I know that I'm not the first to encounter this, and I certainly won't be the last, but tonight I had my heated seat go out on the drivers side. When I click it on, the light stays on for a short moment then shuts off, and the passenger side is fine.

I read a few other threads about this problem and I believe it is the standard "wire came loose and shorted" because I could kinda smell the burning foam (very slightly) when it happened.

As I now look at the weather widget on my desktop, it is 3 degrees here in Denver, my leather is going to uncomfortable tomorrow morning. As such I'd like to get this fixed pretty quickly. Can anyone direct me to a good after-market replacement heater element for my seat?

Furthermore, does anyone know a good way to get at the problem without taking my seat out? That is definitely what I'd prefer if it is possible.

Thanks in advance.

Here is the directions on how to replace your seat heater element. This was a copy and paste from an online manual, sorry, but none of the pictures would paste, only the text. I hope this helps. I do believe taking the seat out is the only way.


Removal Procedure
Important: ALL of the heating elements in a heated seat MUST be replaced in order for the heated seat system to function properly.

•Remove the front seat from the vehicle. Refer to Split Bench Seat Replacement or Front Seat Replacement - Bucket .

•Remove the front seat cushion cover (1). Refer to Front Seat Cushion Cover and Pad Replacement .

•Remove the front seat back cover (2). Refer to Front Seat Back Cushion Cover and Cushion Pad Replacement .
Important: Do NOT attempt to remove the factory heating element from the front seat covers.

•Using a pair of diagonal side cutters, cut the factory heating element wires as close to the cover as possible.
Installation Procedure
Important: ALL of the heating elements in a heated seat MUST be replaced in order for the heated seat system to function properly.

•Install the service heat elements as follows:
1.1. Remove the paper backing.

1.2. Carefully position the replacement heat elements (2,3,4), harness side down, onto the seat cushion/back foam pad as indicated.

1.3. Insert the wiring harness through the hole in the foam pad.

1.4. Press the service heat element onto the seat cushion/back foam pad.

1.5. Ensure the heat element is not wrinkled and is laying flat.

•Route the heated seat cushion electrical wiring harness as indicated.
•Install the front seat cushion cover. Refer to Front Seat Cushion Cover and Pad Replacement .
•Install the front seat back cover. Refer to Front Seat Back Cushion Cover and Cushion Pad Replacement .
•Install the front seat in the vehicle. Refer to Split Bench Seat Replacement or Front Seat Replacement - Bucket

I did mine without taking the seat out and didn’t have any problems.
I used the replacement pads that I bought from an online GM dealer.
There is a picture in this post of the seat bottom from when I did it: https://www.gmforum.com/t270249/

The butt leather came up fairly easy- just push down & unsnap the plastic around bottom edges and separate the Velcro in center (remove bezel around seat control buttons first).
From what I remember about the back leather, I unzipped the back and I think I worked it up from the bottom just enough to do the job. I didn’t mess with the airbag (you can disable it if you are concerned).

I love these boards, so much good info.

I'm 99% sure that the burnt out connection in the butt, and not the back (I could sorta smell it when it happened). I looked at the pictures you referred me to and I'm gonna give it a shot this weekend.

Know where to get the replacement heater elements IF I need them? (hopefully it is as simple as a re soldering of the connection). I looked on gmparsdirect,com and had trouble finding the part in the catalog.

I looked in alldata and to try and get you a prt #. Anyway there is a tsb for this issue 01-08-50-012B ( Not sure if you can get access to it) There is a part # in that TSB for a seat heater "kit"
prt # 25730797 list is 169.79

The TSB says to removed the heated seat mod gray 6-way conn C2. MEasure temrinals A & C, If less than 5 ohmes the seat heater elements should be ok. Make sure the seats are cold when measuring. Don't activate the seat heater before doing this. Hope this helps

I have done repairs to mine twice in the last six months. The first time a wire had broken as it came out of what I believe is epoxy enclosing the thermistors. This burn mark was quite noticeable and looked similar to the pix Roadrunner posted. I had to dig some of the epoxy away and then solder in a splice and heat shrink it real good. The second time it was actually a break in the tiny wires that run through the foam stuck to the leather. It took some hunting to find that as the burn mark was quite small. I was able to solder that small wire as well and then wrapped real good in tape. I'm not sure how safe these repairs are, mine seems to be working fine again, but you may want to consider asbestos pants. I did the first one with the seat out and the second with the seat left in.

That'* the part # I used.
Bought it from an online dealer who is no longer in business for $92 + $9 shipping.