Seat Recline & Seat Heater not working 2013 JSW TDI

RedNATEr

New member
Joined
Oct 8, 2019
Location
DFW
TDI
2013 JSW TDI
Hello, new tdiclub forum member here from the DFW area. Recently purchased a 2013 JSW TDI that sat for 3 years according to the carfax.
The only issue I'm having is that the seat recline switch and seat heater on the drivers side doesn't work. The passenger side seems to work fine. The seat is reclined a bit too far and it makes driving a bit uncomfortable.
I posted this on /r/tdi and a user there mentioned that I should check and re-check fuses, so I bought a test light and all fuses on the left side of the dash and under the hood seem to be working as expected.
I can't seem to find a decent fuse map that may tell me where the fuse for this is. I found some old tdiclub posts with old fuse panel images, but all the fuses seem to be OK. I think there may be another area under the dash with the seat fuses, but I can't seem to find the exact area to see if that's actually the case or not.
I did notice some green/blue flaky corrosion when I move the seat all the way back and remove the little flap of carpet where the electrical connections for the seat are. I've removed all the connections and sprayed contact cleaner there but that hasn't seemed to help. Maybe a previous owner spilled a drink or something? I see no signs of corrosion anywhere else on the car that I can tell.
I did ask the dealer about this but they want $300 just to diagnose it, which I may eventually do. I'm pretty handy, just new to electrical issues, so I thought I'd seek out advice on this before I take it in.
Thanks for any advice
 

Joe Romas

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2000
Location
Columbus, Ohio USA
TDI
2014 Jetta Sprotswagen
Almost everything works off of "modules" on these cars but I just looked at a VCDS printout showing the information of the modules in my new to me 2014 TDI JSW and any errors that maybe store. But I don't see anything specific to your seat problem but the heated seats may be part of the dashboard.
Since you have found corroded connectors you maybe on the right track and it may have leached up the wire(s). Here's information on the VW specific diagnostic tester from Ross Tech. If you do your own work it maybe worth it to you. https://www.ross-tech.com/

Joe
 

Asheagle

Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2019
Location
Ohio
TDI
2012 JSW TDI
2012 JSW TDI front driver seat lean adjustment and heater

I have the same issue on a 2012 JSW TDI I just purchased. The front driver seat lean adjustment (electronic) and heater do not work. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 

RedNATEr

New member
Joined
Oct 8, 2019
Location
DFW
TDI
2013 JSW TDI
I haven't figured it out quite yet. I did take some jumper cables tied to alligator clips, removed the connector behind the tilt switch, and supplied 12 volts to the pins of the cable and the motor did move, so I at least know the motor is OK. I just don't think I'm getting power to the switch. I actually just used that method to get the seat adjusted exactly where I need it and it's since been more comfortable to drive, but I would like to get the seat heaters working before it gets really cold outside.

I got a cheap harbor freight test light and verified that every single fuse is good. So either the fuse is missing, or it's in a different location somehow.
 

Asheagle

Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2019
Location
Ohio
TDI
2012 JSW TDI
Found issue with mine, working on fix.

I decided to remove my seat so I could get a better look underneath and test the heating elements for pass through voltage. The elements passed but when I disconnected the seat wiring harness from under the carpet I noticed the same green/blue white flaky corrosion as mentioned above. Inspecting the harness cable I found 3 wires that were totally unattached from corrosion.
Does anyone know how to disassemble the wiring harness connector? Or do I need to purchase a new one?


 
Last edited:

Asheagle

Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2019
Location
Ohio
TDI
2012 JSW TDI
The heated seats are working now, on both sides. The short on the drivers side must have shut down both sides?
 

RedNATEr

New member
Joined
Oct 8, 2019
Location
DFW
TDI
2013 JSW TDI
So what did you do to get them working? Clean off the corrosion somehow?

I bought a Carista bluetooth OBDII connector and found I have 3 codes related to the seat heaters - 9479698, 9479699 & 02092

Also, we had a big rain storm and I think either my windshield and/or my sunroof is leaking into the floorboards so maybe that's what caused the corrosion in the first place - not sure.
 

Asheagle

Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2019
Location
Ohio
TDI
2012 JSW TDI
So what did you do to get them working? Clean off the corrosion somehow?

I bought a Carista bluetooth OBDII connector and found I have 3 codes related to the seat heaters - 9479698, 9479699 & 02092

Also, we had a big rain storm and I think either my windshield and/or my sunroof is leaking into the floorboards so maybe that's what caused the corrosion in the first place - not sure.

