Heated Seats

bear1

Sorry if this belongs in the DIY part of Boards but I tried there already and got no reponses so I thought I'd try here
Long story short, our Volvo has heated seats which warm up sweet **** all.
The lights go on but zero heat on both the drivers and passengers seat.
I've checked the fuse and swapped it out to see if that was the cause but it was a no go
I was thinking it could be the actual seat itself but the idea that both seats have failed makes me a bit skeptical.
Does anyone have any ideas how to proceed with fault finding?
Volvo S40 2001.

Cheers

Davidth88

I had a heated seat in my Fiat Brava , the wires were hanging loose under the drivers seat so could be easily pulled/snagged if you put something under there


Maybe take a look ?


I didn't like it TBH, felt like I had wet myself

bear1

Davidth88 wrote: »

I had a heated seat in my Fiat Brava , the wires were hanging loose under the drivers seat so could be easily pulled/snagged if you put something under there


Maybe take a look ?


I didn't like it TBH, felt like I had wet myself

Thanks for the heads-up. I'll give it a check after work - if they are the elements I won't even bother repairing them
I'm prepping the car for a future sale so I'd like to have all niggles sorted for the next owner and plus when winter arrives I think I'd like them

biko

Yeah, the only thing to do really is to follow the current and see if power is supplied all the way. Both seats failing points to a central location.

bear1

biko wrote: »

Yeah, the only thing to do really is to follow the current and see if power is supplied all the way. Both seats failing points to a central location.

By all the way, do you mean from the moment the button is pushed all the way to the seat? I imagine if there is current going all the way then the only thing that points to is the seats heat pads?

biko

Start at the seat pads and check if they get power when button is on.
If not you need a diagram over the cabling so you can check on the other end.

Ask an auto electrician or a deal for electrical wirings diagram, or maybe it's in the manual.

bear1

Good advice thanks.
I'll check the wiring to the seat today and make sure nothing is loose. The seats had covers on them when I bought it so maybe they were knocked loose or frayed. Failing that, I'll just bring it to an electrician and let an expert do the diagnostics.

v240gltse

hi

In the past I have found that on volvo's the problem is usually a broken connection on the switch under the drivers seat.

feel up under the base of the seat for an opening with 2 wires going to it and check that they are secure.

If one is broken then its down to either removing the seat and the switch and repairing it or just living with it.

hope this helps

brendan

bear1

Ok I'll give that a go too, could the switch not just be replaced on its on without having to remove the seat?
Both front seats have the exact same problem...

v240gltse

hi

this link may help as there now seems to be a control u nit you may also have to take into account.

LINKY

regards

brendan

bear1

Thanks Brendan, I start to get the feeling that this wont be an easy problem to sort out