Fast_Eddie Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 So living up here in Maine and with the mornings getting colder and colder I've really been wanting some heated seats. Now for the past few days I've been searching the forums but haven't really found any solid info. The only thing people can seem to agree on is that both heated and non heated seats share the same part number. Well today I managed to snag an oem heated seat switch off ebay for <$20 and it even comes with the connector. At work today I'm gonna try to print out any wiring diagrams I can find of the system and when the switch comes in I'll use my multi-meter to (hopefully) figure it out. I've got a feeling that this is gonna come down to me making my own harness and adding elements to the seats but I'm not afraid. I want this done right. Now is there anyone out there that has managed to do this swap or know of someone who has? Any advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrD123 Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 You'll need the switches, the heating elements, and to run some wiring. Installing the elements is going to require removing the seat covers, installing the elements, then reinstalling the seat covers. It's a lot of work - another option would be to find some used seats that have the heaters in them. They also make covers/cushions that sit on top of the seats and have heaters in them - that's probably the easiest solution, but doesn't look built in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast_Eddie Posted October 11, 2015 Author Share Posted October 11, 2015 Yeah I understand it's gonna be more work than if I were to swap seats. But I'm a college kid and I've got more time than money so I'm gonna go the cheaper method. My switch is due to come in on Friday and at work all I managed to get for info was: http://i.imgur.com/x31UmiEl.jpg But it is a decent start at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast_Eddie Posted October 13, 2015 Author Share Posted October 13, 2015 Switch came in today which is pretty cool seeing how it's two days early. Took it apart to look at the board and damn Subaru made this pretty complex for some reason. Front: http://i.imgur.com/IG3P4g1l.jpg Back: http://i.imgur.com/tgLb8F5l.jpg Each of the switches push a copper connection that pairs all three of those golden blocks together in a row. My gueses for the strips are: the outer most one that is divided controls the power level, the middle one is simply 12v constant, and the inner one is for the light. My next move is going to be to try to reverse engineer the schematic. And on a side note can anyone offer some advice on why my wire locations don't match up with the service manual? The board is from an 05 and I'm looking at the 05 service manual, all the colors match up perfectly however each pin position is off. Following the pin out order for c2 my wires are: 1. black/yellow (should be 9) 2. blue/green (should be 8) 3. black/red (should be 1) 4. blue/yellow (should be 6) 5. black/white (should be 7) 6. black/pink (should be 2) 7. black/green (should be 3) 8. Orange (should be 5) 9. Yellow/red (should be 10) 10. Blue/white (Should be 11) 11. Blue/red (should be 12) 12. Violet (should be on 4) http://i.imgur.com/cvsusj4l.png For full size pictures go here: http://imgur.com/a/tSs90 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetlegal Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Is yours the roller style switch or just the toggle style? I know mine (in my 07 Spec B) is a roller style with multiple settings and I've seen another with just a toggle of hi/lo/off Subaru seems to like to make switch boards over complicated. I noticed that when I opened my SI drive switch to replicated and shrink it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast_Eddie Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 Bear with me please this post is from my phone. My switch is the roller style that's between the cup holders and shifter. I solved the pin out issue it seems the oem manual is wrong but the colors do correspond the diagram. There's another issue in the oem manual as both heater elements are the same part number but in the diagram the wires go to different pins on each element. I did figure out 8 /12 wires and that both seats have a 12v wire a ground wire and two mysterious wires that somehow control heat level. When you replicated your switch did you figure out how they work? This is everything i figured out so far: Link to album: http://imgur.com/a/zl2UU Sorry couldn't embed them I'm struggling hard my phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silentsnow31802 Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 I see you already figured out the color codes but just in case I uploaded a picture from the 05 manual with the color codes and connector pinouts. I just swapped out my 05 switch for an 08 style and had to figure out the wring. The diagrams matched my wiring harness and connectors just fine. You must be looking at something wrong. The diagrams are pretty confusing if you dont have the harnesses in front of you to help decipher it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast_Eddie Posted October 18, 2015 Author Share Posted October 18, 2015 I see you already figured out the color codes but just in case I uploaded a picture from the 05 manual with the color codes and connector pinouts. I just swapped out my 05 switch for an 08 style and had to figure out the wring. The diagrams matched my wiring harness and connectors just fine. You must be looking at something wrong. The diagrams are pretty confusing if you dont have the harnesses in front of you to help decipher it. Thanks and yeah that's the diagram that I went off of for color codes. The one reason why I think the pin outs are incorrect (but I could be wrong) are because according to the diagram it states the violet wire should be at pin 4, but in no way can I see pin 4 being in a corner like it is in the plug. http://i.imgur.com/BeEgTk9l.jpg I'm not really a fan of aftermarket parts but I'm also not really interested in spending 300 on oem elements so there isn't too much of a choice here. I've ordered a universal kit that I'm gonna use the elements and maybe the switches. My plans are to either mod the circuit board such that I can work in non oem elements or to hack up