I’ve moved from maintenance to creature comforts.
I miss having heated seats in the LR3.
I checked and do not have the elements in the seats.

Here are a few things that I believe to be true after an evening of research:

• Need HVAC controller with buttons (purchased)
• Need relay and fuse
• Wires from HVAC controller to passenger footwell connector
• Heater elements

Here are some questions:
1. Can’t seem to locate the part number for the relay. Seems to be a 5 pin in socket R11. Fuse is 25 amp. Anyone know which relay i need to buy?
2. How do the elements connect to each other and to the big connector under the seat? Does the back piggy back into the seat base and the seat base connect to the main connector at the front of the seat? There doesn’t seem to be any part between the connector and the pads. I believe the “thermistor” is part of the seat pad.
3. Would you put OEM elements in or buy seats? My Alpaca/tan covers are getting pretty rough. If anyone has a line on some seats with heaters in them, let me know! I see that LR sells the rear element and the seat cushion with element. But the leather is $$$!
4. What are the odds a salvage yard would clip off the connectors that I need behind the HVAC? Are the connectors available online? I assume this not a seperate wiring loom.

I doubt I’m the first to do or at least try this. Any help is appreciated!

 

You are not to far from Abran who parts out LR3's so I would check with him to see what parts he might have on hand.

aaabeyta@mac.com

 

Will do. I’ve met him and his wife at some of the local Rover events. I almost mentioned him in the original post!

I was just catching up on your trailer build thread.

 

Spoiler alert, it's not done yet

Hoping to make some progress this weekend.

 

Here’s an update and a few lessons learned:
Getting a control unit with heated seat buttons is easy. Found a nice one for $50 shipped on eBay
My truck (2006 SE) has the wiring from the foot wells to the seat connectors. No fourth white connector from the controller.
Finding the OEM supplier or compatible 6 way female connector was a lot of time with no success. It is not the TYCO/AMP MULTILOCK 70. Very close, but not close enough!

Finding the right harness on eBay was challenging, most scrap yards don’t want to take good photos of the connectors. They would usually have a ball of wiring and a part number. Found on for $75 shipped with right connector.
Taking apart the dash to the point you can swap the harnesses takes about 4 hours. If you want to recover or replace the dash, this would be the time. Local guy wanted $850 to cover with high quality leather and contrasting stitching. $2k to cover the facia, Vent trim, console and center stack. No way, not on a 6k truck. So, everything went back in after a good cleaning.

Compare the harnesses very carefully! Connector by connector. I got to the Ignition switch before I found a significant difference. I did not know the donor vehicle for sure but had different wires and more of them. So, after all of that time getting to where I could swap harnesses, I went back to plan A, which was strip out the needed wires and connector.
Take lots of photos of the connectors and pin position. Two wires go to the driver’s footwell and three go the the passenger footwell (really 4 as two of the wires splice together about 10 inches from the connector at the controller.
I put labels on the connectors and the wires that I was able to verify continuity versus the wiring diagram. Wife came home to see the dash harness on the kitchen island! Harness is pretty heavy (20 lbs) and what you need out of it, just a couple of ounces. You will get sticky glue all over you unwinding the tape. That will take you about an hour, another 20 minutes to get your hands clean afterwards!
I ran the wires along the existing harness and down into the footwell, securing to the harness as I went. Refer to pictures and insert pins into the appropriate connector. Reconnect all of the connectors, test for continuity to be sure and compare to diagram to make sure you ended where you needed to be.
Finding a part number for the seat heater relay was harder than it should have been. I was unsure of the amperage rating. So, back to eBay. Bought a whole engine compartment fuse box with all of the relays from an HSE for $50 shipped. Now I have many spare relays and fuses! Most importantly, I have the right relay without a trip to the dealer.
Waiting on my new to me seats with heating elements. They are from a 2013 Range Rover Sport. Better style, good condition leather, lumbar etc. I’m afraid the color might be Ivory. Not sure from eBay photos. Seller response was tan. For $680 shipped for both front and the rear, I was willing to take the chance that I wouldn’t hate the color once in the car. No access to color codes. Unfortunately, VIN lookup will not tell you interior color code. They have memory, so getting them to move when I hit the switch will be the next challenge. I’ve learned more about the many auto networks and master/slave conmmunication than I will ever use. 2006 and 2013....not the same! Wiring configuration is surprisingly similar though. Most new switches complete the circuit by grounding as opposed to old school 12v +....
Who knew....

Anyway, got everything back together (another 3 hours) and only two extra screws. I put some foam tape at some of the obvious plastic to plastic joints.
Light goes on for left and right seats. Should have the new seats in the next day or two.

If I were to do it again, I would pull some of the female pins out of a connector and order a few of anything similar online. I would not have pulled the dash apart. I would have just fished new wires from the console to the footwells and create my own harness. I’d just shrink wrap the female connectors for the controller and slide them on and try to secure them with tape.
I did consider aftermarket heat and cooled seat kit. If my leather was in better shape, I would have tried that first. Nice kit was $350 per side, but I’d have cooled seats too.

Will add more when the seats come in.

 

Adding some photos that might be helpful:



Connector on back on controller



Marking of connector based on diagram identifier



Pin 5 connector C1167



Being sure where the pin goes

 

You have more patience than me!

I would buy one with heated seats.

Congrats.

 

I definitely thought about trading up to an HSE, but then I would probably have to start over on the maintenance items and where’s the challenge in that?!?
Funny thing is, I don’t even really need heated seats.

I admit, I like to take things apart and I have a deal with eBay/UPS; they take my money and bring me stuff.

 

Wow.... a lot more patience than this old guy too. I have an HSE but it did not have the cold weather package in it. I went with carbon fiber seat heaters that I bought on Amazon for under $80 and it had everything I needed to make our butts warm in the front seats! Wife is happy and has been working well for 2 years now.

 

I didn’t realize the heated seats were an option on the HSEs.

Seats came in yesterday. Shrink wrapped pallet with all of the seats stacked on top of each other. I’ve been driving the LR3 around for a few days with only the driver’s seat installed. Kind of like a cargo van with carpeting! These seats from a 2011 Range Rover Sport are the darker tan. I’m glad they weren’t the Ivory color. Much nicer than the old 2006 seats. Hope they are more comfortable!
The passenger and rear seats should be easy to install and get working. I’m not going to bother with the rear seat heaters. I usually leave the rear seats out since I have an old dog and no kids anyway.
Will get some pictures and document some of the install steps and what I do to get the driver’s seat switch to work. Fingers crossed!