Tutorial: Leather Power/Heated Seat Swap!
12-12-2008, 08:12 AM
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Tutorial: Leather Power/Heated Seat Swap!
Swapping stock cloth/manual seats for power/heated leather seats
Several people on this forum have helped me, so I figured I’d give back with something I have done recently. I know there have been several threads regarding the wiring and installation of power/heated seats in a Z with cloth manual seats, and after experimenting for about a week I finally figured everything out for the most part so I figured I'd share with everyone who is thinking about doing this. Keep in mind that I installed the seats in an 03 Z and they came from an 05, so your wiring may be different. Sorry for the crappy pictures, they are all taken on an iPhone. I just sold my DSLR to save up for a new 50D
DISCLAIMER: DISCONNECT YOUR BATTERY! You will be working with the electrical system in your Z and one cross of the wrong wires will blow a fuse or even fry your ECU. Don't take a chance. Disconnect your battery.
Also, regarding the heated seat...The factory installed heated seats have a high/low setting that involves complex wiring within the switch. The way I have done it, you will only have one setting, and I believe it is the high setting because my seats get pretty warm pretty fast. With that said, I will continue.
Parts needed:
-Power/heated leather seats (duh)
-14mm extended socket
-Philips screwdriver
-Flathead screwdriver
-Wire crimpers
-Wire cutters
-Voltmeter
-2 rocker switches (if you want to wire both passenger and driver heaters). I bought some with red LED's from RadioShack for about 4 bucks a pop
-14 gauge wiring (I just used some high grade speaker wiring for this). Make sure you have plenty). I wouldn't recommend using anything thicker than that. Make sure you get at least two different colors so you don't get confused by the wiring
-Butt connectors, both male and female sides. I think you need about 9 of each. This will make it easy to take your seat out later if you decide to go back to cloth or whatever
-Wire splicers (the plastic pieces that allow you to tap into a wire)
Once you have all that stuff, you'll be ready to proceed. First things first, take your seats out. They are held in with 4 14mm bolts. Pop the plastic covers off and unbolt. Remove your old seats. Unplug the seatbelt sensor before you yank the seats out. Next, you want to decide where you want to mount your switches. I mounted mine right below the coin tray. Once you find a good spot, drill the holes out and test mount the switches. I used a dremel to drill my holes. Careful here, you don't want to mess anything up. You'll have to take your center console out, it's held in with three screws. One on each side near the back and one under the coin tray.
Next, decide where you want to tap into for power. I used my cigarette lighter for the seat heaters and my amplifier mounted behind my drivers seat for the power seats. Keep in mind that you will probably want constant power going to the power seats so you can move them back and forth while the car is off.
Open the glove box behind your passenger seat. Take out the carpeted piece and pop that lower plastic tray out with a flathead screwdriver. For tapping the cigarette adapter power, open the lid and give it a tug. The assembly should come out. Pull back the black cover on the wiring. The black wire is ground, and the red wire with a black stripe is power. Tap into the power wire and route it to the hole you drilled for your switch. Terminate with a butt connector and attach this to the 12V terminal on the switch. Cut a piece of wire about 3 inches and splice into the wire you just routed, terminate the end of that and connect it to the other 12V terminal on your other power seat switch. Now you have power going to both switches.
Next, terminate a piece of wire (this will be your main power wire) and route it from your switch (connect this to the “switched” terminal on your switch) to the port where your factory seat belt sensor plug comes out. Do this for both sides (driver/passenger) on their respective switches. Terminate the end of your power cords with a butt connector. At this point, your switches should be both have the 12V power and switched terminals connected. Next, make two ground wires and ground them somewhere under the dash, and connect to the ground terminal on both of the switches. I used one of the bolts holding the shifter plate down. At this point, your switches should be all wired up.
Next, go back to your power wire. Make two more ground wires and find a good place to ground them. I just used the bolt that holds the seat down. Terminate the other end with a butt connector.