the oem switch to install other switches as I have no place on the center console for them to fit. Anyone have advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silentsnow31802 Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 You have a very good point about the diagram. It does seem to be wrong at the heater switch connector. My plug is the same as yours and the pin numbers do not match up with the colors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast_Eddie Posted October 19, 2015 Author Share Posted October 19, 2015 Yeah it's odd, the two elements also have a problem as the pins serve different purposes for each even though they share part numbers... And on a side note I found this awesome blog post describing how the board works: http://www.riderx.info/2014/10/ what we have is a traditional thermostat-type controller. Two of the wires to the heater are connected to a thermistor in the heater, and the rotary switch sets the voltage that feeds into the comparator. A fairly elegant design, and you can easily tune it merely by changing the resistor values. I haven’t traced the use of the second comparator, but my guess is that it merely buffers the output of the second channel of the slider to turn on the “power on” LED. Not sure what TR3 is for.So from the sounds of it the two wires going to each of the elements that I couldn't figure out are the + and - for the thermistor in each element. It seems that as long as the element has a thermistor in it I should in theory be able to use the oem switch. I've got elements on the way but they won't be here till the 26th sadly. And I'm gonna have to order another oem switch as I broke mine... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silentsnow31802 Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 Yeah it's odd, the two elements also have a problem as the pins serve different purposes for each even though they share part numbers... And on a side note I found this awesome blog post describing how the board works: http://www.riderx.info/2014/10/ So from the sounds of it the two wires going to each of the elements that I couldn't figure out are the + and - for the thermistor in each element. It seems that as long as the element has a thermistor in it I should in theory be able to use the oem switch. I've got elements on the way but they won't be here till the 26th sadly. And I'm gonna have to order another oem switch as I broke mine... I happen to have one if you would like to purchase it. More of the harness too. Sent from my C6916 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast_Eddie Posted October 19, 2015 Author Share Posted October 19, 2015 I happen to have one if you would like to purchase it. More of the harness too. Sent from my C6916 using Tapatalk The switch right? Is it the light tan (ivory) color by chance? And I don't really need any harness other than the pig tail as I plan on making my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silentsnow31802 Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 The switch right? Is it the light tan (ivory) color by chance? And I don't really need any harness other than the pig tail as I plan on making my own. Eh no its black [emoji20] Sent from my C6916 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast_Eddie Posted October 24, 2015 Author Share Posted October 24, 2015 Update time! So a member on here gave me an awesome deal on brand new oem elements. They came in today and I soldered on some aftermarket plugs. I'm either going to install them tomorrow or Sunday and make the harness after that. http://i.imgur.com/GppCVWcl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/YOfVGj5l.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast_Eddie Posted October 26, 2015 Author Share Posted October 26, 2015 I need some help here please. I spent about 7 hours today doing everything to get this swap done. I installed the elements into both seats, tested them and both elements got very nice and warm in each seat. The switch is also installed in the car and is properly working where it only receives power when it's suppose to and the back lights come on when the other ones in the car do. The indicator lights for the seats also come on when the wheels are moved into any spot that's not off. I also made my own harness which is where I think the issue is come from. When connected up to the elements they are always on regardless of the switches status. I thought I may have gotten the thermistor and element backwards so I swapped them but the element doesn't heat up this way. I guess I could try the 22 other combos till I (hopefully) find the right combo but I really don't want to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast_Eddie Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 Good news everyone! Turns out I only had a few wires incorrect from the switch to elements hence the always on issue. Everything is now fully working with each level of heat functioning as it should. I'm happy with the outcome and the total cost was roughly $150 which was my spending goal. The reason why I've been posting all this info is because I haven't seen anyone else post info on completing this swap before and it's a total pain in the ass with no help. I've got a few final things I'd like to improve on and will be doing so in the future. I may write up a DIY on this as I took quite a few pictures during the install. Here's some progress shots: Bottom element installed: http://i.imgur.com/TbR89d4l.jpg Top Element installed: http://i.imgur.com/gztyQTBl.jpg Both seats with elements fully installed. This took roughly 5 hours alone. http://i.imgur.com/l2OqloPl.jpg This is the harness I made. The two larger bundle of wires are for the elements in each seat. The smaller jumble of red wires and one black is for the power source, 12v for the switch back lights, and a ground. http://i.imgur.com/86muYe0l.jpg Ran the harness. I zip tied it to the OEM wires for neatness. http://i.imgur.com/WamN0Wll.jpg Switch installed. This was very easy the coin pocket pops right out. http://i.imgur.com/dSpcoFIl.jpg Total time for this was probably about 30 hours of research and labor. I think it was worth it and if someone had instructions for this they could probably do it in 10 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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