2004 Escalade heated seat

Do you own a GM truck with heated seats that don't work? Before you do anything, do this one thing first. It is the most likely item to break or burn out in the entire heated seat circuit.

[@Brian-mp2mv]

could you not just use a multimeter set to OHMS to check the plug leads for continuity? That would help determine which element is burned out, without pulling the seat.

[@GroundhogzGarage]

It's been a long time since I made the video, if I didn't mention it, that is entirely possible.

[@ek6667]

Thanks! Should I replace both?

[@GroundhogzGarage]

I would. The elements aren’t that expensive, you’re in there and you know if you don’t, that second element will die a couple weeks after you did the other one.

[@Club-Thirty-Three]

Hello, this sounds just like my problem. Do you think you'd be better off taking the seat out to do the back heater element or was it okay just taking the bottom pad off like you had. I imagine it would be a lot less work not taking the entire seat off. Thanks

[@GroundhogzGarage]

If you're flexible, you can do it with the seat in the truck. You will need to take the bottom of the seat out. Yes, there is probably someone out there who replaced that element with the seat bottom in, but I think that would be more work than taking out the seat bottom. If you are going to do the back of the seat, unless you have done the bottom already, you might as well do it too, because it can't be far behind.

[@daveslastchance]

my problem in my 2005 Escalade is, the seat heater comes on by itself. I turn it off.. it comes on again. Always on high back and bottom. Could this be a bad switch or something else???

[@GroundhogzGarage]

This is how I would rudimentarily trouble shoot it based on my experiences. 1. First and foremost, I would make sure ALL of the seat elements are working in both the driver and passenger side. The back on my passenger side (the ONLY one I didn't replace) burnt out and though it will turn on momentarily, it will immediately turn the drive side off. Who knows what logic is going on there, but it is seemingly all connected. 2. From there, I would go to the door switches. You can buy them pretty cheap on Ebay. The door panels aren't terribly difficult to get off. 3. They're all connected to a circuit board under the driver's seat. Not the easiest thing to get to or replace. I would do the easy things first. 4. Go somewhere and have it professionally diagnosed. That would probably cost you as much as throwing a couple parts at it and hoping you get lucky. In the big scheme of things, I'm thinking it's better they come on by themselves than not at all. :) But definitely make sure ALL the seat elements are working first.

[@daveslastchance]

@@GroundhogzGarage thanks.. this is real pain in the butt. For a few weeks the problem went away entirely. Now, last night, on a 12-mile trip, the driver's seat came on high. I turn it off, it comes back on. This repeated intermittently all the way home. I'm going to just try to remove the fuse and see if that disables the whole heated seat system....

[@Munchboxkid]

​@@daveslastchance did you ever figure out what it was ? I have the same issue

[@daveslastchance]

@@Munchboxkid no, not yet. But I haven't checked to see if the passenger side both elements are working as recommended above. I don't see what a defect in the passenger side would cause a fault in the driver's side, but I guess stranger things have happened. It really seems like a bad switch problem to me, and I might order a replacement switch one of these days. But in the mean time, esp. with warmer months ahead, I'm just going to pull the fuse. My '05 Escalade is gradually self-destructing from old age I think. XM radio no longer works, CD no longer works, 6-CD changer no longer works.

[@angelc7984]

Are the seats in the back heated too? Second row?

[@GroundhogzGarage]

Yes they are.

[@jacksonstephens9772]

Well it really depends on what vehicle you have, Escalade yes, Gmc Denali sometimes, any thing else is a maybe.

[@daveslastchance]

@@GroundhogzGarage except in the EXT model (Avalanche equiv.)

[@GroundhogzGarage]

@@jacksonstephens9772So I guess what you are saying is Escalade yes, everything else, depends which option box was checked.

[@carenthusiast322]

What website did u go to for the parts?

[@GroundhogzGarage]

The Seat Shop. www.theseatshop.com/collections/accessories

[@GroundhogzGarage]

And if you are doing one element on the seat, I would strongly advise to do them both. They are all aging at the same time.