Now comes the tricky part. Take your leather passenger seat and flip it over. Look for a plug with a black, yellow and white wires coming out of it. This is the control for your heated seats. I believe the plug itself is gray. Cut the white and yellow wires and remove the plug. You won’t be using any other wires on this plug so if there are any cut them. Notice that the wires go into the seat, and a red wire comes out and goes into a plug that contains a black and red wire on the other side. This controls the heat for the back. The yellow and white wires control the heat on the bottom. Put a connector on the yellow wire. This will be connected to the power wire you routed underneath the carpet, so make sure you have male on one end, female on the other so you can connect them. Connect the yellow wire and power together. Next, look for the black wire coming from the plug that controls the back heater. You want to cut this wire behind the plug (the side opposite where it goes into the seat) and strip the end of it. Next, take the white wire and do the same. Twist the black and white wires together and terminate them on one butt connector. Take the ground wire you made and connect it to this. Do this for both seats. At this point you should have your switches fully hooked up, and your power and ground wires all hooked up. Make sure your ground wire has a good connection, reconnect your battery and give one of the seats a test run. I replaced the fuse in the fise box for the cigarette adapter from a 15A to a 10A just to see if it would blow from the current draw, but it seemed to work fine. Flip the switch for your heated seat and give it a minute. Feel the bottom and back and they should be warming up. After you have confirmed that the heaters are working, shut the car off and disconnect the battery again.
SIDENOTE ON SEAT HEATERS: After looking at the service manual for the seat heaters, it seems there is a thermostat that prevents the seat from getting too hot and possibly wrecking the heaters. With this wiring scheme, I am not 100% positive that the thermostat will still work so don’t leave your heaters on for too long. When I flip my switch on, they get warm pretty fast and I flip them off. Feels very nice. Anyways, you should now have heated seats in your Z!
EDIT: After thinking about it, I figured that the stock thermostats should cut off power to the heaters at a certain temperature without the stock switches (according to the service manual, the thermostat is built into the heater pads) so I tested my theory on my way to work and had the heater on for 30+ minutes. After it heated up, it automatically shut off and stopped getting warmer. After a few minutes, I could feel it kick in again. So, the stock thermostats work! Another plus to this project!
Now, for the power seats. Decide if you want them to work with the car completely off. This is what I decided, and I routed a power wire from my amplifier behind my drivers seat the same path I routed for the power wire for the seat heaters. If you want them only to work when the car is on ACC or ON mode, just find a power source like we did for the seat heaters. Once you find a power source, route the wire to the same spot you did for the seat heaters. Again, look at the bottom of your seat. You will see a small electric motor towards the front. This controls the back and forth motion. Look for the wires coming from the power seat switch on the side Unplug the connector and snip the wires. Pull the plug out so its out of the way, you wont be using it. You should now have 4 wires exposed. You will not be using the light blue or white wires. The black wire is ground and the red wire is power. Make a new ground wire and ground it somewhere underneath the seat. Connect your power wire to the red wire. Repeat for both sides. Although the drivers side has the back moving motion, there is no extra wiring involved as long as you are using the factory harness. Viola, power seats.
NOTE: The power seat switch has wires and a plug coming from it (I forget the colors of the wiring) so make sure you do not cut those wires. You are actually sending power to the switch, and when the switch is pressed it releases power to the seat motors. Works the same was as the switches you wired for the seat heaters.
NOTE: If something isn’t working, check to make sure it is getting power with your voltmeter. Set it for DC and make sure it is getting between 10.5 and 13V of power. Anything less than that and there is a problem somewhere, most likely with the grounding of wires.
I hope this helps anyone with questions about the wiring. It is possible, so don’t believe anyone that tells you otherwise. I will soon post some pictures I have of the mod so check back for that and happy modding!
