Fitting afternarket heated seat pads

[dorsetdave]

Has anyone tried to fit these after market heat pads that fit under the seat fabric? I have the standard switch panel and was thinking of fitting that to control them. I don't know if Cavaliers ever had the heated option on fabric seats, which is what's in my '93 CD hatch. My wife's 2016 Corsa has heated fabric seats and although these get pretty hot there is no sign of damage. I suppose my main concern is whether the fabric in my car would stand the heat. Also any thoughts on routing the wiring?
Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks for looking.

[Robsey]

If you have purpose made after-market heated seat mats, then I can see no reason why they won't be perfectly fine under a fabric cover of a typical Cavalier seat.

Note that Cavalier seat switches are simple 12 volt on / off devices, not adjustable items like you would find in later models. Vectra-B, C and Omega etc.

Also the power for the heated seat switches is taken from the same fuse as the Cigarette lighter.

I seem to recall that many years ago, it was a popular upgrade to fit mats from early / mid-90s high end Volvo battle cruisers.

As for routing of the wiring, the switches will be located down below the ashtray, but the wiring / connectors will be tied up to the main loom.
One plug up by each side of the radio.

The wiring from the seat mat itself merely needs to be routed around the cushion, probably towards the rear and underneath in a fashion that avoids chafing on the seat rails.

Probably cable tie the wire to the seat belt tensioner, but allowing sufficient slack in the wiring to allow the seat to slide back and forth.

It is expected that the floor loom for the heated mats will not be present, so you could either run a wire directly to each switch, or to the big X6 connector in the passenger foot-well. Pins 32(black/red) and 4 (black/ yellow)

Switch wire colours are: -
From memory -
The switched-live will be a black wire with a red or yellow stripe. Depending which side you are wired to.

Ignition live from the fuse will be black.

Illumination is grey with a green stripe.

And switch ground is brown.

As for the mat wires - I assume if aftermarket colour codes are used, 12 volts will be red. Wire this to the switched live in either the switch or X6 connector as mentioned above.

And ground will be black. Wire this to any metal grounding point on the car.

[dorsetdave]

Thanks Robsey for a very quick and comprehensive reply. It certainly seems viable so I will order the pads from China and have a go in the New Year.
May I take this opportunity of saying thanks for all of your help in 2018 and to wish you and yours "all the best" for the New Year.

[James McGrath]

Note that Cavalier seat switches are simple 12 volt on / off devices, not adjustable items like you would find in later models. Vectra-B, C and Omega etc.

I think it's a tad more than a simple on/off switch.
In the marketing blurb it says that they are thermostatically controlled and they do seem to phase in and out while using them. Normally getting quite hot for a few minuets to begin with and then cooling down slightly and staying just a bit warm from then on.

[dorsetdave]

Robsey, Sorry to trouble you.
If I could ask just one more question about the wiring. Am I right in thinking that the illumination wires (grey/green) should be wired to the panel lights? I have now obtained a switch panel with the two plugs and am planning a dry run with the heating elements on the bench.
Thanks again for all of your help.

[Robsey]

Yep -
Grey / Green is illumination.
Black is ignition live
Brown is ground
Black with coloured stripe is switched live.

[dorsetdave]

Thanks Robsey, position clarified.

[Robsey]

Glad to help.
Hopefully have nice toasty seats for the latter months of winter.

[iangsi]

Note that Cavalier seat switches are simple 12 volt on / off devices, not adjustable items like you would find in later models. Vectra-B, C and Omega etc.

I think it's a tad more than a simple on/off switch.
In the marketing blurb it says that they are thermostatically controlled and they do seem to phase in and out while using them. Normally getting quite hot for a few minuets to begin with and then cooling down slightly and staying just a bit warm from then on.

The thermostatic part is built into the heater element itself it's the resistance to electrical flow of the element it only gets to a certain temperature

[Robsey]

Agreed - looking at the wiring diagrams in Haynes etc, the switches are just that - switches.

There does appear to be the symbols for two resistors and a thermostat in each mat.

[James McGrath]

Fair enough. I bow to your superior knowledge