Fitting electric seats

Scooby250 · August 6, 2019, 22:14

Hi all,

I have recently bought a set of Mazda RX8 leather seats. I have fitted the passenger side seat converting the base to fit the MR2 original fixed position. The problem I now have is that the drivers side seat is completely electric so I find myself in the situation of trying to supply power to the seat. I also have the switches for the heated parts to work on both seats. Does anyone have any ideas on how's best to get power to them and what I should use fuse or relay rise. Any advice welcome.
Below is a picture of passenger seat fitted

Bossworld · August 7, 2019, 13:23

Quote from: Scooby250 on August 6, 2019, 22:14Hi all,

I have recently bought a set of Mazda RX8 leather seats. I have fitted the passenger side seat converting the base to fit the MR2 original fixed position. The problem I now have is that the drivers side seat is completely electric so I find myself in the situation of trying to supply power to the seat. I also have the switches for the heated parts to work on both seats. Does anyone have any ideas on how's best to get power to them and what I should use fuse or relay rise. Any advice welcome.
Below is a picture of passenger seat fitted

First port of call IMO would be a multi meter to the fusebox to try and see which fuses are ignition only. From trying to get ignition only power for a 12v to 5v converter, I found most of them seemed to be permanently on.

Alternatively, I think @shnazzle has heated seats in his car and may be able to tell you which fuse they're taken from?

StuC · August 7, 2019, 17:29

Just out of interest do the rx8 seats have airbags in them?

In terms of fuses for the seat motors I would think you'd need something fairly substantial and the cabling to it then will need to be spec'd right.
Might be worth digging out an rx8 wiring diagram to confirm some of this.

Scooby250 · August 7, 2019, 19:07

Quote from: StuC on August 7, 2019, 17:29Just out of interest do the rx8 seats have airbags in them?

In terms of fuses for the seat motors I would think you'd need something fairly substantial and the cabling to it then will need to be spec'd right.
Might be worth digging out an rx8 wiring diagram to confirm some of this.

The seats have got side airbags but I'm not overly concerned about getting them to work.
I will have a scan on google and see if I can find a RX8 wiring diagram.

StuC · August 7, 2019, 20:09

Btw, how do the rx8 seats feel in the 2?
Height, comfort, adjustability etc

Scooby250 · August 7, 2019, 20:58

So far I have only fitted the passenger seat as that is only electric heated otherwise manual adjustment. I have sat in it once and it seemed pretty comfortable. I took a mate out for a drive last weekend and he was saying how comfortable the seat was and how good they looked in the car.

StuC · August 8, 2019, 08:35

Just for my curiosity... can you please post a photo of the back of the seat?

Was also just thinking about your installation. Do you have the connectors for doing the installation? If so, great that will tell you the wire sizes that you need.
If not, might be worth grabbing a length of the harness (incl connectors) from a scrapper.

Scooby250 · August 8, 2019, 18:23

Quote from: StuC on August 8, 2019, 08:35Just for my curiosity... can you please post a photo of the back of the seat?

Was also just thinking about your installation. Do you have the connectors for doing the installation? If so, great that will tell you the wire sizes that you need.
If not, might be worth grabbing a length of the harness (incl connectors) from a scrapper.

I have got the harness and I also got the wiring to the switches for the heated seats as thought it might make things a bit easier.
If I get the heated seats part up and running thinking of putting the switches each side of the hand brake as there should be just enough room to fit them.

StuC · August 8, 2019, 23:08

Thanks for the pics.
Are you planning on doing anything with the rears of them? Gloss black or something?

They were a little stingy on the cut wires there!! Lol.

Where does the harness enter the underside of the seat? Front, middle rear?

Scooby250 · August 9, 2019, 06:46

I did think at the time the bloke cut the wires he could have left a bit more fit me to play with.

Obviously that was just that side of the connector there is a fair bit to play with under the seat.
At present I am just using the standard seat belts which seem to be fine with them.
If I start using it more for a track car then I will fit harnesses.
I have thought about doing the back of the seats gloss black but a little concerned it may cause issues with the airbags