Several people on this forum have helped me, so I figured I’d give back with something I have done recently. I know there have been several threads regarding the wiring and installation of power/heated seats in a Z with cloth manual seats, and after experimenting for about a week I finally figured everything out for the most part so I figured I'd share with everyone who is thinking about doing this. Keep in mind that I installed the seats in an 03 Z and they came from an 05, so your wiring may be different. Sorry for the crappy pictures, they are all taken on an iPhone. I just sold my DSLR to save up for a new 50D
DISCLAIMER: DISCONNECT YOUR BATTERY! You will be working with the electrical system in your Z and one cross of the wrong wires will blow a fuse or even fry your ECU. Don't take a chance. Disconnect your battery.
Also, regarding the heated seat...The factory installed heated seats have a high/low setting that involves complex wiring within the switch. The way I have done it, you will only have one setting, and I believe it is the high setting because my seats get pretty warm pretty fast. With that said, I will continue.
Parts needed:
-Power/heated leather seats (duh)
-14mm extended socket
-Philips screwdriver
-Flathead screwdriver
-Wire crimpers
-Wire cutters
-Voltmeter
-2 rocker switches (if you want to wire both passenger and driver heaters). I bought some with red LED's from RadioShack for about 4 bucks a pop
-14 gauge wiring (I just used some high grade speaker wiring for this). Make sure you have plenty). I wouldn't recommend using anything thicker than that. Make sure you get at least two different colors so you don't get confused by the wiring
-Butt connectors, both male and female sides. I think you need about 9 of each. This will make it easy to take your seat out later if you decide to go back to cloth or whatever
-Wire splicers (the plastic pieces that allow you to tap into a wire)
Once you have all that stuff, you'll be ready to proceed. First things first, take your seats out. They are held in with 4 14mm bolts. Pop the plastic covers off and unbolt. Remove your old seats. Unplug the seatbelt sensor before you yank the seats out. Next, you want to decide where you want to mount your switches. I mounted mine right below the coin tray. Once you find a good spot, drill the holes out and test mount the switches. I used a dremel to drill my holes. Careful here, you don't want to mess anything up. You'll have to take your center console out, it's held in with three screws. One on each side near the back and one under the coin tray.
Next, decide where you want to tap into for power. I used my cigarette lighter for the seat heaters and my amplifier mounted behind my drivers seat for the power seats. Keep in mind that you will probably want constant power going to the power seats so you can move them back and forth while the car is off.
Open the glove box behind your passenger seat. Take out the carpeted piece and pop that lower plastic tray out with a flathead screwdriver. For tapping the cigarette adapter power, open the lid and give it a tug. The assembly should come out. Pull back the black cover on the wiring. The black wire is ground, and the red wire with a black stripe is power. Tap into the power wire and route it to the hole you drilled for your switch. Terminate with a butt connector and attach this to the 12V terminal on the switch. Cut a piece of wire about 3 inches and splice into the wire you just routed, terminate the end of that and connect it to the other 12V terminal on your other power seat switch. Now you have power going to both switches.
Next, terminate a piece of wire (this will be your main power wire) and route it from your switch (connect this to the “switched” terminal on your switch) to the port where your factory seat belt sensor plug comes out. Do this for both sides (driver/passenger) on their respective switches. Terminate the end of your power cords with a butt connector. At this point, your switches should be both have the 12V power and switched terminals connected. Next, make two ground wires and ground them somewhere under the dash, and connect to the ground terminal on both of the switches. I used one of the bolts holding the shifter plate down. At this point, your switches should be all wired up.
Next, go back to your power wire. Make two more ground wires and find a good place to ground them. I just used the bolt that holds the seat down. Terminate the other end with a butt connector.
