I'm doing new seats soon and was wondering if the wiring is already in the harness for the seat heaters and does the harness in the console have wiring for switch. I have seen the switch assembly on Ebay and thought this might be a good upgrade. It's cool in Northern California and seat heaters would be nice.

Thanks,

 

you will need the switch assembly for heated seats, it is digital, no harness change
Jaguar XK8 Heat AC Controller Non Heated Windshield 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 | eBay

then buy the heating elements LJA2700AA and LJA2706AA and install in seats, the ends are fitted with connector that are put into the plugs for the seat module.. prices are $123.75 and $136.50 so $520 for both seats + 80 for switch= $600 DIY

http://www.gaudinjaguarparts.com/par...&siteid=214626

hardest part is doing the heat element installation, you may want to have a shop do that ~$400

 

I figured that since I was doing the seats now would be the time to do the heaters. Not so much for me but, the wife will make the call. Do the heaters work well enough to justify?

 

They are not the best Heated Seats. I drove Cadillac Dealer Trades and they were much faster heating and warmer.

 

for me , yes I did this to my last xk8. My wife did not care, never uses it.

You can do just one if you want.


my volvo heated seats are faster.

 

Heating should be compulsory on all seats, especially leather, irrespective of where you live. I use mine all the time, but I agree they are not the best. First of all, they switch off with the engine, so I have to keep pressing the button. Also, they take a while to heat up and are not very hot and finally, you can't adjust the temperature. 2 or 3 settings would be nice.

 

The Seat Heaters can appear to work in mysterious ways!

Regardless of the position of the dash switches, Heater operation is determined by ambient temperature (see sections boxed in red):



The Heaters will sometimes not operate at all or will cut in and out during a journey.

I've checked the Driver's Handbooks and a similar description appears in them from the earliest MY's.

Graham

 

So basically they only work when they feel like it

 

This one is certainly a classic example of unnecessary over complication giving something else to go wrong. Aren't we all capable of simply deciding whether we want the seat heat on or off?

Graham

 

Touche, Frog and Graham. Yet more electronic crap to malfunction and require time, effort, and money to fix because my wife is accustomed to the feature and claims she must have it available for autumn and winter. Quite frankly I can't see how anybody can stand the damn things - I would be sweating like a pig within 60 seconds....

 

Yup. Also, if I set the Climate Control to Vent (Temp to LO, ReCirc to Off and AC to Off), it would be nice if the car would Remember it on the Next Start!

It does remember the LO setting but promptly turns AC to On and ReCirc to ON.

 

really? wow, ive never had that issue on my XF or XJ's.....they work right away and burn my ***

 

Oh no. In this litigation-heavy universe, you can imagine the berk that leaves the seat heater on until it burns his back and legs and then sues Jaguar because "there should have been a safety cut-out". A safety cut-out is simply a thermostat with a pre-set temperature, which is what the manual describes.

 

sad but true

 

Just a thought
some one in the X308 forum found out all cars had the heating elements in the seats and he just had to add the switches on the console.
Maybe the XK range is the same. Check the plug on the seat too see if the heated seat connection is there

 

You may want to look at generic seat heaters. They will be cheaper, 12 volt, and probably superior to the OEM ones; with the OEM switch. I use the seat heaters often in my XKR, so I would say they are worth it. Let me say they are the worst seat heaters I've had on any of my cars. They take quite a lot of time to warm up, and do not get nearly as warm as they do on other cars; but are mandatory on leather in cold climate. Since you are installing them anyhow, I would go with generic heaters that are probably warmer and quicker to warm. It is a shame that they are not simply on / off, but not having to think about it is part of the luxury cruiser experience, I guess.

 

I installed the Dorman aftermarket heaters about a year ago. Hi-Lo-Off, cushion and seat back pads, around $59/seat on eBay. Work well enough but not very quick to heat up. Hi setting will toast yer buns though, once they get going.

 

I did the same with my old XK8, it was a ton cheaper and seats got warmer. Had this done when I had the seats recovered.

 

I bought some for my 911. Seat Heater for Cars and Trucks from HeatedSeatKits.com
works great, but I did use factory for the jag as I got the module and I did not have a convenient place for the aftermarket switch. On the 911 it almost looks like factory.

You might be able to use aftermarket seat heaters and OEM switch module, by wiring in the seat heaters to the seat module. Depends on how much current the aftermarket parts draw?