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Old 11-26-2014, 03:11 PM   #66
tgent13
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 347839
Join Date: Feb 2013
Chapter/Region: RMIC
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Vehicle:
2012 WRX Hatch
WRB

Default 2011-2014 Heated Seat Install Guide

Thanks for this, it helped a lot, and I made one for a 2011-2012 WRX to hopefully help some people out.

Tools:
- 14MM Socket
- 12MM Socket
- Needle Nose Pliers
- Screw driver Phillips/Flat head
- Utility Knife
- Scissors
- Heavy duty wire clippers

Materials:
- Heated seat kit
- Zip Ties

I got this heated seat kit off amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IPJ9EHI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I got this one because it came with the square 2 step controls that would be easier to install (almost OEM) than the round buttons into the blanks in the center armrest. It now appears that this exact one is no longer available, but anything like this will do (there are many on Amazon and Ebay).

I also used this guide, though it didn’t help much: http://www.heatedseatkits.com/installation.pdf

Here’s the basic breakdown of the steps I did:
1. Remove Seats
2. Remove Seat Covers
3. Install Heated Seat Elements
4. Reinstall Seat Covers
5. Wire Car
6. Re-install Seats

This seemed to make the most sense to me. Here are the detailed steps of what I did with pics.


1. Remove the Seats

- Raise driver’s seat as high as it will go and move the seat as far forward as it will go.
- Remove rear plastic covers over the bolts holding the seats in place.
- Use 14mm socket to remove the 2 bolts (per seat) holding the rear of the seats in.
- Move the seat as far back as it will go and remove the front 2 bolts.
- Tip the seats back once bolts are removed (not too far they’re still connected by wires).
- Disconnect the 2 connectors under each seat with a flathead screwdriver. **The yellow connector is for the side airbag, don't break them!**
- There is one connector for the airbag (yellow one) slide back the black cover on the connector and release with a flat head screwdriver. This was a huge pain and if you press hard enough they will eventually come apart.
- Other connector is for the seat belt sensor and is easily removed with a flat head. Oddly enough the connector on the passenger’s seat is different, just FYI, I assume for the occupant sensor.
- Once the seat is disconnected mechanically and electrically, pull them out of the car and take them somewhere to work on.

Here's an image of the connectors you need to remove.

2. Remove the bottom seat cover to expose seat cushion.

- Remove the plastic cover with a flat head on the driver's side seat crank handle (that moves the seat up and down, not present on passengers seat) then remove the bolt with a 12mm socket
- To remove the larger plastic cover on the outside side of the seats, pull the reclining lever up, and remove the screw behind it, then remove the screw toward the rear of the seat with a Phillips head.
- There are 2 yellow plastic clips on the front of plastic cover, remove these by pulling straight out, and then remove the cover by sliding it over the reclining lever (real pain, had to really muscle it – there may be a way to remove the handle, but I couldn’t find one)
- Remove 2 screws holding the smaller inner side plastic covers with Phillips head
- Unhook the J shaped clips on all 4 sides under the seat cushion (the rear one is really hard, good luck).
- At this point I found I had to remove the seat back from the seat cushion in order to remove the bottom seat cushion. You can remove it with a 12mm socket by removing 2 bolts per side (4 per seat) The fabric is looped around the bolts holding the seat back on. Don’t pull the seat back away from the seat bottom however (now wire frame, as the seat bottom fabric and cushion will lift right off) because the side airbag wire is still connected to the seat bottom. I think this could be done without removing the seat back from the seat bottom, but I couldn’t find a way to do it.
- Remove the seat cushion and fabric from the frame and take somewhere else to work on.
- Peel back the seat cover until you get to the Hog Rings
- There are 3 along the outside of each side of the seat, for a total of 6, with 2 more along the horizontal (side to side?) crease in the seat, for a total of 8 per bottom seat cushion
- Unhook the 6 hog rings (I used needle nose pliers or wire cutters depending on the orientation of the hog ring, sometimes one worked while the other didn’t)
- Unhook all the Hog Rings using pliers or wire cutters.
- At this point, the bottom of the seat should be exposed and ready to install the heating element.


Removing Plastic Covers


Removing the seat back to remove the bottom cushion


J Hook Locations


Side Hog Ring Locations with cover still attached


All Hog Ring Locations


3. Remove the top seat cover to expose the seat back.

- Pull out the zippers that are tucked up behind the seat.
- Unzip to the top of the seat.
- Undo the 5 hog rings holding the piece of fabric over the side air bag on the outside of the seat and set aside the Styrofoam insert.
- Undo the 4 hog rings as you're pulling the front of the seat cover up on either side of the seat (2 per side).
- You should now have the seat pealed back to the horizontal seam. I stopped here because I was pissed off at hog rings and didn’t care if I cut 2 inches off the top of the heated seat element.


Hog ring locations on side airbag


4. Install Heating elements. Consulting whatever kit's instructions you bought should help with this as every one is slightly different. This should help as a general guide.

a. Install bottom seat cushion heating element.
- Lay the cushion heating element onto the seat (make sure the correct side is up)
- Shorten the heating element to fit your seat (I made mine so that it ended where the seat dropped off).
- Identify and mark where the 2 hog rings needs to go through the heating element on the horizontal seam.
- Cut holes in the heating element, making sure that it is through the correct part of the element (my instruction simply said cut anywhere and cover the exposed fibers with electrical tape, so that’s what I did).
- Mine also came with an integrated thermostat that was a little thicker than the element. I cut small channel into the cushion so that you wouldn’t feel like you were sitting on something once installed. I’m not sure if this is necessary, but I do know you can’t feel either of the thermostats on mine, and I would recommend doing it.
- Remove the tape (if yours comes with it) and press the heating element down to the seat cushion. Be sure to press the element into the seam so that the seat cover can maintain it’s crease at the seam.


Wedge Cut-out for integrated thermostat


Bottom heating element installed, with holes cut with electrical tape securing exposed heating leads


b. Install back seat heating element.
- Repeat above steps for back element.
- I would recommend ending the back element where I did at the seam, because I only ended up cutting off a small (~2 in) end of the heating element, and it was easier because I didn’t have to cut any holes into the element, just remove the tape and stick to the back. You would also have to press the element into the crease which would likely eliminate the rest of the heating element I cut off. Don’t bother unless you have significantly longer elements.


Installing the rear seat heating element.
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