Winter has slowly started setting in here with temperatures dropping to low 40's the past couple of days . Since I fixed most of the mechanical stuff, I am now trying to fix the drive's side seat heat. Its a '91 244. The light does not come on. I found the connector below the seat and found connectivity there.

Any tips how to get it fixed? Thanks!

 

is power getting to the seat? the light in the switches gets flakey with 20+ years of age.

if its not getting to the seat connector, is it getting to the switch?

 

How do i check for those? Pull the switch out from the console and use the multimeter? I know for a fact that it's fine in the connector that is located below the seats and above the rear passenger's heating vent (the one on the floor).

I connected another switch that I had pulled from the junkyard - that one didnt work either.

 

what are you asking? how do you test for power at the heated seat element.....????????


speaking of which mine have been out for a while, it would be so cool to get them working.

 

When you say, "it is fine", you mean, you read 12V across the pins of the connector to the seat ?

if thats the case, and you're not getting heat, odds are the wire heater grid inside the upholstery is broken. fixing that will require removing the upholstery from the seat bottom and back, and examing the heater grids and repairing or replacing, then re-upholstering the seat.

 

Usually the problem with the seat heaters is the wire breaks right where it connects to the thermostat in the seat. Here is a real nice writeup on how they can be repaired. I followed this and fixed mine a few years ago and they are still working.

http://cleanflametrap.com/seatHeater.htm

Good luck

 

great link.

 

Pierce, yes that's exactly what is happening.

act1292 - Thanks for the link! I shall check it out over the weekend once I am done with my exams.

 

How do i remove the cover without ruining it? I can see it wrapped/rolled over a bar. I was just wondering if anyone had an idea of how to take it off safely

 

as the first picture on that cleanflametrap article says, slide the bar out whichever end seems best. probably easiest if you take the seats completely out of the car first (4 bolts to the floor, plus whatever electrical connectors, and the seat belt anchor bolt).

 

Done!! It took me a while to figure out that the cover rests on an iron strip (corroded, of course) that had to bent and taken out of the frame of the seat itself. Then I took the heating element out - the problem was that the negative side of the terminal had actually melted into the foam and plastic itself. hah! I just snipped it and added a new space lug and bam everything works. Except both the sides are weak in heating (12V but heat itself is low). Do I need to order new elements?

 

jumper across the thermostat and its still barely warm? maybe there's a resistive connection somewhere

 

I tried jumpering it. I left it on heating for somewhere between 5 and 10 mins. It reads good volts and there's continuity everywhere, except the heat generation itself is low. And this is on both seats (passenger side has been like this since I got the car).

How does the heating happen? Its through all the wires that are present on the plastic grid or whatever it is. Could those wires have corroded internally within their insulation since the ar was neglected for almost 5-6 years before I bought it.

 

the heat is generated resistively... voltage * current == watts. current = voltage/resistance. voltage*v0ltage/resistance = watts. watts is power, here expressed as heat.

if the wires are in open air, they will dissipate the heat faster than they will warm up, put something insulating over them like a blanket and run them 5 minutes, then see how warm it is in that blanket sandwich.

 

Just put it all back in and drove it around. Its definitely heating - but not like on my '98 C70. Oh well, I am glad to have atleast a luke warm back-side this winter

Next project: figuring out where the exhaust rattle is coming from. Its present just when I accelerate gently and then goes away.

 

first candidate for the exhaust rattle is the shield around the exhaust header that the warm air intake duct comes off of.

2nd candidate is the shield around the catalytic converter.

 

Turns out its the catalytic converter shield. Will be getting it done over the weekend once this silly rain stops.

 

Just out of curiosity - does the rear bumper from a 940 or a 740 go onto a 240 sedan? There seems to a dire shortage of 240's for the past half year at the local picknpull.

The idiot owner before me backed the car into a pole, so my rear bumper sits out on the driver's side and in on the passenger side (its those shocks I am guessing and they are rusted beyond point).

 

no, the 7/9 bodies are considerably different, the bumper won't fit without a bunch of hackery