Please stick with me here lol. I know it's a lot to read. I did a quick search but none of the threads I found really answered my questions. The car is a 2002 SS. My driver side heated seat didn't work when I bought the car. I fixed it following the directions on here and it has worked for about a year but tonight when I turned it on I noticed the back part near the bottom was extremely hot....this is the same place it has burnt thru before. So now I am scared to use the seat. I would like to either get a new seat cover or use an aftermarket seat warmer. My questions though are:

1) If I get a new factory seat cover will this happen again? Anyone have experience with this? They are too expensive to just keep replacing.

2) If I get an aftermarket seat warmer is there anyway to integrate it into the factory switches and such? Has anyone tried this or heard anything about it?

3) I know the leather seat cover likes to pull away from the air bag cover. Mine has been perfect and I don't want to open a can of worms by taking the cover off and then not going back on right or starting to separate because I messed with it.

Opinions please! I don't know what to do but I love my butt warmers!!!! It was 17 degrees here today and my butt was far from warm without them.

 

The seat warmer does get hot at times. I usually use mine on low. It will heat up, and get pretty hot initially. But then turns itself on and off to maintain a comfortable temp. On mine, the high setting just keeps the heating element on all the time.

I had my driver's seat backrest element go bad. The connection burnt off just like yours did. I opted to just replace mine since the leather had seen better days. But my 04 doesn't have the side airbags like yours does.

 

Thanks for the reply! My seat operates the same way but this was a very small area on my lower back left side. It got extremely hot to the point it was burning me thru my jacket. It is the same spot the seat burnt thru before. Do you remember how much it cost for the new seat cover? Do you use your heated seat a lot and has the cover the lasted a while? Sorry for all the questions I just don't want this to happen again if I buy a new cover.

 

How much did it cost you for a new element? And where did you buy it? I am having the same issue. There is basically no heat coming to my seat and I am pretty sure that it is the element.

 

The element is part of the leather covering. When you buy the leather seat covering, the element is already sewn into it inside. I went to a dealership and just sprung for a new leather covering for the back portion of my driver's seat. Since, like I said, the leather itself had seen better days. And of course it's expensive. GM isn't gonna let you off cheap on these things.

However, I know of a few members who removed the leather covering from their seat, resoldered the wire back onto the element, and put the leather back on the seat. If you know how to solder, and have the time and ambition to remove and install the leather, then it's a much cheaper way to go.

I'd have to look up the receipt for the new leather covering to give you a price.

 

I know I am getting into an old thread but here I am and hope you guys are still around.

Can one of you tell me if one or the other between the backrest and the butt part goes then will they both not work as is the case with mine?