Anyone wire up aftermarket seat heaters in a car that didn't come with them?
 

I need to know what fuse if any powers the lead in the center console. Also, is there a switch or anything else I'll need to do to provide power to the seats?

If your car came with heated seats, let me know what fuse they use and any other info.

Jim

i think that if your car was not wired for heated seats then you have to splice into some wires

I just finished the job. Not too bad. There are two switched hot leads in the plug that sits under the console area. We just wired the seats to those. This quick connect plug must be used for the factory heat. There was even a fuse in the fusebox for them! There's also one unswitched lead but I don't know what that is for.

The seats do get warm but I'll field test them tomorrow. Heated seats just in time for the summer! :rolleyes:

Jim

so where did you get the heatiing units at? don't tell me they're already there

I bought them along with the leather upholstery from leatherseats.com. I installed the elements when I installed the leather but wasn't sure how to do the wiring.

Jim

Do you get an actual switch that fits in the stock location too, and can you adjust how hot the seats are? I'm looking to do this myself.

Yes, the kit comes with 2 heating elements (one for seat bottom, one for seatback) and a switch (with low & high settings) along with all the wiring you need to hook them up. The switch goes into the stock location...just pop out the two outer coin holders. I did have to file down a notch in the hole to get the switch to fit in but it's no biggie.

It was a little chilly this morning in NJ so on the way in I fired up my heated seat! It was toasty! It's also good if you have lower back pain/stress/etc. since it feels just like a nice hotpack on your back/butt. :)

One gripe I have about the switch is that it didn't seem to stay in the low position by itself. I need to look at this a little more closely.

Jim

how much are the heater inserts and the wires?

I think the regular price was $150 per seat. I paid $100 per seat as part of a group deal.

Go to www.leatherseats.com for more info.

You also might find a group deal (or start one) in the group deal forum.

Jim

I think I'm going to try to find a junk yard with a Maxima in it with heated seats. How hard do you think it would be to get everything out?

me too

How hard is it to get the seats out? Not hard at all. Bring a metric socket set with you and you'll have no problems. Four bolts per seat, a few wires and that's it.

Jim

What about taking the seats apart and getting all the stuff you need even the stock switch out? Do you have to undo the whole seat cover and take off the dash to reach everything?

Oh yea, reupholstering the interior is a hassle but do-able.

Check out these pics I took during my install process. The white cloth-like panels are the heating elements.

http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?m=12870296303&n=1591072193

Jim

Thanks for the pics, that's exactly what I want to do to my car (but with black leather & dove grey inserts). Do you think if I go to a junk yard I could just rip apart the seat and take just stuff needed for the heated seats?

You could, but how could you be sure that they work. I'm also not sure if the yard would sell you just the elements. Plus taking off the upholstery is not easy. It'd probably be easier to just buy the whole seat from the junkyard and put them in your car.

If you're going to install leather seats anyway, I suggest that you just get new heating elements from leatherseats.com when you order the covers. They should give you the same price I got and you can be sure of the quality.

Jim