I have a 2003 Chevy Silverado 1500 extended cab.

When I turn on heated seats on drivers side they turn on but turn off after about 20 seconds. The passenger side works fine, but if I turn on drivers side when Passenger side on both sides turn off.

I do hear a click when seats turn off coming from drivers side dash.

Any suggestions?? What might the "click" be?? What am I looking for??

Thanks,

Mark_ms

 

Could be a short in the heating element. Not sure if these things have thermocoupler or not either.

We'll wait for someone more familiar with the systems, but I've heard of these things almost completely melting the underside cushion.

 

I'm like Mark, not an expert, but I am inside and it's raining, so it has something to say....You may be looking at a weak relay, or even a weak circuit breaker. Can you turn them immediately back on when they go off? I say this, since you are hearing a clicking sound, which is probably a relay or breaker.

 

Larry,
Yes I can turn them right back on.
Could you explain "weak relay"?


Mark_ms

 

Mark, sometimes the bimetallic strip inside the relay just rolls over and dies. If the strip is compromised, it could prematurely turn off, when it should hold the connection closed for a longer period of time. They operate off the heat of the circuit, and if enough heat is transferred to the relay, it will turn off. May be worth the few dollars to replace the relay to see if that is the weak link.

 

forget about weak relays...your heated seats are controlled by the driver seat module. both voltage and ground are supplied by the module and circuit operation is a switched ground. the driver seat module stores codes and that's the first thing to check...not sure that can be done other than with the tech 2 scan tool...which means a trip to the dealer most likely. seat temperature is monitored by thermistors located in each seat back. my guess is that the module is sensing to much current draw which would result in over heating, so it shuts the heaters down for safety sake. there are diagnostic routines for each trouble code to sort out whether it's an input error or a heating element failure or even a module failure.

 

What's the click he refers to?

 

i don't know...but I did refer to the wire diagram and the description and operation section of the service manual...and that could be wrong.

why would a relay have a bimetallic strip in it?

 

The click you hear is probably the door module. Either that or the it's the memory seat module.

 

i would say a seat element is shorted u could check them with a ohm meter at the 2 wire connectors for the elements
you can see them by looking underneath the seat they go up in the seat covers

the click you heard most likely was the seat module turning off the power to the heaters do to excessive draw

We see alot of these go out and when u pull the seat covers up always see the burn where it shorted out

Brian