Possible To Add Headted Seats

[saltyreefguy]

my wife's es300 didn't come with heated seats, so i was wondering if the heated seats parts can be added to the seats, like the heat pads, switches,

but does the vehicle's car wiring harness has has connector on them? also the center console has the switches replaced has blank ones. has anyone

done this or know if possible? thanks.

[gbhrps]

saltyreefguy,

This is completely doable, and much easier than you would imagine. Find a wrecked car with the same colour interior and with heated seats and remove the parts you need. Check the wreck's fuse and relay boxes to see if there is a separate fuse or relay for the seat heaters. If there is, pull them, because your car will have the same spots to put them in. Your car should have the required wiring harnesses hiding under the carpet of the seats, or taped up under the centre console. You may want to check this first before you go ahead.

Within the last year I completely changed over the power windows, door locks, power and heated mirrors, and the heated and power seats between two Pontiac Vans, one of which had no power accessories whatsoever. The required harnesses for the power/heated seats were right under the carpets under the non powered seats of the van that was being updated. In my case, the required fuses and relays were already in the fuse box right from the factory. Good Luck.

[1990LS400]

Forum malfunction (or maybe it was me!) -- see my post below.

[1990LS400]

Actually, I suspect you will find this much harder that you would imagine. A Lexus is not a Pontiac van.

Toyota/Lexus does not normally install wiring harnesses for options a car doesn't have. I don't remember specifically about the ES300, but others have checked and found that seat heater wiring was not installed at the factory in their Lexus cars that did not come with seat heaters.

Just finding functioning seat heater elements out of a wrecked 96 ES could be a challenge since they sometimes break as they age and not working by the ten year mark. The price of new seat heater elements is high -- I just checked an online discount Lexus parts seller and found the elements for the two front seats for about $1,920 total and the two switches for about $132. This doesn't include the seat heater wiring which is normally integrated into the car's wiring harness.

You could get aftermarket seat heaters... they come with the wiring harness and switches. Here is the first thing I found when I googled "seat heaters": http://www.heatedseatkits.com/heatedseatkits/index.html

[saltyreefguy]

well, actually i was fortunate to find all the necessary parts at a dirt cheap prices that i couldn't refuse, and i figured that if i remember like you guys mentioned, that

some or most cars use the same wiring harness for the same vehicles with or without the extra stuff equipment. so i wanted to ask if anyone has actually done it, and

found the extra plug connectors on the wiring harness.

[saltyreefguy]

i guess its time to look at the repair manual to see if the vehicle has mulitple wiring harness for that year or just one harness model was used. would the heated seats have a relay if so, would it be in the engine comp. on the drivers front inner fender area? thanks.

[1990LS400]

i guess its time to look at the repair manual to see if the vehicle has mulitple wiring harness for that year or just one harness model was used. would the heated seats have a relay if so, would it be in the engine comp. on the drivers front inner fender area? thanks.

Again, I don't know about the ES but for the LS400 there seems to be an almost infinite number of wiring harness variations -- it looks like each wiring harness was custom made for the exact equipment and options that each car has. For example, my car does not have the optional air suspension and has none of the wiring for it. My car doesn't have the wiring for the optional navigation system or for the standard audio system. It is wired only for the optional Nakamichi audio system that it has. And I have verified that my LS is not wired for options that were not available in the U.S but which were standard or optional in other countries -- rear seat heaters, rear power seat, headlight washers, rear fog lights.

The only option that seems to have been prewired on all LS, SC, and GS cars of from 1990 through 2003 is for a dealer installed phone.

However ... it sure wouldn't hurt to check your ES for seat heater wiring -- there is a chance that the ES is different.

[saltyreefguy]

hmm, understood. thanks..