Heated Seat Question

The seats in my Golf are not the OEM that came with the car. The PO replaced them with the cloth red sport seats (found in the GTI/Wolfsburg I believe). I've heard that the cloth seats came in the heated or non-heated versions. I'm under the assumption that the plugs are on the inside of the seats pointed towards the center console for running the wire purposes. Does anyone know if there's an easy way to identify if they are heated or not with the seats bolted down? I know I'm looking for a green plug but I'm a bit too tall and awkward to get my head down in there that I've tried.

That being said I've see a few harness sets on ebay that are aftermarket. Does anyone have experience with these?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VW-Golf-4-M...et-/172392702492?_trksid=p2385738.m2548.l4275

Am
In Wales so
I bought mine from Kufatec in Germany. Works fine

You could take a video if the underside of your seat using a smart phone. I do that when working on the engine if I can't see properly.

dataflow said:

You could take a video if the underside of your west using a smart phone. I do that when working on the engine if I can't see properly.

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Good call data, I'll try that.

dataflow said:

Am
In Wales so
I bought mine from Kufatec in Germany. Works fine

Click to expand...

Right on I just looked them up. That's a great price compared to OEM. I'll have to see what the shipping is to the US. I sure hope my seats are heated I'm going to check at lunch! I know the red sports were supposedly rare.

Edit: shipping from Germany is 25 EU through them. I might have to look around

I'm lost about your situation. Why would you look under the seat for a plug when you can look at the dash. I can't see anybody removing seat heater switches and putting in blanks.

He just wants to know if the seat has the proper guts. Like if someone switched the seats and didn't plug them in or he wants to add that feature.
I always thought heated seats were only leather, but I've read different here on this wonderful forum.

KrashDH said:

Right on I just looked them up. That's a great price compared to OEM. I'll have to see what the shipping is to the US. I sure hope my seats are heated I'm going to check at lunch! I know the red sports were supposedly rare.

Edit: shipping from Germany is 25 EU through them. I might have to look around

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If you did end up with the Kufatec one there is a good write up on install on uk-Mikvs.net. The wiring is all grey and they are labelled in German. That said with the write up it is Simple enough to do. Good luck in any case

drucifer said:

I'm lost about your situation. Why would you look under the seat for a plug when you can look at the dash. I can't see anybody removing seat heater switches and putting in blanks.

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The previous owner installed/had the red sport seats installed in this Golf. There were no heater switches/heated OEM seats in this model, so there are blanks in the dash

BobnOH said:

He just wants to know if the seat has the proper guts. Like if someone switched the seats and didn't plug them in or he wants to add that feature.
I always thought heated seats were only leather, but I've read different here on this wonderful forum.

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Correct. I wasn't sure either if the cloth had the heated option. I was actually able to twist myself and look from the front of the seat up under, and BAM, there was the green plug staring at my face. So far the red sport seats I've come across online all have had the heater option.

dataflow said:

If you did end up with the Kufatec one there is a good write up on install on uk-Mikvs.net. The wiring is all grey and they are labelled in German. That said with the write up it is Simple enough to do. Good luck in any case

Click to expand...

Yeah the install seems pretty straight forward for the Kufatec or something similar for that matter. I think it tells you to use a switched and constant power source from the fuse panel, ground to the seat rail, and tap into the dimmer switch wire for the lights on the switches.

Looks like I'm in business now I'll have to get on trying to get a harness for this, route it, and hook it up. Shouldn't be too bad other than routing the wiring, I'll have to read on how to get all of that plastic out of there down to the carpet so I can run the wiring. I know there were some people making harnesses on other forums, but probably don't come cheap. I'll have to look around

After some back and forth with the seller of the harness in the first post, I pulled the trigger on that and some OEM switches. Came in under $80 for everything. Should be worth every penny.

Had you chosen Kufatec, the following links would have been perfect for you:

Kufatec USA: https://www.kufatec.us/shop/en/volk...eating-w-seat-adjustment-harness-vw-audi-seat

How-To (put it all together): http://uk-mkivs.net/topic/16514-how-to-install-kufatec-heated-seat-loom/
Post #89 in particular is relevant to the US market.

Norman said:

Had you chosen Kufatec, the following links would have been perfect for you:

Kufatec USA: https://www.kufatec.us/shop/en/volk...eating-w-seat-adjustment-harness-vw-audi-seat

How-To (put it all together): http://uk-mkivs.net/topic/16514-how-to-install-kufatec-heated-seat-loom/
Post #89 in particular is relevant to the US market.

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Thanks for the links. I have that second one stored away. The first link I looked at. I have manual seats. Also It was hard to justify the 25 bucks for shipping. I'll see how the other harness works out

KrashDH said:

... I have manual seats. ..

