Factory Heated Seats Failure

I put the board in some "

Pro'sKit 900-015 Helping Hands Soldering Aid, Multi

helping hands" [must have if you solder a lot] and then hit the white plastic connector with a small torch flame (being careful not to heat the board) until the plastic was soft - then the white connector pulled right off. Had to heat it once or twice, but it came off clean in under 30 seconds. No damage to the board, pins, pads or traces.

 

Does anyone know the correct torque spec for the seat bolts?

 

Seat bolts appear to be 27 ft-lb.

 

My driver's side seat as stopped working. Is it possible to buy a new ECU module and wire harness? Would rather splice in a new connector rather than hardwire the wires directly to the module board with solder.

 

There are some folks that posted the 5-wire connectors a few pages ago in this thread. That was the method I used and it seems to be working well. The module for the heated seat, while a little "browner" than it used to be, still worked on mine, and I reused it instead of paying the $90 for a replacement. After you disconnect it, just briefly heat up the white plastic on the pins with a SMALL butane torch, and it will slide right off. Then, solder the wires from the new connectors on the pins (use shrink tubing), then solder the new connector on the existing wires under the seat.

This process is documented a few times in this thread.

 

Ok so you didn't solder the new wires directly to the circuit board, instead you attached them to the pins inside the female connector on the ECU?

 

That’s what I did. Popped open the new amp housing and soldering directly the pins in the photo.

I would have tried this on my original “burnt” one but I cut those pins off and was going to try soldering directly to the board but failed miserable. So I just ordered a new one and soldered to the pins.

 

Got it, thank you. In that case it's definitely worth trying with my old unit before buying a new one. I've got nothing to lose.

 

Nope. Just make sure you keep the wire order the same from the amp to the new connectors, to the OG wires.

 

Perfect, thank you. If all it costs me is the $15 connector and some time with the soldering gun this could have been way worse.

 

No problem.

Make sure you unbolt your seat so you can rock it back for easier access.

By far the hardest part was soldering the connector to the wires under the seat - even when I unwrapped them, I only had a few inches to work with. I don't recommend garage beers as part of this job, but I do recommend patience and practicing your soldering technique. Good luck!

 

One of the posters referenced this TSB: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2018/MC-10152600-9999.pdf

It mentions a production change so, I guess, this issue has been corrected.

 

TY!

 

Yep its not to hard to do, just so you know that the connector may be burnt to and shot, I just cut it off and added thicker wire to it. (an important step to pull heat away!)
My post is a ways back, a few years now.
Also do the passenger side while you are at it because mine was melted to.

 

Is it possible to buy an OEM male five pin connector? I can see the actual ECU to buy but not the other connector. I’d rather splice in a new connector than hard wire somewhere else.