Heated Seats

[wbarrwebster]

Just fitted the Toyota Heated Seats kit.....
Not the easiest job I've ever undertaken even with the help of the guys who did it previously in the Club as detailed in the Forum..

The Members who fitted them before only needed a switched live, my kit requires a switched live and a constant live.

i've piggy backed the Cigar Lighter for the switched live, any suggestions on a constant live under the dash, bearing in mind I'll be pulling more juice than the radio live can provide.

Any suggestions, ideally where to find under dash and wire colour would help.  
Cheers,

B

[GSB]

A constant Live for heated seats? I'm struggling to think why such a thing would be needed...

In order to save yourself some potential bother, I'd hook both live feeds to the cigar lighter and test the seats, if they work as you would expect, there's no need to go digging for a constant live feed. I honestly cannot think of a reason why a constant live would be needed, unless the kit was designed to use the constant live wire as the actual feed, and the switched live to control weather the seats should be on or not, in much the same was as an amplifier is powered, in which case the cigar lighter is more than man enough for the job.

Give it a try...

[wbarrwebster]

Many thanks for your comments, much appreciated.

For whatever reason, Mr T has put a relay in the system, the constant hot wire is  presumably for the the relay.

In ideal world, I'd like to keep it how God, sorry, Mr T intended.

At the end of the day, I'll try both lives together but would ideally like to find a reasonably heavy juiced constant live under the dash as I shouldn't have to run wire direct from the battery with all that messing about entails!

Again, any comments would be helpful.

Regards,

B

[Tem]

Like GSB said, don't use a wire with constant power, but one that has power only when you turn the key. The cigarette lighter is most likely a good output, unless your elements require a bigger fuse.

If you wire it direct to battery, you'll drain it if you (or your passenger) ever leaves it on.


You don't need a relay either, if your switches can handle it.

[GSB]

I've been thinking about this today, in spare moments waiting outside changing rooms whilst my wife tried on various outfits in various stores throughout central London, and my conclusion is this...

Mr.T has raided his parts bin to provide a heated seat solution for the MR2, and come up with the system that you have. It adheres to best electrical practice by using a switch to energise a relay, which in turn switches the larger load fed direct from a constant live feed. This is all fine, but the fact is that the MR2 doesn't really need it. The fact that the feed is constant has no bearing on the installation, as the switched live that feeds the relay coil via your control switch is fed from a source that is switched on and off with the ignition. As such when ever the ignition is off, the output from the relay to the heaters will be off, as there is no feed to its coil. With me so far?

As such, the constant live is not a requirement, as its really only being used to provide a high capacity feed. There is already such a feed in the car in the form of the cigar lighter supply. It just happens to be a switched with the ignition system. As we're only talking about heaters and not electronic devices with a memory to maintain, the fact that its constant or not has absolutely no bearing on the operation of your seat heaters.

I realise that most of this will be gobble-de-gook to most people, so what this means in plain english is this. If you wire both feeds to the positive supply on the cigar lighter, your heated seats will work exactly as designed. You will never know the difference.

[wbarrwebster]

Thanks for all the advise...........

Eventually connectedf Ign and switched together off of Cigar
Lighter........apart from a few initial issues with an earth, looking great!!

Lights up a treat.(there's nothing better to make a tinkerer happy than things that light up on the dash!!!)  

Just think, I can make the wife have a hot ass at the flick of a switch!!!! If you tell her I said that, I will deny everything!!

One issue, when o' when is someone going to develop a better piggy back/wire type connector to replace the 3m type? Is it just me, or does anyone else think ther're crap?

Thanks again guys,


Regards,

B

[GSB]

Glad to hear everythings ok, but I would suggest you get rid of the scotchlocks.The soldering iron and heatshrink gun is your friend, No better method of quickly joining 2 wires has been invented. Avoid the Scotchlocks at all costs, as they are really not suited to high current applications.

[Anonymous]

Hi, i fancy heated seat,

Any ideas on costs involved for parts and what parts are required

Regards

Kev

[wbarrwebster]

Kev,

I bought the heated seats inserts from another member, I think I paid about £90 from memory. These were new but unopened. The kit included the 4 seat pads, relays, wiring and switches. As I said in my original post, not the easiest of jobs..seats out and taken apart to get the pads in. I ultimately ran a wire from the battery for constant live and piggy backed the cigar lighter for the switched live.

Working a treat, the switches are actually from Mr T so sit in the right place on the LHS of the column, they light up, which is more than some of the switches do!!

I only ever saw the heated seat inserts come up for sale once at £90, I would imagine buying direct from Mr t would be expensive but hey, what do I know.

