How to: Fit Heated Seats in Standard Fabia

[hutchysrs50]

THIS IS STILL ONGOING - I WOULD NOT ADVISE FOLLOWING THE LIVE FEED I HAVE CHOSEN.

Just finished doing this upgrade, id say it's quite difficult overall, around 4 out of 5 difficulty.

Do this at your own risk, I take no responsibility for you damaing your own vehicle or any other faults!

This is to be used as a rough guide to show whats involved, not a step by step guide of what YOU should be doing.

What you will need.

- Kufatec heated seat loom for Fabia.

- 2 heated seat switches (both the same, not left & right due to the loom having the same connection)

- Heating elements for each seat

- Control unit for each seat

Start by removing the trim under the clocks, it should just pull farward.

You can then remove the headlight switch. Push it in and turn on and it should lock slightly and pull out.

Remove the end trim from the dash and remove the torx screws from around the plastic.

Unplug the light switch, OBD2 plug and cooler pipe and remove the trim all together.

Now you can move onto the radio. Remove the trims from around the dials and radio, they should all just pop out of place.

Remove the blanks at each side of the dash switches to make room for the heated seat switches.

Remove the radio using the suitable pins for your radio.

With the radio removed you can start to feed the wires through.

Fit new switches but leave loose for now, swaping round might be needer later on.

After finishing mine, the plug with the white label and writing on (left of imagine) is for the longer wire going under the seat, so was my drivers side, i've now swaped them over)

Feed the wires through the back of the dash towards the fuse box. I've put mine like this and then up over following the brake pedal switch wires to keep them out the way. Make sure none of the wires get in the way of the steering column or pedals.

You should then be able to able to see the BCM, its clipped in each corner, if you unclip the 2 easy to access clips it should drop down on one side and then come out of its housing.

You can leave the BCM in place if you can access the plugs, the one needed is on the left row and second furthest away.

the plug should look somthing like this.

You need to fit the two wires with the small pins in the XS2 plug, which should be labled on the module for you.

Drivers side is pin 3 and passenger is pin 10.

Then refit into place on the module.

You can then add the next thin wire, it should already be stripped at the end. This wire controls the lighting on the switches.

I've used the switched live for previous interior lighting before so knew which wire i would use, direct from the light switch.

It should be labled as wire 1 on the plug, the grey wire on the far right.

Undo the clips and the plug should fold open.

And remove the wire from the clip.

I opend up the connection at the end of the cable so i could slot in the other wire, then crimp them back shut again.

I then taped the wires up to keep them secure and refitted in the plug and put the clips back in place.

I then attached the earth just above the fuse box, im not sure if a better earth can be found but might change it at a later date.

I removed the bolt and lightly sanded the area to make sure it gets a good connection.

I also cleaned the paint off the washer on the back of the bolt before securing.

You can check the switches once you have the earth connected.

left side

Right side

Edited 15 February, 2016 by hutchysrs50

[hutchysrs50]

I then started checking for the main live feed, for this you have two wires.
One is going to be the main feed that powers everything, the other will then go through the fuse and into the other wire attached to the main loom.
I needed a switched live so went looking for one.... it didnt take long 


Ignition on.

 

 

Ignition off.

 

 

Checking that fuse, the main feed comes from the fans so is quite a thick heavy duty wire.
Like the heated seats the fan has two wires, a main feed then the one afer fuse going to the fans, so i needed to know which one is the main feed to take the live from for the seats.
Right cable live

 

 

left side, nothing! so from this i knew i needed to take the live feed from the right wire.

 

 

Loosen the two torx screws which hold the fuse box in place so it can move back slightly, if you look behind it you should see some purple/pink tabs at the very bottom, prise the one on the far right down slightly and it should pull out all together.

 

 

Which should then look like this.

 

 

Find the correct place for the fabia fuse and pop the main live feed wire into the correct slot.

 

 

Now for the other live feed.

I knew i wanted to use the switched live from the fans since its a thick heavy duty wire that can handle high current.

I removed the swiched live wire from the fuse box, the thicker red wire with black stripe

 

 

With it removed, i stripped the end of both cables and joined them together carefully.

 

 

I then needed an extra connector for the fuse box so down to my local dealership i went.

 

 

To then destroy it and remove the conenctor since they didnt sell them individually.

