Heated seats issues

[jeryst]

1998 Legacy Outback Wagon. 2.5. AT.

Bought the car when if had 124k miles. Has160k now.

Anyways, the switches for the heated seats have never illuminated in low or high settings (maybe they are not supposed to?). The passenger seat seems to heat consistently when the switch is on, but the driver seat only works occasionally. I leave it on all of the time in the winter, but just feel it warm up every once in a while for seemingly no reason.

Does anyone know if there is a common point of failure for the heated seats? Would new switches help? 

[gbhrps]

jeryst,

Many of the early generations of OB's use a small light bulb inside the switch that can burn out over time. The last time I had an OBW of your vintage I was able to buy replacement bulbs in a two pack from Radio Shack for about  $6. They are very tiny 12 volt buds with about 2.5 inch long bare silver coloured wires coming from them. Every lighted switch in the car including the dash  and HVAC/Radio lights used them.

You would need to take the switch apart (both of your hands, the switch and thin bladed tools need to be inside a large ziplock bag during disassembly, to keep springs and small parts getting lost) to get at the bulbs and simply cut the excess lead wires from the bulbs after you install them. In some cases the old bulbs had a thin rubber condom over them to cast a light blue glow. Just transfer the condom over to the new bulb.

This all assumes that your circuitry isn't the issue though. Frequently the seat heater mat under the leather/cloth seat get stretched over time and break the thin wire elements. Replacement mats can be bought online through a Google search, and much cheaper than from Subaru, if they are even available anymore. Check your fuses, and take the switches apart and clean their internal contacts. They frequently carbon up and either refuse to work or do so intermittently.

Do some research online, check YouTube for videos and dive in if you're a DIYer. Good Luck!

[jeryst]

Thanks for the info, however, because of some additional research, I feel there are other issues that are causing this.

1. It looks like indicator lights in the seat switches get their power from a different source than the power for the heaters themselves. Since none of the four seat heating indicator lights illuminate, I am assuming some type of power/ground issue, but I am not sure of where the power comes from.

2. The passenger seat heater functions correctly, so there is power and ground there.

3. The drivers seat heater functions erratically, so this could be caused by a break in the heating element, or also could be a power/ground issue.

What I have not been able to determine, is if there is some type of major connection plug for the seat heating system, and where its location would be.

I have had corrosion issues with some of the other connection plugs in the vehicle, and am wondering if that is what is happening here.

 

[Rampage]

Did you check the plug under the seat for corrosion?

If the contacts are clean, with it unplugged you could hook up an ohm meter to the connector going into the seat and see if the reading changes while moving around on the seat.

And you could check for voltage on the other half as you work the switches.

It's the place to start.