Fitting heated seats

[stringbag]

Does anyone have any experience with fitting heated seats to a non factory fitted car? ('98 Griff).
There have been lots of post on the subject, but no conclusive answers!
I have worked out that the heating elements (one for the seat and one for the back) are about £20 each from TVR and all that is required is to take the seats off and put the elements in, as they fit between the foam pads.
Apart from a relay & fuse, is there anything else I need?
And where is the wiring loom hidden? In the transmission tunnel?
I can see lots of swearing and bleeding knuckles coming up (again!)
Thanks
Karl

[steve-v8s]

Don’t know about the heated seats but would say that if you take them out then make yourself a couple of reinforcing plates to spread the load on the floor. I cut some strips of mild steel that run front to back. It is scary when you find out how little holds the standard seats in.

[mongoose]

stringbag said:

And where is the wiring loom hidden? In the transmission tunnel?

if you mean the wires to the elements,then theyre usually found ready and waiting underneath each seat.im also interested in doing this,ill be having a probe around with the meter tomorrow(weather permitting)to see if its as straightforward as it looks.ill let you know what i find.

[stringbag]

Had a brief look under my seats and no obvious wires from the floor area. Just thought they might be tucked away somewhere.
Let me know what you find

[spend]

On my 94 Chim, the heated seat connector blocks were under the transmission tunnel. The relay to operate needed inserting in the Aux relay panel - which was all wired up ready. The blower switch needed changing to have the pull function - but the cabling was ready & waiting to be connected.

Dave

[stringbag]

Mongoose, how did you get on? I'll have a better look at mine on Monday.

[mongoose]

stringbag said:

Mongoose, how did you get on? I'll have a better look at mine on Monday.

sorry mate,i didnt get time after all.i did look under the seats though and found that there wasnt any connectors on my current griff,my last two v8's both had these.this is what made me realise i didnt have enough time,as it would have been quite easy to check had the connectors been there,but now it looks like ill be taking the center console out,once ive found out how to do it

[stringbag]

Had a good look around mine today too - no connector to be seen. It must be tie wrapped back under the transmission tunnel.
I put a relay in the empty slot and the LED illuminated when I pressed the switch, so the wiring must be there.
Anyone know how to get the T shaped bit off? I'll look it up tonight.

[griffter]

stringbag said:

Had a good look around mine today too - no connector to be seen. It must be tie wrapped back under the transmission tunnel. I put a relay in the empty slot and the LED illuminated when I pressed the switch, so the wiring must be there. Anyone know how to get the T shaped bit off? I'll look it up tonight.

Slacken off the handbrake cable to allow the lever to go almost vertical (the adjuster is under the car at the top of the chassis accessible from the rear drivers side wheel arch). Remove the Gear knob and put the lever in 4th. Under the cross peice of the T-piece behind the seats you'll find the T-piece bolts to a bracket, on either side. Undo the nuts securing the T-piece to the brackets, and lift/shuffle/slide it backwards and upwards. Try not to break it...

Depending on how high you want to get it you may be able to get away without the handbrake/gear knob steps.

[stringbag]

Right, been a bit busy recently but have just spoken to the factory. The connectors should be tie wrapped under the transmission tunnel towards the dash end, so I will take the transmission cover off tomorrow and try to find them. The relay is the same as for the fans etc & the fuse is 25A. All the cars had the switch wired up, so all it should take is some new heater mats. Will try to take pics and post a 'how to fit heated seats' thing. Be patient though...

[mongoose]

Nice one Karl,look forward to seeing that post.My attempt is on hold at the mo,due to my time being taken up with mw leaking heater box

[pebbledash]

Interesting..

Are there part number for the elements as supplied by the factory?
What is the cost of all the required elements. ??

[stringbag]

Relay M0643 - same as for the fans etc (there are about 8 identical ones on the fuse box) £5

Seat cushion Element M0197 £25. (need 2 of these!)

(prices from tvrcarparts.com include vat but not delivery)

Fuse. 10p at most!




>> Edited by stringbag on Monday 9th May 15:28

[pebbledash]

stringbag said:

Relay M0643 - same as for the fans etc (there are about 8 identical ones on the fuse box) £5 Seat cushion Element M0197 £25. (need 2 of these!) (prices from tvrcarparts.com include vat but not delivery) Fuse. 10p at most!

Thanks, is that two elements pers seat?
which relay socket is used, and which fuse bay ?

would make a good artical for sprint as i bet others would like to do it.

[Horse_Apple]

A much better use would be to put the heater filaments under the carpets and then you would be able to dry the bloody car out.

[stringbag]

Hum, have just taken the centre T shaped bit out (and now have no skin on my knuckes again due to a very stiff handbrake adjuster!).
No connector in sight. Will have to do some wire tracing back from the fuse box.
I have taken the dash out too (to send it for re veneering at London Carriage Craft), so have access to everything.
There is a box behind the dash on the left hand side marked something like heating controller which the thin ribbon from the heater panel feeds into. Anyone know anything about this? Were there several types, because all the connections are present on mine.
Which of the feeds off it is for the heated seats?
I'll try to get a manufacturer's part number when I next go out to the car.
Also, anyone with heated seats already re-carpeted their car & if so, where did the wires run?
Cheers
Karl

[pebbledash]

stringbag said:

There is a box behind the dash on the left hand side marked something like heating controller which the thin ribbon from the heater panel feeds into. Anyone know anything about this? Were there several types, because all the connections are present on mine.

I would think there is only one type, why make different ones etc. all the swithcse etc on mine are totaly wired and feed via the ribon.

I would gues that one of the outputs (activating the relay) is on one of the output plugs.

FYI. my plugs were taped on the top of the tunnel IIRC.

I will have a look at my wiring diag when i get home see if i made any notes when I was last fiddling.

Mark

[stringbag]

Thanks Mark. Going to have another try this weekend. Have been given a name at the factory of the Griff electrics guru. I will speak to him as soon as I get a spare second. There is only one box according to them, so it is just a case of finding the connectors I think!
I am taking pics as I go and will post all the results here, send them to BB for inclusion in the griff pages and send them to sprint (if I am successful inn getting it to work!)
If anyone with heated seats already can spare a few seconds, I would appreciate it if you could have a feel under your seat to see where the wires run (ie under the carpet to the door pillar or to the front/back of the transmission tunnel)
Thanks.
Karl

[stringbag]

Latest update.
Spoke to a very helpful chap at the factory (again) called Heath who pulled the wiring diagrams out and spoke to an electrician. He said that some cars were wired up and the connectors taped back on the transmission tunnel (as some others have found - thanks for the posts). Others were not. Depends upon who made the loom up.
So, it is all going back together next week when I get my dash back and I'll just have to do without a warm bum!
Thanks anyway everyone
Karl

[pebbledash]

Would have been interesting to get a copy of the wiring diagram.

If i ever get round to it, I will trace where the wires go etc, and post it.
It may help people if the ever wish to make the missing part of the loom.

P.S. how many elements are required in total to do both seats, is it two or 4 ?