Now comes the tricky part. Take your leather passenger seat and flip it over. Look for a plug with a black, yellow and white wires coming out of it. This is the control for your heated seats. I believe the plug itself is gray. Cut the white and yellow wires and remove the plug. You won’t be using any other wires on this plug so if there are any cut them. Notice that the wires go into the seat, and a red wire comes out and goes into a plug that contains a black and red wire on the other side. This controls the heat for the back. The yellow and white wires control the heat on the bottom. Put a connector on the yellow wire. This will be connected to the power wire you routed underneath the carpet, so make sure you have male on one end, female on the other so you can connect them. Connect the yellow wire and power together. Next, look for the black wire coming from the plug that controls the back heater. You want to cut this wire behind the plug (the side opposite where it goes into the seat) and strip the end of it. Next, take the white wire and do the same. Twist the black and white wires together and terminate them on one butt connector. Take the ground wire you made and connect it to this. Do this for both seats. At this point you should have your switches fully hooked up, and your power and ground wires all hooked up. Make sure your ground wire has a good connection, reconnect your battery and give one of the seats a test run. I replaced the fuse in the fise box for the cigarette adapter from a 15A to a 10A just to see if it would blow from the current draw, but it seemed to work fine. Flip the switch for your heated seat and give it a minute. Feel the bottom and back and they should be warming up. After you have confirmed that the heaters are working, shut the car off and disconnect the battery again.
SIDENOTE ON SEAT HEATERS: After looking at the service manual for the seat heaters, it seems there is a thermostat that prevents the seat from getting too hot and possibly wrecking the heaters. With this wiring scheme, I am not 100% positive that the thermostat will still work so don’t leave your heaters on for too long. When I flip my switch on, they get warm pretty fast and I flip them off. Feels very nice. Anyways, you should now have heated seats in your Z!
EDIT: After thinking about it, I figured that the stock thermostats should cut off power to the heaters at a certain temperature without the stock switches (according to the service manual, the thermostat is built into the heater pads) so I tested my theory on my way to work and had the heater on for 30+ minutes. After it heated up, it automatically shut off and stopped getting warmer. After a few minutes, I could feel it kick in again. So, the stock thermostats work! Another plus to this project!
Now, for the power seats. Decide if you want them to work with the car completely off. This is what I decided, and I routed a power wire from my amplifier behind my drivers seat the same path I routed for the power wire for the seat heaters. If you want them only to work when the car is on ACC or ON mode, just find a power source like we did for the seat heaters. Once you find a power source, route the wire to the same spot you did for the seat heaters. Again, look at the bottom of your seat. You will see a small electric motor towards the front. This controls the back and forth motion. Look for the wires coming from the power seat switch on the side Unplug the connector and snip the wires. Pull the plug out so its out of the way, you wont be using it. You should now have 4 wires exposed. You will not be using the light blue or white wires. The black wire is ground and the red wire is power. Make a new ground wire and ground it somewhere underneath the seat. Connect your power wire to the red wire. Repeat for both sides. Although the drivers side has the back moving motion, there is no extra wiring involved as long as you are using the factory harness. Viola, power seats.
NOTE: The power seat switch has wires and a plug coming from it (I forget the colors of the wiring) so make sure you do not cut those wires. You are actually sending power to the switch, and when the switch is pressed it releases power to the seat motors. Works the same was as the switches you wired for the seat heaters.
NOTE: If something isn’t working, check to make sure it is getting power with your voltmeter. Set it for DC and make sure it is getting between 10.5 and 13V of power. Anything less than that and there is a problem somewhere, most likely with the grounding of wires.
I hope this helps anyone with questions about the wiring. It is possible, so don’t believe anyone that tells you otherwise. I will soon post some pictures I have of the mod so check back for that and happy modding!
Last edited by burner; 12-18-2008 at 03:41 PM.
01-09-2009, 12:10 PM
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Do OEM heated seat switches have the same 3 prongs for power/switch/ground?
Is it safe to bypass relay and route the power directly to the heat pads through switches?
Is it safe to bypass relay and route the power directly to the heat pads through switches?
Last edited by davidz33; 01-09-2009 at 12:15 PM.
01-09-2009, 02:27 PM
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I don't know what the stock switches look like, so I can't say but I do know they have a relay built in that lets you select high or low temperature. The switches I used have three prongs....switched power, power and ground. Only one temperature setting. It should be safe for the switches to wire power through them...I have had mine in for a few months now and use the seat warmers almost every day and haven't had a problem.
