Good Evening,

I have heated front and rear seats in my 2004 xj8. Did all jags with the heated seats come with a heated steering wheel? I ask because I can't tell if the steering wheel is heating up. The wood top part remains cool. The leather sides feel warm, but I don't know if that is just from the vents blowing on them.

Before digging into it, I though I'd ask if it even came with the car.

Thanks,

Eric

 

My 2004 XJR has the heated steering wheel. It can get uncomfortable at times at the number 3 setting, and that is for all points including leather or wood.

I sometimes wish there was a way to turn on just the wheel heating but not the seat heating for those mornings when I'm bundled up but have bare hands.

Not sure what the fix would be for you if you have it, but I can at least give you a data point.

Mark

 

Yeah mine gets super hot as well and sometimes uncomfortable..

 

Another small annoyance with the Jag. My steering wheel heats up super quick, but the seats much slower, and still don't get hot enough for my wife's taste. Wish there was a way to control the seats and steering wheel separately.

 

Thanks Mark and everyone else. Is there a way for me to determine whether or not my Jag came with a heated steering wheel? If it has heated seats does that mean it has a heated steering wheel? Or were they separate items when shipped?

Before taking it into the shop and saying my heated steering wheel doesn't work, I want to make sure I have a heated steering wheel.

Thanks

 

Eric,

According to my 2004MY XJ350 brochure, even with the Heated Seats (both cushion and backrest are warmed, with three heating settings) fitted, the heated Steering Wheel was an option on wood/leather or all wood Steering Wheels. Consequently you could have Heated Seats without a heated Steering Wheel.

Always dangerous to be dogmatic with Jaguar as specifications do vary for different markets but it's unlikely the UK and US spec would differ for this setup.

Graham

 

These posts got me to wondering, as I have never felt any heat from my steering wheel, even though I frequently put my seat on high setting for a bit on cold mornings (then throttle back to 2, 1, and off as the ole tush warms up).

My owner's manual (2005 XJ8L) says the steering wheel heats when the driver's seat heater is on. It doesn't say "if fitted."

Further perusal told me that there is a separate fuse for the steering wheel heater - number F54 in the trunk fuse panel. So for anyone not liking the wheel heater, I'm sure you could just yank the fuse. Or if you're nerdy enough, you could run some wires back there and rig a switch somewhere up in the cabin.

In my case, the fuse is in place, and tests good. There are also three relays in the trunk panel, with of course no hint in the manual as to what they're for. I pulled each in turn to test it, and all are good. So at the moment I'm still without an answer.

Ray

PS: to save you looking for the fuse location diagram: The very bottom left fuse position in the rear fuse panel is unused. The 15A fuse (blue) right above that is F54

 

Hi Ray,

I would be interested in hearing what you find out. I haven't checked the fuse box yet. Just part of my steering wheel warms up, but I'm guessing that is from the warm air blowing out of the vents on to the leather.

 

[QUOTE=rayalbers;659827]............ My owner's manual (2005 XJ8L) says the steering wheel heats when the driver's seat heater is on. It doesn't say "if fitted."................/QUOTE]

Ray,

Absolutely right about the Driver's Handbook. I found the reference to the heated wheel being an option with heated seats in the original sales brochure where the full specs are detailed.

Graham

 

Thanks, Graham.

For now, I'm just going to assume that the Texans who originally owned my car didn't spring for the heater!

I was wondering why the fuse was in place if there was no heater. So I pondered that while trying to get back to sleep when I woke up at 2 AM, and developed two theories:

a) it's easier to tell the assembly line workers (or robots) to populate every fuse position, rather than instituting processes to customize the fuse panel to the accessories in the car.

b) there is a wire that runs from the fuse panel to somewhere else, so may as well protect it in case of a short.

(b) doesn't work logically, because the wire would be even better protected if the fuse were withdrawn altogether!

Then I fell asleep.

Ray

 

Ray,

I've checked the Parts Catalogue for the Steering Wheel options. The heated wheel has a Control Module (see item 2):



It's probably as simple as the harness / fuse is the same for all models to make it easier on the assembly line but only the ones with a heated wheel have this Control Module fitted.

Graham