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Heated Seat Issue

tvonderhaar

New Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2007
Messages
2
Hello,

I am new to the forum looking for help with my vehicles problem. I have an 03 Z71 that has a problem with the heated seats.? I purchased the truck new and it now has 55K miles.? My wife drives the vehicle and uses the heated seats a lot.? The problem first started about 6 months ago with the drivers seat upper section getting hotter than normal.? At the time, the passenger seat worked normally.? From there, the problem changed to involve both seats.? If passenger seat would be turned on while the drivers side was already on, the drivers would shut off.? The drivers could then be turned back on, but both would turn off after only a few minutes.? The problem has now progressed to the point that the drivers side will not stay on longer than a few seconds.? The passenger side works OK by itself, but as soon as the driver seat is turned on, both turn off immediately.

My grasping as straws think it may be a current sensing issue and or a short.? I would have thought each seat would have its own overload protection, but they seem to be tied together.? I don't have access to schematics and have no clue where to start.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Tim
 
I had a similar problem. My passenger side would work normal but as soon as I turned on the drivers side, both would shut off in a few seconds. It turned out to be a burnt drivers side back heating element. Real easy to change.

Oh, and welcome to the club :D
 
Thanks for the information. 

I guess I could measure the resistance of the element to see if it is shorted.  Does anyone know what the correct resistance should be?

Also, what kind of cost should I expect for the replacement element?

TIA
 
I don't remember the cost but I don't think it was outrageous. Maybe $50 or so. My cold butt appreciated it this morning :love:
 
It is the heating element.  Had the same problem and was fixed under warranty.

:welcome:

to the club!
 
  I had problems with the passenger side bottom seat heater, but it was also fixed under warranty. In my case, the seat would heat up fine under the legs, just not under the the wife's butt. I didn't mind so much, I was the driver. ;)
  I had problems with the dealership refusing to fix it, they wanted me to pay 1/2 of the costs, but I had just bought the vehicle a few days before! They told me the total cost of replacing the bottom seat heater + labor would be around $300, but they eventually found it in their heart to fix it for free (after a little prodding).
 
Has anyone done this themselves, change out the heating element that is? 

Is it that difficult, hard to get to, know where to find some directions?
 
jeffboocr said:
Has anyone done this themselves, change out the heating element that is??

Is it that difficult, hard to get to, know where to find some directions?

Not hard..seat covers come off. Standard clips and J- clip in the back  :D
 
This is related somewhat. Thought I would share what my great grandpa told me.  Back in the day, way back. Grandpa was a trucker driver. This was back when trucks were chain drive and had no windows or electric lights. The trailer had red lanterns for tail lights. It was common practice to set a lantern between you legs, and cover yourself with a blanket in the winter.  Primitive heating to say the least. To make a long story short, the colder it got the fewer lights you had on your trailer.
 
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