Discontinued Seat Heater Control Assembly

I own a 2013 Tacoma Limited. The driver side heated seat stopped working. Passenger works fine and both switches will light up on the control panel. I pulled the seat and was able to see that by Seat Heater Control Assembly unit has a visibly burned out lead(see pic). So I called the dealer who gave me Toyota part # 87501-0C020 but then advised that it was a discontinued part with no replacement available. He then found one listed on Amazon which I ordered. This morning I received an email from the Amazon vendor saying the part was no longer available.

My questions:
Where can I get this replacement part?

Obviously I can take the replacement part from the passenger side. However, I am stuck on the fact that my recently manufactured Tacoma includes parts which have no replacements.

 

I have had to order the cushion element and it came with it.
Done two the past year.
Been about 5 months since last repair I did so don't know if things have changed since then.

On edit.

If it's burned like that then you should replace the element also as bad connections there will cause hi amp and overheating again.

 

https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/323625213588

 

The power of google is strong with this one.

 

Dunno that id want to replace a part thats been discontinued for that very reason.... vehicle electrical fires are NO JOKE.

 

Excellent! Thanks for the direction!

Interesting statement regarding the reason for discontinuing part. @nd4spdbh: Is your statement based on personal knowledge of their motive behind discontinuing part? Perhaps the integrity and safety of the seat heating system is compromised if just a single part it replaced.

Based on above thread it seems it can be ordered from Toyota but only as a part of replacement cushion per Tacoma Mike.

I'll take a look at both options. Thanks again for the practical advice.

BR

 

I have occasionaly smelled smoke in my truck the odd time .
Wondering if this could be the cause .
My truck is all original 2010 with the fake leather heated seats .
They both seem to function fine so far

 

Pretty sure there was a big safety recall / stop sale on tacomas with heated seats.... just saying.

 

You are not alone in the search for this part, more info here.

Driver side stop working on mine couple days ago, and I'm yet to verify if that is the part that failed.

 

Look for any discoloring on the fabric as well..

 

Well shit mine just stopped working and I was searching for a wiring diagram for the seats. Guess Ill go look for that control box and see what mine looks like.

 

This is the worst time too because its been super cold lately.

 

Best part is it melted the plug so I couldn't replace it even it was available.....

 

I wonder if the cause of this situation is similar to the reason why the earlier Tacoma's had prematurely failing, ultimately burning HVAC resistors and plugs.

The cause was poor contact at the pins, which would cause a constant arcing situation which caused high resistance > excessive heat > burning items > constant replacement of items.

The fix for that was to tweak the male pins so they would sit like this / / / / in the resistor (not so extreme but you get the idea), instead of like this - - - - this ensured a superior physical contact which negates high resistance and constant electrical arcing.

Just putting ideas out there.

 

I wonder if there is/was a TSB out there for this. Guess Im gonna have a cold butt for a while, especially with probably not getting paid here shortly...

 

Whoo.. Alaska. It must be really cold. The seat heaters are a nice amenity.

 

Also looking for this part 87501-0C020. Any luck?

 

Interesting fact for people that had been dealing with blown seat heater control modules, the latest parts catalog update added that part back into the catalog as something that can be ordered separately. Part number listed is 87501-0C020, which is what people were trying to order before without luck. It appears this part number is now in the system as orderable and so should be easier to get moving forward. May take some time before online parts stores update their websites to not show it as discontinued.

Getting the connector from Toyota will only be available with the seat heater element (which includes the module), but at least there may be a source for modules once stock is acquired for the distribution network.

If you really do need the connector as well, it can be sourced separately from Molex:

39-01-4050 - Housing, Connector
39-00-0078 - Terminal, Connector (For 16 AWG Wire; Qty: 5)
39-00-0039 - Terminal, Connector (For 18-24 AWG Wire; Qty: 5)

I have not verified the size of wire that is used, so have provided both size terminals here. I would expect it to be in the 18-24 range, but it may be larger.

It seems that Toyota or the seat heater manufacturer started using a CPA (connector position assurance) on the Molex connector (the little black plastic piece designed to prevent the connector from accidentally being disconnected), however I can't seem to find any evidence that the CPA is from Molex, so it will need to be reused if replacing the connector itself. Molex offers an improved version of the connector with both TPA and CPA, however I suspect it may not quite clear the housing on the module to latch in place without trimming. Molex rates these connectors for 13A per terminal. I am not sure if the harness side or the module side is entirely to blame. I've never been a fan of these types of connectors though, wish they used something different. If it was me, I'd probably depin the Molex connector from the PCB if I kept having issues with the latest pieces. Kind of surprised Toyota hasn't changed things with these, it's been an issue on several North American-produced models over the last decade.

Jeff

 

Has anyone successfully ordered and received just the seat heater amp module? I need one and am not having luck online or with local toyota dealer.

 

Thanks for bumping the thread .
My seat heaters just crapped out as well .
There is a bunch of good info here .
I will be looking into this in the morning and will post some pics with my findings