Heated Seat button

[jase386]

2000 lesabre, drivers heated seat switch acts like its bad, anyone have advice on how to get to it to change it out?

also the passenger side button, doesnt light up at night and say "heated seat" is it supposed to light up?

[polarzak]

Originally Posted by jase386

2000 lesabre, drivers heated seat switch acts like its bad, anyone have advice on how to get to it to change it out?

also the passenger side button, doesnt light up at night and say "heated seat" is it supposed to light up?

Sorry can't tell you how to get the button out, but in answer to your other question..yes, the passenger side light should come on when the heat is on the seat.

[imidazol97]

Originally Posted by jase386

2000 lesabre, drivers heated seat switch acts like its bad, anyone have advice on how to get to it to change it out?

also the passenger side button, doesnt light up at night and say "heated seat" is it supposed to light up?

I assume that switch activates a relay. It might be easier to find the relay and check that first and to see if the switch is giving power to the relay before tackling the switch replacement.

[stuzman]

Originally Posted by jase386

2000 lesabre, drivers heated seat switch acts like its bad, anyone have advice on how to get to it to change it out?

also the passenger side button, doesnt light up at night and say "heated seat" is it supposed to light up?

The door panel has to be removed to replace the switch. Once the panel is removed, tabs are squeezed together on the switch and then push the switch out of the door trim from the back. This switch is connected to the driver's side door module and doesn't use a relay to activate the heater in the seat. Hope this helps you out!

[jase386]

thanks for that last post Stuzman. have you ever been into one of these doors? I have a speaker problem on the right hand side, and the heated seat switch on the drivers side, my question now is, do i just pry the entire door panel off, or does it come off in layers, and where should i start pulling, or unscrewing first?

i know taking the doors off are mainly common sense, but i just got this car and dont want to break anything and cause rattles to have to live with over the life of the car

[stuzman]

Originally Posted by jase386

thanks for that last post Stuzman. have you ever been into one of these doors? I have a speaker problem on the right hand side, and the heated seat switch on the drivers side, my question now is, do i just pry the entire door panel off, or does it come off in layers, and where should i start pulling, or unscrewing first?

i know taking the doors off are mainly common sense, but i just got this car and dont want to break anything and cause rattles to have to live with over the life of the car

Jase,

I've been in them several times to replace window regulators and once for a power mirror on the passenger side. My first recommedation is to purchase a clip zip tool. This tool will save you a lot of headaches when removing the door panel. Otherwise, if you try to reach with your fingers or improvise by substituting some tool and pull the panel off, you may break some retainers holding the panel to the door.

The procedure below is for the driver side. Other doors are pertinent except for the trunk release and shark fins which aren't on the rear doors.

1) Remove the inside door handle bezel. This can be done by taking a small flat-bladed screwdriver and gently prying up the forward edge (this is toward the front of the car) and lifting the bezel out and away from the handle. You'll have to open the handle a little to maneuver the bezel over the handle. Remove the connector from the lock/unlock switch.

2) Set the bezel aside.

3) Remove the screw inside the area which the bezel covered. You'll see that it attaches to a metal bracket.

4) Remove the bezel which houses your power window switches in the same manner as in step 1 and disconnect the connector from the switches.

5) Remove the trunk release switch by prying up the switch with a small flat-bladed screwdriver and disconnect the connector.

6) Remove the shark fin (triangular piece at top of door which houses tweeter) by gently pushing in the retainer at the top of the shark fin while lifting upwards to remove.

7) Disconnect the wiring harness to the tweeter.

8) The factory service manual says to remove the door reflector to remove a screw hidden behind there, but there wasn't one for my car. You may have one for yours. It wouldn't hurt to check to be sure.

9) Using your clip zip tool, slide the tool under the panel and gently squeeze on the handle to locate a retainer. Once you found one, slide the tool over the retainer and squeeze the handle. You'll see that these retainers are really tight and the tool helps a lot. Anyway, continue around the perimeter of the panel locating each retainer and squeezing away with the tool.

10) Now the panel is hooked over the top edge and to remove it, you just lift it up and off.

Hopefully, I've covered it all and I'm sure there was only one screw to remove as I mentioned earlier except for the possibility of one behind the reflector.

Do a search on the internet for "clip zip tool" and you'll get idea of what it looks like and how it works.

My guess for your heated seat problem is an open heater(s) or heated seat module.

Just take your time and you'll be fine.

Hope this helps you out!

[jase386]

Now, thats what im talking about. Thank you for that help. complete, easy to read, and helpful.

Im going to try and work on that this weekend, if its not too hot still. IM in SC and we are still in the 90's damn, im ready for fall.

now for the open heater?? thats something new to me. if you wouldnt mind...how would i repair that?



what the switch does is toggle between hi and lo, and never turns off, unless i turn the car off.

