41 replies to this topic

[H1 HWK]

Thanks for the great guide BOSS, Installed these a few weeks ago following your lead, It really is a nice improvement to the cabin environment. I note your point about taking some time to drill the dash holes out for the switches......I copied your locations but rushed the holes so didn't get a nice clean edge, so for anyone else looking to do this "Worth spending a lot of time on this to get right." is good advice! I managed to get away with just running a 12V+ feed only through the bulkhead, as I took a switched feed from the back of my stereo and put the ground supply under one of the alarm fixing bolts, so the relays are loacted nicely under the dash. I was a bit dissapointed with the supplied switches as I would have liked something illuminated to indicate that they were on (as they can suck around headlight type power out of the battery when they are both running on max). I emailed the guys selling them on ebay for options/detailed circuit diagram to posibly fit some inline indicators, but they said that they only had the standard handbook diagram. I've been unable to find any suitable SPDT illuminated 20mm switches to fit the bill, but they work as they should, so I can live with it. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to document and photograph your install, gave me the confidence to rip my seats apart and give it a go. BTW while the dash was off I fitted a new foam rectangle (just cut from some packing I had in the garage) to replace the skinny thing that was sitting there linking the heater duct to the dashboard. I also removed my previous sock/tights filter mod, lagged the 18" or so hot pipe on the driver side and checked the dash for any air leaks/gaps, The heater now puts significantly more heat up to the windscreen vents, making the heater something approaching a usable device for demisting, rather than a noise generator. The biggest improvement I think, came from beefing up the rectangular coupling between heater vent and dash, so that less air/heat was bleeding into the below dash area. Warm car + being able to see where you are going = safer & nicer.

[NickCG]

This looks a great mod - have saved some in my ebay while I consider it! Thanks for the write up. Nick

[CocoPops]

Superb HowTo guide

[casino]

Give a man a match and he keeps warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he keeps warm for the rest of his life.

[Tony H]

Right I have just started on fitting my kit. The problem is I know sod all about electric. I am going to copy H1 HWK's method and use the negative/earth? under dash and switched signal feed off the stereo (which colour wire??).

 

Is there anywhere to connect the live under the dash???? It would be ideal if I could as then all the wiring would be under the dash. It has a 10amp fuse on it if that is relevant...

[iain3915]

Does having the heating element pad make any noticeable difference to the height you sit at in the car?  And are the seat bolsters still effective or are you "elevated" above them?

[H1 HWK]

Tony,

 

I fed it direct to the battery as although these things don't suck excessive current, piggybacking on another live feed is likely to cause that system to overload.

 

Iain,

 

The pads are about 5mm, but compress to about 1mm when you sit on them, so no thicker than wearing another pair of boxers.

 

This is well worth doing if you are going to live through the winter with the standard heater (or so they call it). 3 or 4 minutes into the drive and you can feel the localised heat warming you up. I've only switched mine onto the high setting twice as the low setting is just right.

 

I've added a couple of indicator lights on mine in the end, just to remind you that they are still on PAX side for example. While I vinyled my dash plates I drilled some holes near the switches. I have a pic somewhere I'll try and find.

[Tony H]

The switches in the kit have changed they have got leds in so you can see they are on.

 

Do you know what colour wire on the stereo the ignition signal wire is? And is there a nice way of connecting to it without soldering / scotch locks? Some kind of connector?

[H1 HWK]

Sorry mate, can't remember the colour, but pull the loom out and connect a volt meter to ground, then check each of the 8 or so pins for 12v. you will have a permanent +12 and one that is only live with the ignition turned on. Its the second "switched" live you are looking for, so that the seats go off once you remove the key.

 

Scotch lock is fine as it's only a +12 to energise the relay. The heavy current is fed from the +12 that I connected directly to the battery.

 

Take your time, good luck.

[Tony H]

Right I have got all the wiring fed to where it should be. I just want some learned eyes to check before I commit to connecting the wires.....

 

Connect the red cable to the bolt on the red terminal on battery. (Taking the black one off and out the way first.)

 

 

 

Secure black wire under this screw on the alarm unit.

 

 

 

 

 

Scotch lock the orange wire (looks yellow in pic) onto the green wire of the stereo connector, which I beleive to be the switched live signal.

 

 

 

Then get henry hoover under the dash if theres time.

[H1 HWK]

Looks all good to me, if you still have it accessible, you can put your finger on the relay to feel it engage. It I remember you could test it with the actual heat looms disconnected, just to check the relay engages (measure the + & - terminals on the relay with a meter to check your 12v.)

[H1 HWK]

Now seal the heater input duct with some fresh insulating foam and possibly some lagging on the water pipe on the drivers side to eek out as much efficiency as you can from the oem heater.

[Thealastair34]

The earth will be better bolted down not just on a screw Have you taken the seats apart yet?

[RabnaKS]

27, To make sure the seats go on/off with the ignition you need to supply a feed to the relay. I used the feed from the cars interior fan. This is the thick green wire which goes to the 20amp fuse number 3 (see owners manual).


28, To find the wire going to this fuse was tricky as I couldn’t remove the fuse box (nuts spinning). By removing some harness wrap and waggling wires I found it was the thick green one. I double checked this by removing a little sheeth and checking continuity with a multimeter.


Sorry – photos now taken with mobile!

29, You need to connect the green wire to the orange wire on the heated seats harness. The orange wire comes from pin 15 on the relay. I snipped off the ring terminal and connected using a 25p scotch block (blue connector in 2nd picture).



You could branch and solder together but I didn’t want to cause too much damage to the cars original loom. Scotch blocks should be fine so long as you cover in tape and keep dry.

Black tape will cover the blue later! I also taped up the slightly exposed fuse.

So , besides me bowing to your superiority, what is the toggle switch operating?

[Tony H]

Now seal the heater input duct with some fresh insulating foam and possibly some lagging on the water pipe on the drivers side to eek out as much efficiency as you can from the oem heater.

Got a fez heater coming yay

[Tony H]

The earth will be better bolted down not just on a screw Have you taken the seats apart yet?

The only other good place I can see is on the bolts of the Siemens unit , whatever it is, middle dash. It already has une ground wire on it can there be problem putting another on? Seats untouched until I prove I can wire it correctly. My housemate will do all the fitting he is great at that sort of thing.

[Thealastair34]

 

The earth will be better bolted down not just on a screw Have you taken the seats apart yet?

The only other good place I can see is on the bolts of the Siemens unit , whatever it is, middle dash. It already has une ground wire on it can there be problem putting another on? Seats untouched until I prove I can wire it correctly. My housemate will do all the fitting he is great at that sort of thing.

 

 

no wouldnt think so, will be better than on a screw as it cannot come off leaving you with  a cold bum! 

[Tony H]

Thanks, I wired it up last night, it would not turn on but at least the car did not go on fire. It was wet and dark so left it at that. I will work out how to use a multimeter thing and try and suss what I done wrong.

[Tony H]

I got it all working this afternoon. It took a bit of thinking to trace the problems but I had not got into the stereo signal wire enough with the scotch lock. And also the alarm fixing bolts are no good for grounding. I moved it to the siemens thing (airbag?) in the middle of the dash.

 

The leds on the switches come on regardless of the switch position, so even if they are turned off the little red light is on the switches, a bit annoying. I will probably dot them out with a marker.

[Sdf1965]

All, appreciate I am resurecting an old post but quick question, any reason you can't use the +12v feed to the cigarette lighter as the main feed for the seat pads?