I'm happy with the result!!

B

[AmeR]

What was the cost from Mr T?? Quite interested but as always money is the issue!!

[Tem]

Here's a quick history of heated seats.  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  

Some years ago I sourced the same elements that were used by finnish Toyota. Later on I found out that at least Toyota UK and Toyota Germany use the same elements as well. They seem like a quality element, mine has been on the car since 2000 and it's still working. Never heard of anyone else having issues with them either. They are bound to have issues over time, but that time sure seems to be a long one.

Anyway, there was a GB in here and GSB made a wiring loom for them. After that 1st GB I've been selling them one by one when someone asked for one, cause I can't get any discount from the elements with quantity anyway and the shipping ends up being about same with a set or for multiple sets. Someone also asked me to do a wiring loom after GSB didn't do them anymore, so I made the looms too for those who wanted. And the switches too.

IIRC, the price used to be £90 for a pair and £100 with the wiring loom and switches. Someone mentioned they were over £200 from Toyota UK. But that was some time ago, it's always worth asking Toyota how much they are these days. Seems like the original GB-thread is long gone, but you can probably find some info through search. And GSB's excellent writeup about installing them with pics is worth a look too.


I have no idea if I can still get the elements for that price (or at all), but if there's interest, I can always ask the supplier.

[muffdan]

I'd be interested ...

[Anonymous]

Im Interested too   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[GSB]

Did someone mention my name?

The heated seat install guide is still here, and surprisingly the photos are still on it too.
 l viewtopic.php?f=31&t=6370&p=77353 l

[wbarrwebster]

The only thing I would add, from my limited experience, is that I tended to bend/break those copper clips that hold the bars at the back and bottom of the seats, I would suggest anyone has plastic cable ties on hand as replacements for the copper clips!

Anyway, it worked for me!

B

[AmeR]

Would they have the proper switches that go next to the steering column with it as well??

If so, I am definately interested!!

[Tem]

Would they have the proper switches that go next to the steering column with it as well??

Check the thread GSB just linked.  s;) s;)




That's what comes/came with the kit. Of course you could use any other switch and mount it anywhere.  s8) s8)

[markiii]

reference thread moved to teh library

 l viewtopic.php?f=31&t=6370&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a l

[wbarrwebster]

I used the the installation on the previously mention thread as a guide, although my kit had the the actual Mr T switches that fit in the two places provided as mentioned on the LHS of the column.

If I can find the time, I'll attempt to get pics up but it's not something I'm good at ( among other things!!)   s:D s:D  

B

[AmeR]

I used the the installation on the previously mention thread as a guide, although my kit had the the actual Mr T switches that fit in the two places provided as mentioned on the LHS of the column.

If I can find the time, I'll attempt to get pics up but it's not something I'm good at ( among other things!!)   s:D s:D  

B

Did you get yours straight from Mr T? If so how much did they set you back?

I've no problems with having a go at the installation (Goes on my to do list with a few other things!!). Just need to budget for them for next pay really!?!

[wbarrwebster]

Hi,

As referenced in previous mail, I bought the kit via another member for £90. You'd have to confirm cost with Mr T as I've only ever seen one other kit for sale in 18 months. ( That's always assuming Mt T still does them.)

I'm obviously biased but I think it's agreat mod although half way through the installation I felt wee bit differently !

Sorry, can't be more help.

B

[Tem]

I have no idea if I can still get the elements for that price (or at all), but if there's interest, I can always ask the supplier.

They are still available, though apparently in limited quantities. The price has gone up a bit, but I'd have to check the postage and currency conversions before giving the final price. Should be roughly what they were anyway.


I wish someone would ask your local Toyota the current pricing though. If they are £90 or ish over there, it doesn't make any sense to ship these from here.  s8) s8)

[muffdan]

I wish someone would ask your local Toyota the current pricing though. If they are £90 or ish over there, it doesn't make any sense to ship these from here.  s8) s8)

Do you have a part number?

Jason

[Tem]

I wish someone would ask your local Toyota the current pricing though. If they are £90 or ish over there, it doesn't make any sense to ship these from here.  s8) s8)

Do you have a part number?

Jason

Sorry, no, cause I don't buy them from Toyota.  s:? :? s:?

[Tem]

Sorry about the delay, but these were in back order, but should be available now, if anyone's still interested.

While I was at it, I noticed they got switches that fit our blank locations perfectly.  s:D s:D  



Edit: Bigger pics, cause the forum only opens the thumbs from the pics.  s:( s:(
 m http://www.aijaa.com/v.php?i=3358625.jpg m
 m http://www.aijaa.com/v.php?i=3358627.jpg m