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Yep, this is the one for the manual seats: https://www.kufatec.us/shop/en/retrofits/seat-accessories/seat-heating-harness-vw-audi-seat-skoda

That was the one I used as well, and feedback from others on Fred's who'd done this before me all recommended the Kufatec harness because it was the closest to OEM (and could be the OEM supplier from the looks of it).

Good luck with your install.

Norman said:

Yep, this is the one for the manual seats: https://www.kufatec.us/shop/en/retrofits/seat-accessories/seat-heating-harness-vw-audi-seat-skoda
That was the one I used as well, and feedback from others on Fred's who'd done this before me all recommended the Kufatec harness because it was the closest to OEM (and could be the OEM supplier from the looks of it).
Good luck with your install.

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Yeah it does look like a nice harness...couple of questions for you:

Is the Kufatec harness pictured the actual one? Reason I ask is on the Kufatec I see 4 cables all that have connectors on the ends of it. The one I purchased has 2 connectors (the ring terminal and one that plugs in the fuse box) and the other 2 are just loose wire.

From what I understand, the loose wires get spliced into a) the dimmer light power and b) The wires from fuse location S5 (gets a ring connector)

If that's the case, what's the point of the connectors on the end of the 2 wires for the Kufatec harness?

The guy on ebay I checked with said all of his customers have never had an issue with the harness. If it came down to it though, I always could purchase the Kufatec one. But winter is coming...

KrashDH said:

From what I understand, the loose wires get spliced into a) the dimmer light power and b) The wires from fuse location S5 (gets a ring connector)

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If I understand it correctly it uses the dash light dimmer for power?
If so do you need to dim the lights to shut the heated seats in the summer when you drive at night?
The Kufatec one does not included the correct control switches.
Hopefully not the original bad ones VW had a recall on.
I'm not even sure it could handle the power.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding it.

My understanding was it uses that dimmer only to light up the button. The power comes from a spare in the fuse box. Switched, hot, seems S5 is the one used for cars equipped with butt warmers.

wonneber said:

If I understand it correctly it uses the dash light dimmer for power?
If so do you need to dim the lights to shut the heated seats in the summer when you drive at night?
The Kufatec one does not included the correct control switches.
Hopefully not the original bad ones VW had a recall on.
I'm not even sure it could handle the power.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding it.

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Dimmer wire that is tapped into is like Bob said, only used to light up the lights in the heat switches.

There is no need to dim the lights to shut the heat on the seats off...just turnn the controls to 0.

None of these harnesses come with the control switches, those you have to purchase somewhere else or get them from a wrecked vehicle.

Main power comes through the fuse box as stated (44) via permanent live (relay 30 under dash). Switched power comes either from fuse slot 5 or there is the relay (75X) under the dash that you can connect directly to.

When the key is off, there is no switched power, therefor the circuit cannot be completed...no heat. You turn the key to run, it fires the 75X switched relay, which powers all of the switched fuse panel slots. Connecting to it or tapping into the wire on slot 5 does the same thing essentially, provides the main power needed to heat the seats. There is another internal circuit to the switch though. If it is on 0, the circuit is open, therefor no voltage is received to the warmers. Turn that dial to any of the numbers, and then you close the circuit. The dial is essentially a resistor Increase the value on the dial, it decreases the resistance value, seat warmer gets hotter.

There are a couple of excellent write-ups both here and on the Vortex site that detail how to make a non heated seat car a heated seat car. I did it on my 03 Jetta a few years ago following one done by Justin (oldpoopie) Thanks Justin! It was pretty simple, if a bit tedious, to use the VW repair wires to utilize the empty #44 position in the fuse panel on the left side of the dash. IIRC, I bought the heated seat harness from someone via Fred's, and the switches on eBay.
One mistake I made, and haven't fixed yet, was to pop the Driver's side switch through the opening on the passenger side, and vice versa. Oops.

flashmayo said:

was to pop the Driver's side switch through the opening on the passenger side, and vice versa. Oops.

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Could you elaborate on this? Are you talking about the harness or?

KrashDH said:

...

Is the Kufatec harness pictured the actual one? Reason I ask is on the Kufatec I see 4 cables all that have connectors on the ends of it. The one I purchased has 2 connectors (the ring terminal and one that plugs in the fuse box) and the other 2 are just loose wire.

From what I understand, the loose wires get spliced into a) the dimmer light power and b) The wires from fuse location S5 (gets a ring connector)

If that's the case, what's the point of the connectors on the end of the 2 wires for the Kufatec harness?

...

Click to expand...

I think the pictured harness for the Model 30000 is just there for representation because it didn't look like the harness I got...which is why I pointed you to post #89 in that second link I posted because that is 100% accurate for the harness I got from Kufatec. Each and every wire connection is covered and there's no guessing what goes where. Basically there's a power wire, Ground, switched power, dimmer light, and I think one connected to the control switches in the dash.