I bought and 8 port connector and rewired all the wires to the new connector. I also had codes to the seat heaters, 3 of my wires were completely broken through.
 

tommzz

New member
Joined
Dec 21, 2019
Location
West Virginia
TDI
2012 Jetta
Same problem

I'm having same problem. Driver power seat won't recline and both driver and passenger seat warmer not working. Dealer wants to replace seat wiring harness on both seats. Believe I'll just have him replace driver side.
 

zacharycamaj

Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2020
Location
almont MI
TDI
2013 jsw tdi
any luck finding a solution.my mk6 tdi jsw neither driver or passenger seat power recline is working nor heating up. ive ohmed out all the fuses on the side panel and they are good even the connectors under the seat were in decent shape.
 

zacharycamaj

Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2020
Location
almont MI
TDI
2013 jsw tdi
ive checked every fuse with a meter, im going to pull the seat tomorrow and pull the carpeting back to see the wiring and the ground wire that might be corroded. I had the main plug at the set disconnected and turned the car on and got a battery light and check engine light , so somethings happening. will post what I find. thanks for the help.
 

2TDIguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 23, 1999
Location
Lincoln, NE, USA
You dont have to pull the seat to check things. You would likely to fix or rewire the plug. Just slide it all the way back and there is a flap of carpet you flip up by the front of the outside seat slider rail. Specific to the power for the back angle/ recline the red with black wire is the power and the large brown wire is the ground. I made a temp input for power and ground and connected my jump box to it last night and could adjust the recline position. I have no power on either side at the red/ blk wire. That is the issue, now to figure out root cause. of it. I have a feeling collectively we can solve this. I spent an few hours on it last night. I downloaded a copy of the wiring diagram from Erwin VW via the $35 fee yesterday. It is sure hard to read but it at least shows the fuses involved. They biggest one I have in question is Fuse/ breaker S44. I pulled it and checked it with an ohm meter. It was good. Also, I had power on 1 side of the 2 blade socket where it was, even with key off. (I assume his power is hot at all times to that connector on the red/ blk wire so you can adjust seat without starting vehicle as most all cars are btw) I found a breaker type silver metal device with the relays behind the fold out compartment on the lower left hand of dash. Also. Also, there are 2-3 fuses related. I will get the list of them out of my car on the print outs.
 
Last edited:

2TDIguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 23, 1999
Location
Lincoln, NE, USA
OK, on the fuse panel at the drivers side end of dash. (this is fuse panel C if reading schematic) F34 = drivers seat lumbar (not sure it is related directly but it is a seat power fuse so should be checked)
Under hood fuse box to right of battery. (this is fuse panel B) Large 50A fuse F29 feeds power to the S44 breaker. In my case, the breaker had power so I am thinking the issue is somewhere past that breaker. I did a word search of "circuit breaker" on the entire 900 plus page document and it only found the S44 breaker. I am thinking tonight I will remove the circuit breaker and using a meter do a continuity check from the non hot side of that breaker socket to the red/ blk wire on the seat socket.
 

2TDIguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 23, 1999
Location
Lincoln, NE, USA
OK, found a link to the fuse section from the large PDF I downloaded. Please note there are multiple fuse panel versions for the 2 panels for diff cars. For the TDI the underhood fuse box starts at 802/9. Note in that info Fuse SSB29 refers to the breaker S44. The interior fuse panel starts at 802/32. On the interior one note that fuse SC29 refers to breaker S44 and to fuse SC36. Also, fuse SC37 in the interior panel is for seat heat. So I would for sure check those fuses.

https://f01.justanswer.com/MASTEROFMASTERS/f33c4e6e-101d-48f3-85c2-c77b011d5951_fuses.pdf
 
Last edited:

zacharycamaj

Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2020
Location
almont MI
TDI
2013 jsw tdi
okay yeah i am at the same spot as well, no power on any pins on the black connector under the flap. i will need to hook up power directly to the seat to see if it will recline. i am assuming it will work then. i checked the fuses under the hood, i ohmed them out and they were all good. i am thinking same thing with the s44 breaker. that is the last piece i need to pull and check.
that last link you uploaded is very nice, is that the erwin manual. i should probably invest in that. it answered my question as to where that s44 breaker was. i had seen it in other documentation but it never specified location. thank you so much i will be checking/ possibly replacing and will update again.
 
Last edited:

2TDIguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 23, 1999
Location
Lincoln, NE, USA
Glad it helped. I will check continuity from the output side of that S44 breaker to the red/ black on the seat socket. I have a feeling since it was hot at all times and water got in the floor board it had some kind of electrolysis event under the floor and burned in half. I assume at some point the 1 wire from the S44 output side turns into 2 to feed each seat. Maybe at that point it burned in half. I am also going to check continuity between the 2 seat sockets red/ blk connectors. It that is a positive result I could run 1 new feed from S44 to the drivers side socket red/ blk and both seets recline issue would be fixed..
 
Last edited:

zacharycamaj

Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2020
Location
almont MI
TDI
2013 jsw tdi
Starting looked at all the relays and the prints from erwin, on the top row of relays there is a big 644 relay where the previous pic is claiming that the s44 is, to the left of that i have a 20a yellow fuse which was good, im having a hard time lining up the correct print to my relay set up
 
Top