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.
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oh yeah – that looks easy enough
Hell yeh, thanks dude. Mine just went out and I bet this would easily cost me a couple hundred at the dealership. Thanks!
Many thanks for this post!!!!! Mine died out last winter and the dealer told me it was going to be $800+ to fix it. I am definitely going to try this out. Thanks!!!
Awesome tip… The illustrations really help me fix my seats in a short time! Thanks
Jeesh, nice info but for $29 you can get a seat warmer. A warm butt when you drive? You sound like my wife. Grow a set will ya?
Note: if you are NOT a mechanic I would suggest you NOT attempt to do this procedure. You may end up really screwing something up, like other wires, your back, or your paint job.
thanks for the tip joe. i would buy one of those classy aftermarket seat heaters, but my power outlet is being used for my dashboard fan.
Great Info. Ours (2001) went out right after the warranty expired. I am going this route and will let you know how it works out. I am a retired mechanic and will advise on the knowledge level required.
Thanks Josh you may have saved me alot of head scratching and agravation not to mention the posibility of damaging pieces of the seat as I attempted to get at the heater in my 2000tl. I recently bought it from a friend who lived in the south and said he had never ever used the seat heaters, it was possably accidently turned on high and left on long enough to burn out . I dont think it would have been defective from the time it was new. I will be checking the switch before I remove the seat. can you tell me how to access the back of the rocker switch?. thanks again. Carl T.
many many thanks you have made my wife very happy after i did the repair
Thank you again
jeff
Thanks Josh, easy fix for almost no money! Pictures were very helpful. Needle nose vice grips and needle nose pliers work if you don’t have hog ring pliers. Only caution note would be to have power off in vehicle before unplugging connectors(yellow wires) on seats with side bolster airbags. Thanks again for cheap easy repair.
Wow ! Thank you so much for the information and especially the pictures. My wife’s but is now in heaven every day driving to work. She is so pleased. We purchased the car but the seat warmer never worked. Dealer told us it was going to be something ridiculous to fix it. I knew I could fix it myself. I pulled the seat out and got started doing some tests and thought “Hey I bet someone put some good information on the net about this problem” Never did I think someone would be so kind as to take the time to take so many pictures of the procedure! You are a great guy Josh, thank you so much again. I can’t believe one of the posts is sarcastic and another is downright rude. Those people suck, but you rock!
Hi, just did the repair… great info! seat heater now works but the power seat doesnt. I called Acura dealer and they said an Acura diagnostic computer is needed to reset the motors. Called 2nd Acura dealer – they said it should work fine w/o dealer diagnostic. Doesnt sound like anyone else who tried this had any issues in this realm. I have the exact color/model/year as the car you used for the photos & video. Can anyone help??? Nearest Acura dealer is 2 hours away and seat is stuck in smallest-possible-seat-position so to take it anywhere i would have to tow it. HELP!!!
JUST FIXED IT! totally my mistake! to avoid this problem, when removing the side panel where the seat controls are, BOTH BLUE CONNECTORS GO TOGETHER WHEN RECONNECTING. the gray connector goes on the seat frame. ALL THESE PLUGS COULD BE SWITCHED AROUND AND THE MOTORS WONT WORK!!! Thank God for double checking! Thanks so much Josh for your step-by-step instructions!
Friggen awesome man…you ROCK…AcuraJoe SUCKS…he obviously works for an overpriced dealership…In this economy, it’s time to get back to ‘do it yourself’!
Hi Josh – My car is identical to your illustrations & video. It was the most amazing thing I’ve seen; when I typed my problem into Google, your page appeared in layman’s language. I wish it were always this easy
I fixed my heated seat yesterday with your help and I just want to say many many “Thanks”!!
Merry Christmas to you and your family
Josh, how about seat warmers on a 2004 Chrysler Crossfire. The drivers side is not working, the lights come on on the switch but it does not warm.
What kinds of wire should be used for reconnecting the heat cores? Could you tell me a detail such a what guage?
Great guide. It worked for me, but after doing this, the srs light in my car cam on. Any ideas? Should i try resetting it to see if it comes back on or should I take my car in to acura.
If the SRS light comes on, check all the wire connectors (especially the power seat connectors). One time I had the wrong connectors hooked up on the power seat controls and it caused the SRS light to come on, and the power seats did not work. I corrected the connectors and reset the SRS. Everything was fine after that.
Mine just went also. Love the detail in this video!!! But is always the wire that goes out in the seat or can it just be a fuse that blows out? I don’t want to tear apart the seat then its not the wire. If its not the fuse i’ll have that video playing next to on repeat as i’m dismantling the seat. Thanks for the post!
If the orange light on the heater switch illuminates when you turn the heater on, then it is probably not the fuse. But it’s good to check the fuses as a precaution.
Thanks for the great info, Josh! I followed your repair, it was fairly easy, and everything in the seat itself works great. . . except the SRS light on the dash is now on. Is there a single connector under the seat that is part of the SRS wiring?
If the SRS light is on, does that mean the SRS system is disabled and not working?
Search on acurazine.com for instruction on how to reset the SRS light. I found this: http://tl.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=779730
Excellent documentation between the write-up and the video – very thorough, Josh. I just completed this repair and it tool me just over three hours – much better than paying a dealer. I also just performed a SeaFoam treatment to the vacuum line and gas tank – will do another in the crank case iabout 2k miles. It feels like I have a new TL-S, now. Thanksm Josh!
