Heated seat not working
 

Query about the heating in the seat pad for your bottom and the heat pad in the back rest.

If one element is broken can/will the other still work?

Neither of mine are working. Fuse 49 looks to be ok.

I will check the voltage at the plugs under the seat when I can.
If you can help me with the colour code and voltage readings I be grateful

macafee2

Wiring
 

The wiring for the seat base passes between metal springs and the foam seat bottom. Quite common for it to wear through then no heat. It will often blow the fuse with this.

Best starting point is to check you are actually getting power to the connector under seat. Remember the heating element is a switched negative when checking . Think yellow thick wire if I recall correctly.

Wiring diagram for seat connectors on here somewhere.

Other possibility is the thermostat stuck or not connected anymore.
Did they both stop working at same time? Or never worked?
Chris

Yes drivers seat did heat base and back. I was wondering if the base had broken would the back still heat? As fuse seems to be OK I agree, check power at plug.
Nearly bought a replacement seat at the weekend but it had been mullered.

macafee2

Hello Macafee2,

When I started to write my entry you had no replies , and I was interrupted by telephone calls, so apologies if my points have already been answered by other entries above.

It depends how your seat and backrest elements are connected together- in parallel or series.

The Rave circuit diagramme shows the two elements in parallel, but I found mine to be in series.
That aside, I found two points on the seat element's route where my seat's element had snapped due to physical rubbing of the wire against "something else".
One was where you place your posterior on the outer edge of the seat near the join with the backrest.
The other is where the element passes from the central panel to the outer front edge panel. Here, the element goes under the thick wire loop beneath the light grey piping around the central panel leather top cover padding underneath and the securing "hog" loops. Here, constant movement/rubbing between the element, even on it's canvass base and the wire loop, results in the element breaking, with possible evidence of local burning of the canvass.

In the Forum's "How too's" there is one showing the replacement of the Rover element by another whoes name begins with an "S" and this element is supposed to be better than the Rover. because it has two temperature settings. I have one on my seat but prefer the Rover element that covers the whole seat, not just the centralpanel that the replacement element covers.

Have a look in the "How to's". Quite honestly, I would prefer to have the cloth seats of the lower spec models. Leather is too cold in the winter and takes time to take the chill off the seat, and unbearably hot when the car has been left out in the sun in summer. Cloth on the other hand is much better being not so cold in winter and not so hot in summer.

Hoping this helps,

GeoffWW

what section did you look at on the Rave disc, I'll look at the weekend

macafee2

If it's any help I've just removed the front seats on my latest project and found working on the 75 seats is relatively easy.
I found on my donor seat (for passengers height adjustment) the wiring for the heated seats were worn through to bare wires both where it flexes to recline and where the wiring was looped between the metal support and foam cushion.

Fortunately the original wiring on my car had not suffered any wear but I re looped the wiring to hang below the metal support.

When it comes to removing and stripping the seats down I found this easy and had the leather covering off within five minutes.
Having said all this on my current V6, after having no heated seats for almost the entire winter of last year I found that the fault was simply poor connection at the multi plug under the seat.

:wot: :iagree:

The real reason that we prefer leather is status because it's expensive. ;)

Here's an interesting story which I think I learned from James May. When the motor car was evolving from horse drawn carriages, the chauffeur sat in the open on a leather seat. This wasn't because he was a respected member of the staff, it was because it was resistant to the weather! His noble employers sat under cover on cloth seats.

Simon

The two elements are in series, so it's a "one gone, both gone" thing.
Get underneath the seat and disconnect the heating connector. Test for continuity through the seat. If nothing here then one has gone. Hunt around and you'll find the connection where the seat back heater plugs to the base one. Pull this and test for continuity on the back. If nothing, it's gone. If ok, the base has gone.

I have replaced both, neither is a difficult job. Just be careful peeling off the old element and use cable ties on reassembly to replace the hog rings holding the cover centre section in place. Plenty of pics and "how to's" if you look around here.

\\\\\\seat heating
 

Hello again Macafee 2,... apologies for the long wait to answer your question about the Rave diagram.

It is in the section entitled electrical circuit diagrams number 88. On this diagram, each seat circuit is shown separately and the elements are shown in parallel.I have tried to copy and upload this page without success. Sorry about that, but as I said in my previous entry, I found my seat to be connected up in series.

GeoffWW

unfortunately the weather was too bad and the ground too waterlogged for me to kneel on the grass over the weekend and do any testing. This looks like another job that will have to wait a couple of weeks. I have a spare seat I can fit if needed so I will have plenty of time to strip the seat down if needed and replace/repair the element

macafee2