2007 Tahoe Smoke from under seat when power is put to DSM circuit

[ovrboard]

on my 2007 z71 tahoe, the service tire monitor light was on, and the keyless entry system, heated seats, and power seat was not working. I narrowed this down to a blown fuse in the DSM slot. When I replaced this with another 10A fuse, it blew instantly. So it did with a 15A, and 20A. When I put a 25A fuse in its place, it did not blow, and all systems were go. with the car running, i noticed smoke coming from under the driver's seat in the front area where the wiring is. I immediately removed the 25A fuse (which I know wasn't a good idea in the first place). I'm thinking there is a bad motor in the power seat, or mabye a bad heating element in the heated seat causing a shortage.

Any thoughts??

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by ovrboard

on my 2007 z71 tahoe, the service tire monitor light was on, and the keyless entry system, heated seats, and power seat was not working. I narrowed this down to a blown fuse in the DSM slot. When I replaced this with another 10A fuse, it blew instantly. So it did with a 15A, and 20A. When I put a 25A fuse in its place, it did not blow, and all systems were go. with the car running, i noticed smoke coming from under the driver's seat in the front area where the wiring is. I immediately removed the 25A fuse (which I know wasn't a good idea in the first place). I'm thinking there is a bad motor in the power seat, or mabye a bad heating element in the heated seat causing a shortage.

Any thoughts??

so now you know that the "SMOKE TEST" is a bad idea.

with the smoke being generated I would guess a shorted wire.

vehicle off/device not operated and fuses blow this is most times a shorted wire.10amp wire is very small size...look for melted discolored wire insulation. this may lead you to the short.

[ovrboard]

I dug a bit deeper and found the culprit shorted wire. When I unplug this wire from the bottom of the seat, keyless entry will work as well as the TPMS but not the heated seat or power seat. I'm thinking either a faulty heating element in the seat or faulty motor overconsuming power which burned the positive wire going to that part of the connection. Anyone have experience with this? I attempted to upload 2 photos to display which wire it is if it looks familiar to anyone.