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[doz]

The heated seats are giving me gip. No matter what setting i put the drivers one on it just get's silly hot very quickly. Is there a thermo cut out some where? Is the switch the only regulator? Can't feel no heat through the back rest either. Not sure if they have heating elements just in the base. Anybody got any ideas as my derrière is getting hacked off feeling like a fried egg in a pan.

[Andy B]

The heated seats are giving me gip. No matter what setting i put the drivers one on it just get's silly hot very quickly. Is there a thermo cut out some where? Is the switch the only regulator? Can't feel no heat through the back rest either. Not sure if they have heating elements just in the base. Anybody got any ideas as my derrière is getting hacked off feeling like a fried egg in a pan.

What car? LincsRobert is your man for heated seats. 

[I_want_an_Omega]

Sounds to me lime you have a "hot spot" or several - classic symptoms unfortunately ......

On Leather and Elite (cloth & leather) there is a stranded heating element woven into thin padding in the seat cover. On non-Elite seats the heat comes from a single wire element incorporated into a cloth "mat" which fits between the seat cover and the foam cushion.

With the stranded elements, individual wires break with time and mechanical wear and tear. So, very gradually the hot spots develop as you are finding. More wires break/melt and eventually the circuit goes open circuit and stops working totally.

With heater mats the single heating wire is much thicker and therefore stronger - but if that single wire breaks then the whole seat stops working as the base and back are wired in series.

On seats that I have dismantled to fix (can only fix non working ones) I have seen the hot-spots and burn marks. Problem is that a fix usually just moves the hot-spot somewhere else and it will fail again before too long .

The good news is that the way to fix them is to put heating mats between the seat custion and the seat cover. It works, I've done it  . Finding the pads might be a problem due to stock availability - or strip them from a working seat in a breaker.

Stripping seats down is very fiddly  . There is a guide which shows you all you need. Don't underestimate how much time it takes though .......

A few assorted comments:

1) Elements must only come from like for like models - i,e, PFL, MFL and FL. DONT mix them up. 

2) Dont switch the ignition on with a seat removed from the car - if you then the airbag light will come on and wont go off again unless reset by a code reader/tech 2.

3) On PFL seats the pre-tensioners are mechanical and must be locked to prevent activation - there is an attached red plastic gismo to do just this.

4) MV6s are the exeption to the cloth/leather rule - with both having heater mats, they also have an extension into the knee bolster.

5) As a check, a working seat takes about 5 amps when working correctly.

6) After-market kits can be fitted if the GM ones prove difficult to get hold of.

And finally, I have a very small stock of MFL pads available if anyone is interested. I have tried selling them on the parts section but have had no takers so far

HTH - Rob

[I_want_an_Omega]

Sounds to me lime you have a "hot spot" or several - classic symptoms unfortunately ......

On Leather and Elite (cloth & leather) there is a stranded heating element woven into thin padding in the seat cover. On non-Elite seats the heat comes from a single wire element incorporated into a cloth "mat" which fits between the seat cover and the foam cushion.

With the stranded elements, individual wires break with time and mechanical wear and tear. So, very gradually the hot spots develop as you are finding. More wires break/melt and eventually the circuit goes open circuit and stops working totally.

With heater mats the single heating wire is much thicker and therefore stronger - but if that single wire breaks then the whole seat stops working as the base and back are wired in series.

On seats that I have dismantled to fix (can only fix non working ones) I have seen the hot-spots and burn marks. Problem is that a fix usually just moves the hot-spot somewhere else and it will fail again before too long .

The good news is that the way to fix them is to put heating mats between the seat custion and the seat cover. It works, I've done it  . Finding the pads might be a problem due to stock availability - or strip them from a working seat in a breaker.

Stripping seats down is very fiddly  . There is a guide which shows you all you need. Don't underestimate how much time it takes though .......

A few assorted comments:

1) Elements must only come from like for like models - i,e, PFL, MFL and FL. DONT mix them up. 

2) Dont switch the ignition on with a seat removed from the car - if you then the airbag light will come on and wont go off again unless reset by a code reader/tech 2.

3) On PFL seats the pre-tensioners are mechanical and must be locked to prevent activation - there is an attached red plastic gismo to do just this.

4) MV6s are the exeption to the cloth/leather rule - with both having heater mats, they also have an extension into the knee bolster.

5) As a check, a working seat takes about 5 amps when working correctly.

6) After-market kits can be fitted if the GM ones prove difficult to get hold of.

And finally, I have a very small stock of MFL pads available if anyone is interested. I have tried selling them on the parts section but have had no takers so far

HTH - Rob

Forgot to mention that I have connectors/cabling that allow MFL seats to be connected outside a car for testing etc. I also made up a cable for FL cars - but CHRISGIXER has this as I dont have have a FL car .......

[doz]

Cheers for the info. It's a FL car with leather so I guess it's a big work up to sort out. I had to repair a seat on a car many moons ago and it was a right ballsache. Something I'd try to avoid now

[TheBoy]

Is it just one spot thats getting hot, or all over?

If a hotspot, thats a failing element.  If all over, likely to be the thermostat (a simple thermister) or the controller. To access both, you need to strip the seat.

[doz]

I'm pretty sure my right buttock is getting the majority of the heat

[TheBoy]

I'm pretty sure my right buttock is getting the majority of the heat

OK, still a partial strip down. Not too bad if its just the base

[Andy B]

I've a brand new heater pad for an Astra G seat base if it any use to any one ...... they might be similar to one of the Omega variants.