Dc metro area milly experts?

[Gottspd]

Hey guys.

I have a 2000 millenia that used to be my moms before she passed away this past may. The car is in excellent condition and has very low mileage (34000 miles on it now). The bumpers could stand to be repainted and the drivers seat heater doesn't work, otherwise, it's in amazing condition.

I am somewhat outside of my comfort zone with this seat heater repair. The switch has power but no heat. I have read every thread on here about the seat heaters and they were incredibly helpful. I got the seat back panel off without losing or breaking any clips. I then got the entire seat back off and the bottom seat cushion out of the car. Someone posted about a failed soldered connection in one of the wires (which didn't require the removal of the leather) but I don't see any soldered wires. I'm a bit unsure how to proceed at this point. Is there anyone here in the dc area that has done this that could lend a hand? I'm in Montgomery County. Thanks guys. I will provide the beer if that is any incentive. ��

[Xedosman]

Pm replied

Welcome to the forum, take good care of the ultralow milage Millenia. My Xedos 2,5 has 100k miles more on the clock but is still running strong (not as in too powerful but as in reliable

[Gottspd]

Thanks!

Re. the seat heater, thanks for the PM. Many folks seem to find that the issue is with the bottom cushion, not the back cushion, but the area that you are referring to that is soldered is in the back cushion, right? I didn't even look at that. I spent so much time looking at the bottom cushion.

I'll check that out tonight... My mom was very petite, so I'm suprised that the seat heater broke at all, but if it's that solder joint, that would make sense. Oftentimes, it seems that seat heater elements break when there is a lot of weight on the seat, but heck, the seat probably didn't even know mom was sitting there.

Anyway, you're right about these cars not being powerful, but that's ok. I put some snow tires on it and once I get this seat heater fixed, it'll be a great car to have in the winter. I'm sure it will last a while (as it doesn't get used very often as we have other vehicles).

[keninn]

the solder joint referred to is at the sensor. the sensor for both seat heaters is in the upper back heater. follow the wires to the sensor, iirc, it lives on the lower left side of the heater panel. because of this sensor, the upper back heater panel is about 2x the cost of the lower panel, and is also a bit more tricky to change. you should first ohm the panels, if the back panel is still good, then you only need change the lower panel. also, in a pinch, you can switch the upper back seat assembly, they are almost identical, except for a very small portion on the inside lower corner. i have them switched on our black car, you cannot tell the difference. the right side seat gets way less use than the left. you will destroy the bezel surrounding the seat control switch, you cannot remove it and not break the tabs holding it on the seat. you will need new hog rings, or you can carefully unbend them, to remove the lower seat panel. i think it is a pain in the butt to unbend them, i just cut them, and i use the bmw hog rings, they are way easier to install. i also bought a high torque cutter for the rings, your hand will get sore from cutting all the rings. then i also got a special set of tools to install the hog rings, again, makes things way easier. the new heater panels on our cars easily outlast the orginal ones, the original ones lasted only a couple years, the replacement ones have at least 6 years on them, and still going strong

[Gottspd]

It was a fair bit of work, but I got the leather off and there is a significant burn mark where a hog ring clearly shorter out the seat heater. The new pad is supposed to be in tomorrow so hopefully this weekend I will have a working bun warmer.

[Gottspd]

I got the seat heater pad reinstalled and I'm happy to report that it works! Yeah! There was a lot of great info here and I appreciate all of your assistance.

[bigb]

come back and join the community sometime (not just when you have problems)

it will help keep this great resource thriving