Seat heater switch on the fritz

[kuhli]

Has anyone out there had a seat heater switch go on them? My passenger side one seems to work about 1/2 the time and when I turn it on and off again I seem to be able to make it work.

Anyone replaced one? Pretty simple I imagine.

[1.8Trip]

My co-worker has her drivers side screwed. The dealer told her that it would cost ~$400 to fix. I can't remember if that included labor. Her heater element burnt out. They also told her that the life of our heating elements is approx. 3 years!?? (This is German engineering?)

I did some searching and found out that this is a common part to go on our vehicles and that a lot of times it is just the switch. Other times it is the heating element. There is apparently a fairly delicate (poorly designed) connection from the wiring harness under the seat to the actual heating element that sometimes breaks. Sometimes the circuit makes contact and sometimes it doesn't. It depends on how you sit on the seat. Thus, the intermittent nature of operation. I remember seeing a guy on Vortex took apart his seat and resoldered the connection.

A few lucky people just have a loose harness connection under the seat.

If yours is just the switch I would imagine that it is pretty simple to fix. You might try swapping the switch with the other side to see if in fact it is the switch that is broken. Otherwise, you are looking at a bit more expensive repair.

Good luck.

[kuhli]

good ideas

Thanks, I think...

Guess I'll try the switch swap and get my $25 ready for a soldering iron. $400!!! for an element!!!

[Gumby]

IS your car is out of warranty? If so how many kms on it? If its fairly low complain and get warranty good will. There has been a problem with the seat pads. The switches have rarely burnt out out.:(

[Canadian Turbo]

It rocks having a VW Tech on the boards. Thanks for all your insight Tim!!!!!!!!

[kuhli]

warranty

Still on powertrain, saved me a tranny! But no bumper to bumper left, its a 2000 with about 30,000 km.

[dieselgti]

My drivers seat heater is gone. The car is still under the 2 year /24,000 mile warranty. Does anyone know if it would be covered?