480 Heated Seats - Problem solved

[M D E]

I know this is a 'Hot' topic ! ... Could not work out why both heated seats on my 480 didn't work although they had power ... It looks like both thermostats failed... I think these are located in the base of the seat ? ...I bypassed both of them and now both backrest heaters are working (alittle to well as they only only take 30 seconds to cook you). Has anyone tried replacing them ?

At first the drivers side did not work, caused by the cables being pulled which broke the negative connection coming down from the element it's self down to the cable (the connection looked poor anyway) so a new extended cable and alittle solder fixed it ....

[Paul240480]

Mine have never worked in 6 years of ownership. Might have a peek following your findings

[Baffler]

Originally Posted by M D E

I bypassed both of them and now both backrest heaters are working (alittle to well as they only only take 30 seconds to cook you)

The thermostats are there to stop the element burning through the seat and then your leg or lower back. I can't remember but I think on the 400 the heated seats stop working once the cars ambient temp is above 15°c.

The 480 seats are more prone to failure due to the forward folding action.

[B20F]

I think on the 400 the heated seats stop working once the cars ambient temp is above 15°c.

That's correct. And the thermostats keep the temp of the heating elements at 25c, the normal temp of the outside of the skin. Like Baffler said, don't remove the thermo's from the circuit, it's dangerous. The foam in the seats can melt because of over heating.