# Heated Seats Install *Not at purchase*



## Aus348 (Sep 22, 2013)

Hi, I was wondering where I could get heated seats? or heat the stock seats? if i can get it done aftermarket (without the risk of them breaking/crappy work etc) or get it done from the dealership, and roughly how much it would cost? or if i could even do it myself? Thanks for your time guys!


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## The_Madcat (Oct 6, 2012)

I just installed a Dorman heated seat kit for a friend. If you do this yourself, you will need to remove the seat and the peel back the seat cover, install the pads on the foam and then reinstall the cover - run wiring - heated buns! It's not difficult, just time consuming. The kit I used ran about 60$ for a single seat. I'd be happy to help you along on this if you want.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

Madcat, is ther a DIY for this somewhere? I'd be interested in seeing this also.


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## The_Madcat (Oct 6, 2012)

I don't think there is a DIY guide on here for it. I should have taken some pics but didn't think of it since the car I put it in was a Grand Prix and not the Cruze. It's the same exact procedure though. 

Here's a how to from Dorman on youtube. Dorman Universal Seat Heater - YouTube

Taking the seat cover off will be the hardest part IMO. Each manufacturer does it a bit differently, even on different cars in the same manufacturer. 

The kit will come with the 2 pads (one for butt one for backside), the wiring, and a really cheap upholstery tool that probably isn't worth the metal it is stamped from hehe. For the Grand Prix, the seat was held in with two T-45 torx bolts. I have not looked on our Cruze's to see what kind of fastener holds our seats in place. Have some extra zip ties handy, the ones they include are really cheap and small. This was the first time I have installed the pads so it took us around 4-5 hours total to do it. Now that I know what I am doing, I could easily shave 2 hours off of that total.


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## carbon02 (Feb 25, 2011)

Mad Cat-

I'm not so worried about getting the seats out of the vehicle as much as getting the upholstery stretched back on the seat. Did you have to actually remove staples or tacks to loosen the cloth on the Grand Prix? Or was it more snap together pieces that pulled the cloth tight?

Also did you install in a fabric or leather seat? I would think that there should be no problems dealing with fabric, but I suspect the leather may be a little tougher and easier to work with. 

I've wanted to do this for the past year and never actually done it. 

Can you see or feel the heating pad under the cloth? 

Thanks-


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## The_Madcat (Oct 6, 2012)

We installed on a cloth seat. Initially, before trying, I thought the cloth would be hard to work with but it was a breeze. I would think there might be more issues on a leather one as it is not as pliable as the cloth. Some seats will have the clips, these are fairly easy to work on and (at least on the '05 GP) the cloth was not stretched, it was held in place by strips of velcro that were imbedded in the foam from the factory. I would bet this is still a practice in today's seats. The GP seat cover was held in place on the bottom of the seat by some channeled clips, these again were pretty easy to work with once I figured em out. I did not have to fully remove the cover, just peeled em back far enough to get the heating elements properly positioned.

Feeling the pads depends on how well you do the install. On each pad there is a rather thick (1/4") cable that you run to the bottomside of the seat. We experimented with different placements and decided that we would notch the foam slightly to indent the cable into the foam. This worked very well and you can not tell they are there by sitting on them. Nor could you feel it in the back where the second pad was installed. I believe the only reason we knew they were there is because we had just installed em 

The toughest part of this was finding a switched 12v+ circuit in the Grand Prix. The kit provides a fuse tap to use but I used this instead: Cooper Bussmann/ATM fuse tap (BP-HHH-RP) | Fuse and Accessories | AutoZone.com

That adapter was about 6$ at the local AZone. It was much easier to use than the provided fuse tap and did not leave any unprotected metal showing that could short out. The 12v+ circuit I used was for the sunroof as the 12v outlets in the car were "always on" and since the switch for the seat heaters is a rocker switch and would not just shut itself off with the car off. I believe the 12v outlets in the Cruze are switched so when the key is out, they are not live.


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