Hi, so as winter is right around the corner, I decided to finally take apart my car seat for the very first time. I have never done this so I had no experience which means anyone should be able to do this by just looking at my pictures.

First you will need to remove the covers for the bolts


then obviously remove the bolts
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0216.jpg
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0218.jpg
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0219.jpg
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0220.jpg

Once you remove the bolts tilt the seat up from the front so you're exposed to the wires that plug into it
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0221.jpg
Just unplug them with a flat head screw driver by pressing on the plastic pin that holds them

so here we have it: how it looks underneath
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0222.jpg

You will need to unclamp the cloth from the metal frame and it should look like this after you do:
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0231.jpg

Once that is done, you need to remove 4 bolts (1 in every corner)
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0231.jpg
(non visible in the big picture the bolts on the corner) - http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0232.jpg

once that is done, you should be able to lift the seat off the actual frame, but you're attached to wires so what I did was unscrew the frame that holds the wires (2 screws)
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0228.jpg

You will also want to unplug this big cable that is underneath the seat
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0229.jpg

and of course unplug anything that would get on the way
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0230.jpg

(PS I forgot to take a picture of how I removed the side buttons but they're really easy just pry them out towards you with a flathead screw driver)
Remove the upper part of the seat, and you kinda have to pull on the cloth/leather so it comes off the aluminum frame. Pull from the inside to the outside
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0227.jpg

Now we have to hunt the short and I found it:
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0223.jpg
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0224.jpg

I grabbed some copper cable and soldered it so both ends meet
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0225.jpg
Tape it up and you're good to go
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0226.jpg

repeat steps backwards and you're set.
http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_0214.jpg

Enjoy

 

my damn driver seat doenst heat up at the bottom. im gonna do this. thanks for the wrote up.

this should be sticky

 

good write up bro!

 

Good write up, thanks for this and as a side note, when you take your pictures, It's better to take them further away so i the reader can see the exact location of said item against the whole and if you want to point something out open up paint and circle it in red, certain things like the wire you need to be up close but other than that good write up...

 

Great write up! It gave me the inspiration I needed! I pulled my seat only to find almost the whole heating element has gone nuclear. Even melted the foam cushion in places! Way too much (probably dangerous levels) copper wire needed.

Courtesy Nissan has a replacement lower seat element for $195.00. NO THANKS! I will however give them props for even supplying the seat schematics and selling the part online. Those guys are amazing but again no thanks this time. Too much $$$ for a$$ heat.

Time to go NEW SCHOOL! What's new school you ask? Well the modern seat heaters are now a thin flexible carbon fiber honeycomb mesh. It kinda looks like the ghetto home depot gutter mesh people like to replace their grille with(yeah I can talk, I did it once but not for grille). Anyway, this stuff is so robust you can even cut holes in it and it will continue to heat! Not snake oil either. Most car maufacturers now have gone over to it because its tougher and heats faster and more uniform and simply lasts longer.

What's even better is you can get a whole seat kit for 60.00 on ebay complete with two elements, switch and harness! Granted, I only need one heating element, but for the price I now have a spare element in case the back fails(rarely do) or if the other seat bottom fails.

I'm thinking about doing a retrofit write-up if there's interest.

Cheers,
Eric

 

Thats something I wanted to do but I'm using a mac and I don't have paint lol and I don't have the time to install photoshop

 

I attempted this once but could not figure out how to unclamp the leather from the frame. I didnt want to break the tabs. Do I just pull it back? slide off? I may attempt this again..

 

It's really easy you pretty much have to pull it down (with the seat face down on the floor) then as you pull down on the clamp you have to pull it out.