 

 

And then crimped it back onto the wire. I bought the wire and connector for a slightly thicker wire than original but on the standard fuse size so i could fit the extra wire in no problem. I put a small amount of tape on for added security.

 

 

I then connected them into the correct place, Fuse 63 for original heated seats and Fuse 68 back where the fan wire came from.

 

 

Hopfully you can see both pins in the right place

 

 

And then double checking my work for the switched live.

ignition off.

 

 

Ignition on

Edited 13 February, 2016 by hutchysrs50

[alex_e3]

Great guide this! Just read through it and it's easy to follow.

 

I want to do this to my Audi A1 seats. I have a pair of switches, but was always holding back spending more money in case I couldn't get it to work.

 

Only part I wouldn't be sure on was the coding.

 

Do you have a picture of the other parts that are required? i.e. the seat control modules?

 

Surely there's somewhere else you can get the fuse box pins from cheaper?! I hate giving money like that for stupidly cheap parts to the dealers ha ha!

Edited 13 February, 2016 by alex_e3

[vRSAnt]

Amazing thread.

 

Not sure I'll ever be bothered to do this for my recaros, but the fact you've documented it so well for others (with so many pics) is frankly, amazing work,

[hutchysrs50]

Still updating this now

just finished doing the coding part and uploading the imagines so check back in 5 minutes

[hutchysrs50]

Next up was to code them in, i struggled at first mainly due to the lack of VCDS, i tried using my own diagnostics, Launch, but it wasnt having it.

i got to use a friends computer who has VCDS and managed to code them in after about 5 minutes, very easy and straight farward.

 

 

 

 

Its as easy as it seems, it has a number being your code, Add 32 onto the number for seats.

So my old number was 25742, i added 32 and got 25774, click done and... thats it!

[alex_e3]

Awesome    :clap:

[hutchysrs50]

Great guide this! Just read through it and it's easy to follow.

 

I want to do this to my Audi A1 seats. I have a pair of switches, but was always holding back spending more money in case I couldn't get it to work.

 

Only part I wouldn't be sure on was the coding.

 

Do you have a picture of the other parts that are required? i.e. the seat control modules?

 

Surely there's somewhere else you can get the fuse box pins from cheaper?! I hate giving money like that for stupidly cheap parts to the dealers ha ha!

 

I do have some pictures, yeah. I'll upload them shortly although they arnt the best pictures. its basically a small module under the seat that the heating elements plug into.

 

I shopped around a little bit but couldnt get the right pin so the dealers was my only option. it looks about 40p worth for the £7 i was charged!

[hutchysrs50]

Amazing thread.

 

Not sure I'll ever be bothered to do this for my recaros, but the fact you've documented it so well for others (with so many pics) is frankly, amazing work,

 

Thank you, hopfully it will help others!

[hutchysrs50]

some of the wiring, plugs & switches

 

The wiring loom

 

some on the floor, you can see the bracket, module and heating elements. the seat belt isnt needed unless you want to code in seatbelt warnings also.

[vRSAnt]

As a rough guide I wonder the cost. Must be getting to around £100 !

I think thats what I actually paid for my Recaros if you take what I got for the original seats sold into account

 

The feeling of a hot bum on a cold day, must be priceless though.

 

I don't think the Recaros would be even as simple as this though, even more particular as you need connectors to be switched to match the Golf style. Almost like you want half golf loom and almost like converting it to the Fabia electrics ? I think this is beyond me.

Edited 13 February, 2016 by vRSAnt

[hutchysrs50]

Price wise isn't to bad really.

Loom is about £50

Switches I got for £15

Elegance heated seats are around £60+ or a full set of heated vrs seats on eBay for £120 at the minute.

It's costing me an extra £100 to get all the internals fitted properly into my leather seats, I'm pretty sure I could manage it myself but I don't want to take the risk so £100 for a specialist leather trimmer is worth it.

For me it's cost around £230 total.

[hutchysrs50]

As for the golf side of things, I'm going to say the plugs will be the same or similar, add an extra £20 for the plugs if they are different and need swapping.

[wja96]

Superb guide. Give yourself a HUGE pat on the back.

This needs to be a sticky or at the very least added to Useful Topics thread sticky.

[hutchysrs50]

Thanks

I've been linking the guides I'm doing to the very start of my project thread.

I agree the guide will have a better place on the technical section etc but doesn't get much attention so if people don't know about it, it's no help.