It was awesome very clear neat and simple explanations. Even the pictures are so clear and is marked for better understanding. I own TLS if i face this problem, i think i can make up by myself.
Wow… this was really REALLY helpful Josh. Thanks a lot. However, I too made the exact same mistake that Thomas did. My power seats were not working after the put together. Luckily I read Thomas’ comment: BOTH BLUE CONNECTORS GO TOGETHER WHEN RECONNECTING. the gray connector goes on the seat frame. ALL THESE PLUGS COULD BE SWITCHED AROUND AND THE MOTORS WONT WORK!!! Thank God for double checking!
Hey Josh,
Maybe you can help me?
Can I bypass the time On the heated seats in my 2011 Subaru legacy?
Thanks In advance
paul
Paul, these instructions are probably most useful to Honda and Acura owners. Try searching a Subaru forum for help.
Thats what I was going to ask, is this a commom problem with the 2003 Honda Accord? Same deal, seat cusion heat does not work but the baqckrest does…. is this the same fix as the Acura TL?
Ryan, it is probably the same solution for the Accord.
thanks, i will reply if all goes well…
Can I swap the seat pad/cushion and the seat leather cover on the driver seat with the passenger seat?
The passenger seat cover is clean and the cushion is firm compared to my driver seat.
Does anyone know if the seat leather cover and cushion pad are the same for both driver seat and passenger seat on 2003 Acura TL?
Thank you,
David
Josh, Did the seat heater repair today following your instructions.
Worked like a charm. Biggest PIA, striping the seat heater wires, they are so freakin’ small!
Thanks for taking the time to help all of us!
Best regards,
John
Hey Josh, awesome instructions! I have the same problem with my Acura MDX no heat on driver and passenger side for both the seat and back. Checked the fuse and fuse is good, heated seat lights are on but no heat. What do you think?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Larry
Hi Larry, It’s a good chance the heating elements are burnt out. If you do the repair and find this to be the case, let me know. That would probably help out a lot of other Acura MDX owners.
Great video Josh. Fixed mine with no problems. I wish a lot of other DIY videos would follow your lead. NOW… Can you make us a video on how to DIY the crappy 02 TL transmissions? …LOL
This was a huge help – I replaced the upper and lower pads – both were burned out. I also crossed the connectors on the seat controls – crazy that they were not keyed properly. Anyway its all good – thanks for the video!
Great help! I would not have tried this project without the video and step by step instructions. I repair my MDX seat heater this weekend (3-4hrs of work). I took a bunch of pictures on my digital camera as is disasemble the wires and then refered to them during the resassembly. I had the same issue with a burnt wire. There were a lot more hog rings on the MDX because of the seat pattern. I ended up bending the straight bar, pulling it out, and then fishing it back through hog rings & re-bending the ends. I also tested the heating circuitry prior to removign the leather and one of the two prongs showed an open circuit. This would be a good test prior to disassembly. After soldering in the new wire both circuits were closed. The heater is back working after 3 years and I saved $500. THANKS JOSH!
Thanks for the tips, Kevin. Good to know that these instructions are helpful for MDX owners too.
It worked great on my 2003 TL-S. Thanks for the photos and the video Josh. I never would have tried this without your guidance. I had the most trouble getting the 3 hog rings back on in the middle of the seat. Tight.
Thanks! Not sure if I would have had the confidence to do this without your advice. Took me 5 hours to replace both pads in the driver’s seat (01 TL). Saved $600.
U rock josh, ill be doin the job soon on my 03tl. The butt warmer on the driver side quit working but the back still works…..mine isnt a type s but do u know if the passenger seat is suppose to heat the back or only the butt?
Passenger side only heats the seat; the back section is not heated.
I want to place 2002 acura tl seats in a hot rod can’t seem to find the wiring connection to get the seats to run ( need help)
hey, I got into to my 99 acura tl the other day and the passenger seat was fully reclined. It won’t come back up, have you ever worked on making the seat recline and come back up properly?
THANK YOU!!! I followed your instructions on a 2004 MDX and it worked perfectly. Burn out was in the exact same spot. Slightly different covers on the seat bolts, but otherwise 99% the same. Those hog rings were a real pain though. Not too bad to get off, but I had to use two pair of needle nose pliers to get them back on. THANK YOU!!!!
I have the issue someone already stated, my back warms but my butt part doesn’t. Has.anyone found.a solution yet?
Josh is our Saviour!!!! Second try with confidence on your video with my 2002TL just because of lose connection again!! Finished off about 2.5hrs but now my power seat not operative at all. Very very frustrated and condemned myself of 1 blue connector of forgetfulness after plugged it back in and still not working. Checked the fuses, suspected the relays or MSC unit behind the driver seat…completely lost! Now feels better after reading all the related posts, problem might lie on the exchange of the two blue plugs attached to the control plastic cover. Can anyone tell me can ONE missing plug-in ruin\burnt something major???? Albert
Josh,
My 2002 TL driver’s seat works on high but inop on low (both seat and back). Am I still looking for an open coil? BTW, the switch light comes on in high and low, just no heat on low setting.
Thanks.
Josh – Thank you so much. I never would have attempted this without your video. I just completed the repair on the driver’s seat of my 2002 MDX. It went exactly as you described, except for having more hog rings due to the seat design (as others have pointed out). The whole job took 4-5 hours. It was well worth it. My wife will be happy to drive warmly this winter.
Thanks again!