On both of my front seats there is one wire going into the bottom of the seat foam and a second wire just hanging down. Neither of the heaters work. How many wires are supposed to be connected and does anyone have a wiring diagram. I have looked in my Haynes manual and don't find any info. Of coursed with only one wire there is no completed circuit but I can't see where the other wire connects. I guess I'll have to take out the seats to get a better look.

 

If the wire breaks under the seat its usually at the thermostat. look for a factory hole in the seat foam, more towards the back part. Up inside of it is a thermostat that should have two wires coming off it.

 

If you have small hands you can stick your fingers up in that hole and work the thermostat out. The hole in the foam is about the size of a nickle and the disk on the top of the thermostat is about the size of a quarter. So, it is possible to stick your finger up the hole, get your finger tip on the edge of the thermostat and work it out. Once out you can get the other wire connected to it and push it back up in there.

Sometimes the wire connection simply pulls out of the thermostat connection and some people work the loose wire back on. I have found that it's easier to remove the thing, put the wire back on and push it back in the cushion.

The seat has the leather that you sit on, the heating pad under that, the thermostat under that, then the foam, and springs. Let me know if you need a picture, I have a thermostat close.

 

Thanks, a picture always helps. Do you have a wiring diagram? Just wondering about the connection all the way through the switch.

 

Link to the wiring diagram:

http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/tech/ser...ngDiagrams.pdf


Link with write up and photos:

http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/for...hp?f=1&t=18035

 

I popped the thermostats out and reconnected the wire and put the stats back in. My rear and back are warm. Feels so nice.
Thanks for the help

 

Sweet!!! I like it when everything works. Mine are a little slow to warm but they get there.

 

I guess it gets my OCD going but if it's there I want it to work even if I don't use it very often. The heaters are a little slow but that's ok.

 

It's 16 degrees outside, any seat heater is a good seat heater even if it's a little slow to warm.

 

Upper 20s here tonight, heat wave to you but I agree any heat is good.

 

Got to really test the heaters this morning and the drivers seat get nice and warm, most important, but the passenger side didn't heat up so I am guessing it needs a new thermostat. I have looked at a few sites but have not found them, any suggestions of where to get the stats? If I get one I will probably replace both.

 

Sorry to say but this fix will probably be more involved. If everything else is connected then you probably have a break somewhere in the heating element. Typically the bottom section. It requires pulling the skins off the seat, finding and repairing the break.

 

You can always use a jumper to temporarely feed power to the heaters and see if they do indeed heat. If they don't then it's likely you have a bad heating pad and a good thermostat.

In the diagram the thermostats are part 43 or 44 from what I can see. They have different temperatures and the price for the #44 thermostat is $89 dollars and is an upgrade. Anyone know what this is

Frontseat 1995- Electrically adjustable seat. Manually adjustable seat.. Fits: Volvo | VolvoPartsWebstore.com

 

I had one that had a bad element and the other was the thermostat wire. Those thermostats do not go bad often. What happens with the pads is, they get old then people crawl the seats with knees in the seat and it breaks the old wires. Like Boxpin said, you pull the seat apart and repair the wire. When I did mine I just spliced the wire back together.

Now for the bad news. Most of the cushions are rotting and the wires that go through the cushions to keep the skins pulled down will likely pull through the cushions and the seat covering may not be as tight. I used zip ties to put mine back together but some use hog rings.

 

I have seat heaters that don't work, my mechanic figures the pads are the problem, and the leather on the seats has seen better days. Mine have side airbags, so I am currious as to how tough the seats are to swap out. I was thinking of picking up a parts car with a nice interior and swaping the seats.

 

I'm pretty sure it's four bolts and 2, 3 or four electrical connectors and out it comes.

How to with photos:
http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/for...php?f=1&t=9192

 

The side air bags are self contained and are not connected to the air bag electrical system. However, the seat belts are. But you don't have to disconnect the seat belt system to remove the seat. It has 1 12mm bolt that comes out at the hinge of the seat to get the seat out.

The side air bags are a hazard and if accidentally tirggered will knock you silly not to mention the noise, sounds like a shot gun going off. The first thing you need to do is pull the seat side trim up at the front of the seat and look in the plastic piece and install the safety clip.



Then, if the seat has a power control, it has an electrical plug in the bottom of the seat. You should pull the plugs under the front of the seat that go into the floor under the carpet.

I swapped an interior from a leater car into one that didn't have leather. Pretty easy.

 

Phil-Its pretty fast to take the seats out and make the repairs- at least with the wagon- pull right out the back. Get the seat up on a good secure platform (I used my OLD Craftsman roll around table saw, clamped it down) snip all the hog rings and pull off the leather.

Mine needed the wire element soldered (burnt in half) and I put a Junkyard (passenger side) thermostat in there too. zip ties to re attach the leather. Knuckles were a bit scraped, but it's back in and now heats. I dont really like the "cycling" (seats heat then cool off, then heat some more, etc). But I guess thats how they designed them.

My power recline didnt work either, so I fixed that at the same time. With all of the stuff on the bottom of that seat (motors, shafts, wires), I bet taking the leather off and getting to that thermostat from the top might be easier- unless you have really small hands.... Dave

 

The heating elements work in series so if there is a break the entire system stops working. You can unplug the seat heaters individually and meter them to fine if its the upper or lower. For my temp switches I just soldiered the wires to them and added a plug further down the line, got tired of them coming off. Repairing the element is easy once you get to the break, the element is in a winding pattern so you can easily get some slack out of it. I used a crimping barrel connector for the repair. Unfortunately the breaks are usually from the metal wires in the skins so you will need to insulate the location from further wearing.

 

I just fount out there's a recall for my car's seat heater wiring.. not sure if it's old news or not, but It'd be worth running your VIN on carfax (there's a FREE recall check) and seeing if there's some work on the house for your butt-warmers.