seat heaters -- any good?
11-05-2006 | 04:51 PM
#13
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Originally Posted by Saki GT,Nov 5 2006, 05:32 PM
I heard that you couldn't get them on the back of the passenger seat b/c they interfered with the airbag sensor - can anyone explain this one?
The electronic technology police prevent modification....
The AP1 (and probably pre-DBW AP2s) passenger chair isn't connected by any wires or sensors. No different than installing driver's side.
11-06-2006 | 06:38 PM
#14
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Originally Posted by ENTHRALLED,Nov 5 2006, 05:29 PM
shoot...I wish someone would write up a DIY for this....
Well, it's finally done, but I didn't get to take pictures because my camera was not home. The driver's only took me a little over an hour to install, cuz I knew what I was doing this time around. Here are the details.
Tools and materials needed:
- Hog ring clip pliers
- Socket set
- Needle nose pliers
- Flat head screwdriver
1. Remove the seat from the car, 4 bolts. You should put the seat on a table to work on, your back will thank you for it.
2. Pull the recliner handle to make the seat lean forward. When behind the seat, look at the base of the back. There are 3 clips, I guess. The clips are shaped like this. Basically, take your hands and curl your fingers like you're holding a shift knob. Now lock your fingers together, that's how the clips work. Use the Flat head screwdriver and pry the clips apart. There are 3 of them 2 are like 1 inch long and the 3rd in the middle is really long.
3. After you pried all 3 clips apart, you can pull the middle of the seat back out. Now look at the reclining joints. One side has a black crown nut. Loosen that and remove. On the other side roll up the bolster, there's 2 bolts you need to remove. After you remove those 2 bolts, the seat back can be seperated from the seat bottom.
4. So, having the seat back, flip up the middle of the seat back. Peel back the black cloth, there are Hog ring clips. Pry them off. There's like 4 on either side for a total of 8. Don't take the ones off at the end, because you don't need to. After you seperate the leather from the foam, go ahead and stick the back heating pad wherever you want. Depends if you want it on the lower back or upper back.
5. Now off to the seat bottom. Remove the seat rails. Pull off all the clips attached to the aluminum frame. Careful of the edges, they're sharp. Now flip the leather up. They're more Hog ring clips on the seat bottom. Starting from the front of the seat, take the 3 on either side off for a total of 6. Then there's 2 in the middle (hence the hole in the middle of the heating pad, now you know why). Remove the 2 in the middle. Now remove 1 more clip on either side for a total of 2. Now you should only have 2 more clips at the back of the seat, leave those, but you can remove 1 on one side if you can't run the wire of the bottom heating pad through. Now tape on the bottom pad.
6. Clip up the bottom seat, attach the seat back back to the bottom, and you're set.
It might sound easy or hard, but I did it. I had help though, my dad's a upholsterer. My friend, who also just starting casting plastic molds, took my coin tray, molded it, and created a recessed plate to mount my switches. It looks almost completely stock.
I wired up the power to the ACC power source at the driver's footwell, where everyone hardwired their whatevers.
11-06-2006 | 07:46 PM
#15
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And if you don't want to do all that: you don't need to remove the frame rails. You can unclip the hog rings on the three sides of the black leather bottom seat cover and get a heater pad to cover the front 3/4 of the seat. I ran the wires under the cover under the front (wrapping underneath) and connected the back and seat heaters to the control box underneath the seat.
11-06-2006 | 07:49 PM
#16
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If you have an upholstery clip removal tool you can run wires underneath the carpeting. I used the hole in the carpeting where the seat belt wire runs, ran the wires underneath the scuff pad and they don't emerge until they get to the fusebox. Clean.
For my kit, I hooked ACC for power, black to ground (frame nut), and additional wire to IGN for the controller module.
For my kit, I hooked ACC for power, black to ground (frame nut), and additional wire to IGN for the controller module.
11-07-2006 | 02:55 AM
#18
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Joined: Sep 2006
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From: Houston, TX
Male owners:
READ THIS BEFORE BUYING!
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp...&story_id=32821
READ THIS BEFORE BUYING!
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp...&story_id=32821
5 September 2006
DUSSELDORF - Heated seats in cars may be more to blame for declining male fertility than tight trousers, a urologist warned Tuesday, two days before a German conference on men's illnesses.
Herbert Sperling, who is to chair the meeting in Dusseldorf, said electrically heated seat covers, which are popular in wintry places, could reduce the growth of sperm.
Slow and mis-shapen sperm were also more common in drivers who spent long periods on hot seats.
"I think heated seats are a bigger risk than tight trousers," said Sperling, referring to common guidance that loose clothing may promote male fertility. The seats heated the temperature of the testicles to 38 degrees Celsius, 3 degrees more than normal, he said.
DUSSELDORF - Heated seats in cars may be more to blame for declining male fertility than tight trousers, a urologist warned Tuesday, two days before a German conference on men's illnesses.
Herbert Sperling, who is to chair the meeting in Dusseldorf, said electrically heated seat covers, which are popular in wintry places, could reduce the growth of sperm.
Slow and mis-shapen sperm were also more common in drivers who spent long periods on hot seats.
"I think heated seats are a bigger risk than tight trousers," said Sperling, referring to common guidance that loose clothing may promote male fertility. The seats heated the temperature of the testicles to 38 degrees Celsius, 3 degrees more than normal, he said.
11-07-2006 | 05:33 AM
#20
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From: Berkeley, CA
So you who have them are all putting the switch(es) in the coin tray)? Bummer. I actually use the coin tray. (I know, I'm the only one.) But is there any other obvious place for them? How big are they (the switches)?