 |
| SAAB 900 Heated Seat repair |
| The photo above shows the driver's seat of my 900 (removed from car) with seat covering loosened and peeled back to look for any break in heating pad circuit. |
 |
| This is a close-up view of the above seat where the old repair I had done came apart. The thin covering material of the heating pad can be seen ripped open where the wire is protruding from the seat. One simply has to pull up some slack in the wiring, strip the wire ends, solder together, either shrink wrap or wrap with eletrical tape, and reassemble seat. |
| 1. You must first test to see if the heated seat is getting power (12 volts, more or less). Do this by unplugging the black and yellow 2-wire heated seat connector underneath the seat (newer models with dash controller switch have 3 wires). Test for 12V between the yellow and black wires. The 3-wire plug--dash controlled type only--has a blue wire: don't test blue wire for voltage, it merely sends temperature info back to dash controller relay. Test with ignition key in "ON" position, engine need not be running. If you have voltage, go to #2. If you don't have voltage at the heated seat connector, make sure key is "ON." Also, check the fuse for the seat heating system in the main fusebox under the hood. If it's bad, replace it. If you have an older 900 with ceramic-type fuses, make sure fuse connections aren't corroded and/or install a new fuse. 2. If you have voltage, then suspect the following: A) Dash controller (1987?-88 up driver's seat 900 cars, driver's seat ONLY). B) The seat's thermostat (passenger seat on all models and driver's seat, too, on 1987-older 900). C) One or more breaks in the seat heater pads. Fixing this involves re-connecting wires where break occured, which means peeling back seat fabric and soldering. New pads are also available, if soldering isn't your thing. D) Faulty load-sensing switch, on passenger seat ONLY. Remember, each seat has two separate heating pads: BOTH the seat cushion (bottom) heating pad AND the seat back heating pad must be good--read, 'closed circuit.' If not, then the whole system won't function. One SAAB owner likened it to older Christmas tree light sets: If one burns out, the whole thing won't light. For further testing/repair, I recommend removing the seat from the car. I recently learned the benefits of leaving the driver's seat frame IN THE CAR removing only the seat itselfinstead of wrestling with the frame's seat height adjustment springs. Seat is held to the seat frame with four 13 mm nuts. Remove nuts and washers, unplug seat heater from floor wiring connector if not already unplugged, (unplug power seat wiring if your 900 has this), and lift seat from car. I recommend placing the seat on a work place about waist high (table, workbench, etc.) that is CLEAN so as to not stain the seat fabric. (I've never had a break in seat back heating pad so I haven't removed the seatback's cover. Therefore, I'll only include information on removing the seat bottom cover.) To remove the seat bottom cover: First, pull off the four or so clips which holds the seat fabric in place where it's stretched over the front of the black metal seat frame.The clips live where the metal curves backward. Second, grab hold of a rod on the side of the seat opposite the seatback adjustment knob (rod is hidden behind fabric, feel for it at lower edge of fabric on side of seat). Pull out on this rod to free it from the side of the seat. Then, slip the rod out of the fabric and set it aside. Peel the fabric up over the side and front of the seat, making a diagonal across seat front. You should now be able to see a burnt spot--blackened--perhaps the size of a pencil eraser or smaller. This is the point where the wiring has broken. If the spot is near the edge of the seat, then try peeling the guaze-like thin fabric back to access the wires to re-connect them. |
| Repair procedure |
| More detailed information on heated seat repair is coming soon. |