Hi guys

Just had my drivers seat leather skin swapped over with a new oem skin, went to put the seat heater on and it wasn't working

As i was heading back to the trimmer thinking they may have left a plug loose, it came on

I know with some past cars i've owned, the seat heater will only work if the inside ambient temp is higher than outside (my car was ice cold as it was left inside non-heated garage with windows open), is this the case with the jag too?

 

"I know with some past cars I've owned, the seat heater will only work if the inside ambient temp is higher than outside".

This is an interesting comment for me. I've owned quite a few different makes and models of American, German and Japanese cars over the years...in fact, it's probably shameful! All were purchased new and all of these cars had heated, electric core, front seats. None of these cars had thermostats that didn't allow the seats to come on above a certain ambient temperature, inside or out. I am sure of this statement because every time my wife is in the car, she fires up the electric seat where she is sitting. Like the movie....Some Like It Hot!
My guess would be that the plug for the heated seats isn't connected properly after the seat was reinstalled (it's loose) or you have a short some place in the system that makes connection after being jiggled around after driving.

 

 

Mine operates any time I switch it on, cold, warm, or hot, inside or out.

 

Even Jaguars with Heated/Cooled seats (like my XK) aren't linked to ambient or AC temperature. They all simply go to the selected setting.

The cushion and squab have separate heating elements linked though the harness.


(double click on the image to enlarge it)

It sounds like you have a poor connection but the cushion heating elements in particular are very easily damaged. A regular cause is from owners kneeling on them when cleaning the interior.

Graham

 

yep seems i was off with the seat heater operation theory

after leaving the car for a good week while i was away, getting back in this morning the heater seems to have reverted to normal operation

i'll monitor it over next few weeks, hope it's not a fluke

 

Also when selecting seat heater by pressing left or right temperature dial there are two or three settings available.

Press as above then turn dial and it will increase or decrease seat heat setting, then thermostat in seat element will maintain selected seat temperature

 

+1. 3 settings: warm, real hot, f...ing hot.

 

yep all 3 settings working normally this morning

3 is uncomfortably hot just like how i remember

though i did notice once i turned the seat heater off, then turned it back on, it actually didn't come back on, and the seat itself wasn't hot enough to trigger the thermostat, so either this is normal and i never noticed it, or i have a faulty thermostat

i turned the car off, then back on, and seat heater returned to normal operation again

before i put the seat back in the car, i spent some time steaming the new leather cover to get all the shipping wrinkles out of it, it did get wet enough for water to roll out the back of the seat, so maybe that process may have damaged something