The one that goes to the back of Pin 17 on the headlight switch is there to provide switch backlighting at night when you turn on your lights.

If you review that uk-mkivs.net thread, it'll be pretty clear what needs to be connected.

flashmayo said:

...
One mistake I made, and haven't fixed yet, was to pop the Driver's side switch through the opening on the passenger side, and vice versa. Oops.

Click to expand...

You may have already figured this out, but, the actual control switches themselves are all the same, there is no driver side or passenger side; what makes them DS or PS is the cut on the bezel to make it DS or PS, but you can just pop the bezel off and change out a control switch if one goes bad.

Norman said:

You may have already figured this out, but, the actual control switches themselves are all the same, there is no driver side or passenger side; what makes them DS or PS is the cut on the bezel to make it DS or PS, but you can just pop the bezel off and change out a control switch if one goes bad.

Click to expand...

Wouldn't the numbering and seat heater symbol on the switches be upside down though if you tried to flip them around? Internals may all work the same, but if you flip it 180 to put it in the other side you'd be all backwards.

I don't have a switch in front of me right now, but I do recall looking at a switch (complete), and then comparing it with its mate on the other side and I do believe you can pop the guts out, so that would be the rheo part with the numbers and stuff and keep the orientation the same, but switch it to the other side and just switch the bezel.

I dunno, I could have been delirious from finally having heated seats after driving cars for over 40 some years...

I've done one car and am about ready to do another. I bought both sets of Kufatec harnesses at the same time and I think it can about $120. I'd waffled all over the place on how to do this, and in the end the Kufatec route made the most sense (and seemed to be about the most cost effective- doing up harnesses would have been a bit of work (figuring lengths etc)).

First car I routed the seat-side wiring down the driver's side and then across. I believe this is the stock routing. This next time, however, I'm going to route down the console: I'm going to be upgrading the rear console section and installing a new stereo so it seems to make more sense.

There's a bit of head-scratching with the Kufatec harness due to it being labeled in German. This gets a bit distracting. If you really just look at how things function it's pretty self-explanatory.

UhOh said:

I've done one car and am about ready to do another. I bought both sets of Kufatec harnesses at the same time and I think it can about $120. I'd waffled all over the place on how to do this, and in the end the Kufatec route made the most sense (and seemed to be about the most cost effective- doing up harnesses would have been a bit of work (figuring lengths etc)).

First car I routed the seat-side wiring down the driver's side and then across. I believe this is the stock routing. This next time, however, I'm going to route down the console: I'm going to be upgrading the rear console section and installing a new stereo so it seems to make more sense.

There's a bit of head-scratching with the Kufatec harness due to it being labeled in German. This gets a bit distracting. If you really just look at how things function it's pretty self-explanatory.

Click to expand...

Yeah the harness I'm receiving is pretty self explanatory. There are actually colored wires which makes more sense. Got the switches a couple days ago, and now waiting on the harness. I'll be routing down the center console as well, I don't mind having some extra coils/zip tying for ease of install. Sounds like you don't really need to remove the center console, just loosen it.

I think that you have to remove the rear console section. Loosening is most of the work, in which case just remove it completely. You have to feed wires under the carpet. I used fish tape to pull wires from the driver's door but I don't think that that was necessary; anyway, some might find a fish tape to be useful.

While running stuff through the console it might not be much more work to run wires for a backup camera. I'm planning on doing this: new stereo will have AV for a camera and I might as well take advantage of it; that's my thought, which, as happens fairly often, is subject to change.

KrashDH said:

Could you elaborate on this? Are you talking about the harness or?

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These are the seat heat adjuster switches. They ended up in the opposite side they're supposed to be in. Passenger seat switch is on the driver's side etc.

John

Norman said:

You may have already figured this out, but, the actual control switches themselves are all the same, there is no driver side or passenger side; what makes them DS or PS is the cut on the bezel to make it DS or PS, but you can just pop the bezel off and change out a control switch if one goes bad.

Click to expand...

The switches are the same, but if you run the driver's side harness so that it sits on the passenger side of the center console, you can get the customization I have.

JT

OK folks silly question: I am going to put wiring into fuse #44 for the seat heaters.

How does one open up the back of the fuse box to put in the repair wires? There's a black plastic cover on it, and there's a hinge to my front, but in the back I can figure out how to get the damn thing opened!

Any tricks/hints?

Thanks!

Just got done doing my car. Amazing how quickly one forgets all the niggly little details like what you're asking about here!

I pondered this very thing. I think I just ended up prying it off. Have to just sit down with it like you're going to have a long conversation with it, otherwise one is tempted, as I tend to be, to be impatient and try to get it open/off NOW (because "it should be simple!"), and thus ending up breaking something. With just as little time and study I think you'll be able to get that thing off.