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01-14-2009, 11:08 AM
#8
I don't know what the stock switches look like, so I can't say but I do know they have a relay built in that lets you select high or low temperature. The switches I used have three prongs....switched power, power and ground. Only one temperature setting. It should be safe for the switches to wire power through them...I have had mine in for a few months now and use the seat warmers almost every day and haven't had a problem.
I believe OEM switches have a relay for bottom warmers to be on or bottom and seat back to be on. Not high or low temp.
01-16-2009, 05:59 AM
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Ah, now it makes sense....Low is just the bottom warmer and high puts them both on. That didn't cross my mind at all. So with this setup, you are giving both heater pads power so in effect it will be on high when the switch is turned on, no low setting. The heaters DO have a built in thermostat of some sort that prevents them from overheating, though as they automatically shut off after they get warm, then turn back on after they cool off a bit when the switch is left on. Thanks again for the info!
01-21-2009, 07:21 PM
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It sounds like it works without the stock switches, but I can tell you from taking the stock switches apart (to do a LED mod) that there is what appears to be a thermostat built into the switch. I don't get how this would work, as the heat is not in the switch to trigger the thermostat, but there is a bi-metal strip set up across contacts just like a normal thermostat.
Maybe this is some sort of overload protection?
Maybe this is some sort of overload protection?
01-22-2009, 05:35 AM
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It sounds like it works without the stock switches, but I can tell you from taking the stock switches apart (to do a LED mod) that there is what appears to be a thermostat built into the switch. I don't get how this would work, as the heat is not in the switch to trigger the thermostat, but there is a bi-metal strip set up across contacts just like a normal thermostat.
Maybe this is some sort of overload protection?
Maybe this is some sort of overload protection?
01-22-2009, 05:44 AM
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I have purchased OEM heated seat switches at junk yards in perfect condition (once wiped down) for 35 - 50 bucks before.
I will be installing aftermarket heated seats in my 08 Xterra using the switches for that oh-so nice oem look...lol
-J
I will be installing aftermarket heated seats in my 08 Xterra using the switches for that oh-so nice oem look...lol
-J
01-22-2009, 05:45 AM
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01-22-2009, 12:11 PM
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Can someone verify that the heated seat switches sold on Ebay (See link below) will fit Z?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NISSA...Q5fAccessories
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NISSA...Q5fAccessories
01-22-2009, 12:54 PM
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Can someone verify that the heated seat switches sold on Ebay (See link below) will fit Z?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NISSA...Q5fAccessories
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NISSA...Q5fAccessories
02-18-2009, 05:42 PM
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I just switched my seats also from a 03 touring to my base 08. Man we had a hard time to comnnect the power and its still not hook up. We ended up transfering the power from the 03 to my car so we can move the seats back to bolt it up. What di you guys do with the airbag light blinking and the passenger light turning off. I dont know anything about wiring. I want my airbags to work or at least the lights be turned off
But overall, they look awesome in my car, i love them.
But overall, they look awesome in my car, i love them.
02-18-2009, 07:22 PM
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Also my 08 base driver only had one wire which i think is the seatbelt and the passenger had two connetions. What is the other connection for? Just read how to remove the blinking light airbag. Because i swap factory leather seats, will my airbags ever work again because they are not connected? Thanks guys, i just didnt want to start a thread on this.
02-21-2009, 02:43 PM
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i just did this swap and everything is working..but its like the power seat switch is reversed so when i push forward on the switch the seat moves back! is that normal? the passanger seat is the opposite
02-23-2009, 10:28 AM
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Also my 08 base driver only had one wire which i think is the seatbelt and the passenger had two connetions. What is the other connection for? Just read how to remove the blinking light airbag. Because i swap factory leather seats, will my airbags ever work again because they are not connected? Thanks guys, i just didnt want to start a thread on this.