Heated Seats not working

[Big Red]

2014 MKZ AWD with 80,000 km. Front heated seats do not work. The cooling portion does. Fuses are good. The local stealership wants 1500 parts & labour to change the blower motor or whatever its called. My question...The cooling portion works so why change the motor? Could it be someting else? DIY job?
 

thanks

[bbf2530]

Hi B R. Moving this to the "Interior" sub-forum, where it will hopefully receive more appropriate attention than in the "AWD (All Wheel Drive)" sub-forum.

 

Good luck.

Edited October 8, 2021 by bbf2530

[leftoverture]

I'm not sure there is a motor for the seat heaters, I think it is more of a heater element. I know in my 2014 it took a very long time to warm up (many miles of driving) , are you sure you're giving it enough time to get warm? I would suggest you visit a local auto upholstery shop, they will be able to fix it and certainly for a whole lot less. 

[bbf2530]

13 hours ago, Big Red said:

2014 MKZ AWD with 80,000 km. Front heated seats do not work. The cooling portion does. Fuses are good. The local stealership wants 1500 parts & labour to change the blower motor or whatever its called. My question...The cooling portion works so why change the motor? Could it be someting else? DIY job?
 

thanks

 

Hi B R. Yes, it "could" be something else. It could be any of a half dozen things or more. And if we ask long enough, we can probably find one owner or another who has had one of those half dozen+ problems with their heated seats in their particular MKZ

 

However, there is no way to accurately diagnose it over the Internet, since I or someone else can tell you the cause was "X" on my MKZ, but it could be "U", "V", "W", "Y" or "Z" causing the problem on your car. Or any combination of them.

 

Hope you understand I am not being difficult, only trying to help you and explain that this is one of those cases where Internet diagnosis will most likely only wind up with you frustrated and throwing parts (and money) at the problem. The underlying cause will need to be determined through hands-on diagnosis.

 

I am sure other members will jump in if they feel they can help.

 

Keep us updated and good luck.

[Big Red]

BBF2350...you are correct. In researching this deeper I am concluding that this is NOT a DYI project. Although I do not trust dealerships” lets replace the most expensive parts and work our way from there” approach, without the proper job specific scanning tools and then a need to reprogram the module(s), I will have to figure out another way to warm my butt in winter.

[leftoverture]

Hi Big Red, as I stated earlier, any local auto upholstery shop near you should be able to service your seat heater issue. 

[bbf2530]

7 hours ago, leftoverture said:

Hi Big Red, as I stated earlier, any local auto upholstery shop near you should be able to service your seat heater issue. 

 

9 hours ago, Big Red said:

BBF2350...you are correct. In researching this deeper I am concluding that this is NOT a DYI project. Although I do not trust dealerships” lets replace the most expensive parts and work our way from there” approach, without the proper job specific scanning tools and then a need to reprogram the module(s), I will have to figure out another way to warm my butt in winter.

 

Hi B R. I agree with "leftoverture" that you may have luck if you stop by an automotive upholstery shop near you to ask their professional advice. They are used to tainting apart seats on a regular basis, and may have some insight which will save you a little money.

 

You can Google "Automotive upholstery shops near me" for places to start. That was how I found the shop I used to replace the drivers seat leather in my 2007 MKZ.

 

Keep us updated and good luck.

[drolds1]

On 10/8/2021 at 6:20 AM, leftoverture said:

I'm not sure there is a motor for the seat heaters, I think it is more of a heater element. I know in my 2014 it took a very long time to warm up (many miles of driving) , are you sure you're giving it enough time to get warm? I would suggest you visit a local auto upholstery shop, they will be able to fix it and certainly for a whole lot less. 

If it's just the standard heated seat only, then yes, it's a heating pad.  For the climate controlled seats, however, there are separate blowers for the lower cushion and the backrest.

Quote

The blower motor and TED for heating/cooling is an integrated module. 

 

Lower cushion motor:

 

Back cushion motor:

 

 

Big Red, did the dealer pull the codes from the system to come up with that diagnosis?  If they're cooling and not heating on both sides, it seems unlikely that 4 motors/TEDs went out at the same time.  Especially, if both blowers in each seat are running in the A/C mode.  The price quoted seems way off, even when considering it's CDN.  This has sometimes discovered to be a simple repair, just by pulling the connections from the module under the passenger's seat and inspecting for bent or burnt pins. Sometimes just reconnecting them cures the problem.  I'd give it a shot.  If that's not it, I'd try another dealer that's willing to properly diagnose this.  A ford dealer could handle this as well.  Let us know what happens.

 

 

Edited October 11, 2021 by drolds1