I had planned on writing an exciting 2008 recap post for my first entry of 2009, but I decided to do clip show.  That is what they do on TV, so why can’t I?  So here is a montage of random videos that I recorded in 2008. Enjoy.

Earlier this year the driver side seat heater went out in my 2003 Acura TL Type-S. It wasn’t a problem since winter was almost over. But now the cold is coming back and I miss having a warm butt when I drive. So I did some online research and found that this is a common problem and the fix was neither difficult nor expensive.  Below are the steps I took to repair my seat heater which is now working properly.

1. Move the seat into the fully back position for easy access to the two bolts in front. Remove the bolts using a ratchet.

2. Move the seat into the fully forward position to access the bolts in the back. The bolts are concealed under small plastic covers.

3. Remove the covers. Gently pull and wiggle on the covers and they should pop off. Remove the two bolts using the ratchet.

4. There are two wire connections underneath the seat, disconnect the wires. I found it helpful to lean the seat forward so I could access the wire harnesses with both hands. It also helps to pop the larger harness off the metal bracket underneath the seat.

5. Remove the seat from the car. The seat is heavy. Be careful so you don’t scratch other parts of the car.

6. Set the seat on a soft surface. I used a towel. I also removed the headrest so I wouldn’t have to worry about scratching or scuffing it.

7. Set the chair flat on its back so you have easy access to the bottom. Remove the four screws that fasten the front plastic piece. There is a wire harness fastened to this front piece. You should pop off the clip that holds the harness.

8. Remove the two screws that fasten the right side plastic piece.

9. In order to remove the two screws that fasten the left side plastic piece, you will need to remove the hole covers. Use a very small flat head screwdriver to remove the covers. After you have unscrewed the two screws holding the plastic piece, disconnect the three wire harnesses attached to the power seating switches.

10. Remove the two bolts that hold the bottom seat section to the frame of the seat on the right side.

11. Remove the two bolts that hold the bottom seat section to the frame of the seat on the left side.

12. Disconnect all the wire harnesses underneath the seat so you have more room to work.

13. Remove the hog rings underneath the seat. There are two on each side and three in front. I found using two pairs of pliers make this job a little bit easier since I do not have hog ring pliers. You will also need to un-secure the plastic tabs that hold the leather in place in back. I found it easier to move those after I began to pull the leather off.

14. Begin gently pulling the leather cover from the foam cushion. There are more hog rings in the middle of the seat. Remove the three at the front and one on each side of the center pattern of the seat. The seat of a non Type S is probably a little different.

15. Pull back the leather a little more and the problem is exposed.

16. Remove the charred wire and solder on the replacement wire. I used a light gauge wire (about four inches). I tried to use a wire that closely matched the one that was originally there.

17. I taped the soldered connections and put the seat back together following these same steps in reverse.

Hints:
Be careful when moving the seat.  It is very easy to scratch other parts of the car.

Make sure you don’t forget to reattach the wire harnesses; there are a lot of them.  You will probably have to reset your memory seat positions after you have finished this repair.

Keep in mind that your owners manual says to only keep your seat heaters on high for a short period of time.  Switch to low after the seats have heated up.

This is a great time to clean hard to reach areas of the car.  I vacuumed underneath the seat and cleaned the plastic pieces that are too difficult to reach when assembled.

I am not a mechanic so this repair isn’t gospel.  Follow these steps at your own risk.

For more great information about Acura, visit Acurazine.com.

Hey kids, sorry I’ve been gone so long. Russian and Chinese hacker-bots destroyed my blog making it impossible for me to post anything new.  Since it was not easily fixable, I procrastinated; and when i finally got around to fixing it, it took forever.  But alas everything works now- game on. If you subscribe to this site with a reader, you might want to update the RSS address because my URLs changed.

So let me fill you in on the highlights during my hiatus:

August
I went to Chicago on the weekend of my 31st birthday to go to my cousin Chris’ going-away-party.  He was leaving for Afghanistan with the National Guard.  Another cousin, Lauren, was having a baby shower.  It was a fun weekend trip and I ate a lot.

September
We went to Jackie’s La Posada ranch for Labor Day weekend. Just Chris, Keely, and me made the trek down, but we still had a great time. We rode 4-wheelers and learned where baby cows come from. I ate a burrito that probably weighed 2 lbs. Fun times.

October
Keely and I went camping at Tyler State Park with some friends from Fellowship. It was our first real camping trip ever. It was fun except when it was time to sleep. The ground was not too soft.  I considered sleeping in the car, but I roughed it.  Also, we ate a lot.

Okay, so you are all caught up now. You won’t have to wait another 3 months for my next update.

Some times I get all excited about the idea of getting a new car. And it seems like the list of must-have options for me grows every day. I gotta have GPS navigation, Xenon headlights, keyless start… the list goes on. But when I was just a boy, all I wanted was a Pontiac Fiero.

I don’t know how anybody can watch this commercial and not want to rush to the local Pontiac dealership and 1986. One of the first things that caught my attention (besides the ruggedly handsome driver) is the lack of fine print “professional driver on closed course, do not attempt.” What a simpler time.

Jax celebrated what-we-are-calling his birthday this past weekend. It was the one year anniversary of his adoption so we had to throw a party. All his friends and new friends were there: Maverick, Cola, Gracie, Schmax, Atticus, and Circe. The party was pretty tame. Nobody got out of control. And Welch’s dog, Maverick, made it quite clear that this was a private party and none of the other dogs at the park were allowed near us. It was a lot of fun!