[alex_e3]

Any Elegance seats around that you know of?!

[hutchysrs50]

Full set, everything for £80 but open to offers.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/221994864415

[vRSAnt]

As for the golf side of things, I'm going to say the plugs will be the same or similar, add an extra £20 for the plugs if they are different and need swapping.

 

For the sake of 15-£20 for the switches, and a bit more for some salvaged connectors and wires,

would be interesting to get my head around making up a wiring loom for vw/recaro.

Seems a bit rich to pay £50 for a loom and it not work for my car ( or at least only part work ) ?

Edit: I even thought of getting VW mk4 specific switches for fullest compatibility, but then might struggle to have them fit.

 

Not 100% sure but I think the recaros may have controllers and definitely have heated pads already ( assuming they work ).

 

Would also be interesting to know if there was a way to test them electrically before bothering also ( a while ago I had the though maybe they could just be adapted for a cigarette socket so you could just plug in there when needed lol. I think there is apparently some resistance test ? I might have even tested this on my seats, I think,

I think you need to check they don't go to infinite resistance or something like that (which means they are burnt out/ burning out/shorted).

Edited 15 February, 2016 by vRSAnt

[hutchysrs50]

The worry with using the VW golf kit is its probably different anyway, even that way you would need to change the plugs that go into the switches.

My best advice would be to buy the Fabia kit and purchase the plugs that go into the seat from the dealers or like you say a scrap yard.

I also wanted to check mine worked before getting them fitted in the seats, I couldn't see a way around it other than wiring them in since it has to go into the heat settings and the central control module so not much of a way around it.

The Fabia has a control module under each seat also, this is what the wiring loom plugs into.

Edited 15 February, 2016 by hutchysrs50

[vRSAnt]

Do you have the full wiring guide for this too ?

[hutchysrs50]

I've been in touch with Kufatec all day.

I've requested the guide for the Fabia, Ibiza or polo with the same chassis.

They replied saying....

"Thank you for your request.

I am afraid there are no instructions listed for this item,.

There will be pin numbers on the wires, if you are struggling please take an image of what you have and mail it through."

[Bogwoppit]

For the sake of 15-£20 for the switches, and a bit more for some salvaged connectors and wires,

would be interesting to get my head around making up a wiring loom for vw/recaro.

Seems a bit rich to pay £50 for a loom and it not work for my car ( or at least only part work ) ?

Edit: I even thought of getting VW mk4 specific switches for fullest compatibility, but then might struggle to have them fit.

 

I have just found wiring diagrams and a guide to retrofitting heated seats into a mk4 Golf, pm me your email address if you would like a copy.

[vRSAnt]

Nah don't worry mate I've seen that on web, I was thinking of the standard Fabia one and posting it up here, could then be compared against the VW ones for similarity of electric diagrams etc ?

If I'm honest, I'm more concerned about NOT cooking my Fabia trying to get something working rather than keeping my arse warm, comes 2nd.

 

BTW thats no dissing to the hutchy putting together guide as thats an altogether different kettle of fish - tried, tested, designed for Fabia, just works as intended. Job done.

 

Apparently the golf switches didn't rely on connection to ECU ? They are just rheostats apparently so not coded by vagcom ( this could turn out to be totaly rubbish though)

I don't know the technical differences as to why the Fabia relies on connection to ECU (other than needing coding in, and for fault finding generically on the car).

 

Bah, just not worth my effort, would be if like Hutchy it was more OEM.

[hutchysrs50]

I think most people are tempted if they have heated seats (as in, just the seat)

I had nothing so doing this from scratch, so effort wise... It's more than most I suppose having to then start stripping seats and fitting heating elements as well!

I don't think there's much to worry about, I'm just over cautious and having not seen it done before, feel I'm the guinea pig to it so want it right. I think if anything was to fail a fuse would pop and prevent it.

My annoyance is mostly coming from Kufatec at the minute. They are very slow at replying to emails and have no other contact details. They reply with silly questions such as "are you sure this is our kit"

4 hours later...

"And your definitely fitting it in a Fabia"

Middle of next day...

"We don't have any guides or description for a Fabia"

6 hours later...

"Send me a picture of the wire"

Which I'm sure I'll get a reply around mid day tomorrow saying somthing like... "Sorry we can't help you"

[hutchysrs50]

.

Edited 17 February, 2016 by hutchysrs50