[stuzman]

Originally Posted by jase386

Now, thats what im talking about. Thank you for that help. complete, easy to read, and helpful.

Im going to try and work on that this weekend, if its not too hot still. IM in SC and we are still in the 90's damn, im ready for fall.

now for the open heater?? thats something new to me. if you wouldnt mind...how would i repair that?



what the switch does is toggle between hi and lo, and never turns off, unless i turn the car off.

Interesting... my car does exactly the same thing with the heated switch. Since it's toggling between the hi and low setting, you can assume the switch is okay since it's just a normally open pushbutton. I've never attempted to troubleshoot it since the wife really didn't care about that feature anyway. From posts that I've read, several people had open heaters and that's why I mentioned it. The connections to the heater can be reached from under the seat to check for continuity. I don't have the manual with me now, but if you like, I can give you the wire colors later. Just let me know and I'll look them up tonight. If it turns out to be the heater, I remember that the seat basically has to be taken apart to replace the heater which may be a job in itself. Having a wiring diagram would help with the troubleshooting. If you're going to keep the car, go ahead and get a factory manual to help with the diagnosis. Hope this helps!

[jase386]

but the fact that it wont turn off is weird, and it doesnt toggle like the other side does. i press the button once to turn it on high, then two quick hits to move to low. and one push takes it back to hi.


if i sit there and repeatedly and quickly push the button, it will eventually turn off, which makes me think its the button..

i wonder how much it will cost just to have the dealership look at it. i can replace the button, but there is no need if its not broken. it hasnt been cool enough here to know if the heater is working or not, since im very hot natured the seat is hot anytime im in it.

[stuzman]

Originally Posted by jase386

but the fact that it wont turn off is weird, and it doesnt toggle like the other side does. i press the button once to turn it on high, then two quick hits to move to low. and one push takes it back to hi.


if i sit there and repeatedly and quickly push the button, it will eventually turn off, which makes me think its the button..

i wonder how much it will cost just to have the dealership look at it. i can replace the button, but there is no need if its not broken. it hasnt been cool enough here to know if the heater is working or not, since im very hot natured the seat is hot anytime im in it.

Yes, your symptoms of the switch operation is the same as mine. Originally, when I bought this car from the dealer about a year ago, the switch operation was pointed out. So, for good faith they would take care of any obvious problems. Immediately, the service manager said that the switch was bad and that it had to be ordered. Since, I'm an electrical control engineer, I had my doubts that the switch was going to fix the problem. Well, the next day, I get a call saying that the switch wasn't the problem and that they (dealership) would have to call in a specialist to fix it. Later in the day, they called my wife and said the car was ready. She picked the car up and when she got home, I checked its operation and saw that it was exactly as before. Here's the good part...the specialist told my wife that to operate the switch that you have to tap the switch quickly as you mentioned for it to toggle between the modes. I showed my wife how the passenger side worked and of course, I never got around to looking at it myself (maybe, I'll have to check it out, just for curiosity now). The point is you never know the competency of people out there when it comes to working on your car.

So, I'm not sure about the dealership price, but I suspect it won't be cheap. Good luck with it though!

[jase386]

i think that my seat works and sometimes i can get it to turn off, so im going to try the switch, but still looking for one of those tools to get the panels off. do you know the term i should use to find one on here, when i use zip clip, i find things to fasten bracelets..

[stuzman]

Originally Posted by jase386

i think that my seat works and sometimes i can get it to turn off, so im going to try the switch, but still looking for one of those tools to get the panels off. do you know the term i should use to find one on here, when i use zip clip, i find things to fasten bracelets..

Here is one website... http://cell-phone-accessories-wholes...oval-Tool.html

you're looking for a "clip zip tool"....

If it looks like your heater is working, then it could be your switch as I thought that your heater wasn't working along with an erratic switch operation. In any event, it's simple enough to check with a meter or you can just replace it and see. It doesn't appear to be an expensive item from the places I looked.

[jase386]

Stuzman, did you ever get to look at the wiring diagrams, im going to check further into this. i havent had a chance to change out the switch, but i dont think the heater is working at all in the drivers seat. i tried it on a cool morning, nothing.

also if you want to email me direct you can click on my name and email me direct from there

[stuzman]

Originally Posted by jase386

Stuzman, did you ever get to look at the wiring diagrams, im going to check further into this. i havent had a chance to change out the switch, but i dont think the heater is working at all in the drivers seat. i tried it on a cool morning, nothing.

also if you want to email me direct you can click on my name and email me direct from there

Jase, I took a look at my heated seat this past Sunday. I wrote up all the stuff that I found with my seat. It's listed under the post "Troubleshooting Heated Seat". Hope the info will help you out!