
Don't you mean heated vinyl?
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?
gcwimmer
Dedicated LVC Member
"Leather-trimmed" = Leather where it touches the skin, vinyl everywhere else.
AndrewCoja
Well-Known LVC Member
My seats are made from cut up old raincoats. Was this a factory option?
aaronearles
Well-Known LVC Member
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.
midi_junkie
Dedicated LVC Member
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.
na frill... seats are on ebay right now.. 3 or 4 peeps parting out their ls.
ToddG
Dedicated LVC Member
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?
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
I have no heat to my drivers side seatback or bottom. Passenger side working fine. Thanks
Silver_LS
Dedicated LVC Member
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.
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:
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..
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
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:
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.
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.
Outkast
Dedicated LVC Member
nice. I need to do this on my expedition. Now I'm not so scared.
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.