1999 S70 heated seats from donor car

lowufo777 · Post by **lowufo777** » 07 Dec 2013, 14:58

Hello all
I have a 98 V70 with heated seats(donor car ) and would like to put the heating elements and switches in a 99 S70 (not the complete seats ).. Question,does the wiring harness all ready in-place in the S70 have the plugs for the switches and heaters ? Is there any easy tips to doing this ?
Thanks !

Post by **combatkarl** » 07 Dec 2013, 18:30

I can't answer the questions directly, but would think it is likely possible with some work. Check out my post in swapping seats from a 99 to my 97 850. https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... 26#p308826

I was going to swap leather skins, but ended up swapping the entire seats from the 99 to my 97. It involved unbolting the seats from the seat-frame of the 99 and bolting the 99 seats to the seat-frame of the 97. Then some splicing of wiring. I don't have SIPS anymore, but seat heater and memory/electric controls work. Thanks to abscate for pictures of his 99 seat electrics. The links in the post have some good info on seat swaps.

This post deals with replacing seat skins/leather - which you'd need to do to attempt installing heating elements. https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=38238

Post by **rspi** » 07 Dec 2013, 21:21

If I were you I would look for some nice seats from a '99 or newer car. Including C70's.

Post by **mikealder** » 08 Dec 2013, 04:19

One option is to fit seat heater mats to your existing seats, see Here to read how I did that on an S60 recently, should be the same for your seats.

Your car will have the plugs and wiring for the seat heaters but getting the heater elements out will be a heck of a job as they are glued to the seat foam, to be honest I would expect to destroy them in the process of removing them as they are rather fragile.

You could swap the entire seats BUT there are some differences between -98 and 99- seats, even though they mechanically fit in to the car the same:

1/ 98 and earlier used mechanically initiated SIPS airbags in the seat back, 99 onwards used electrically fired SIPS airbags, if you fit 98 or earlier seats in to a 99 onwards car you will still have SIPS airbag protection, to avoid getting the SRS failure light on the dash simply solder a 2,2 Ohm resistor across the two wires that go the green/ purple connector under the seat.

2/ 98 and earlier used a microswitch in the seatbelt retainer (the bit where you press the red button when releasing the seatbelt) , 99- used an inductive proximity switch. Again if you fit the wrong type to the 99- onwards car the fasten seatbelt signs won't work and you will trigger the SRS light.

3/ Where the seatbelt attached to the base of the seat near the bottom of the B pillar differs between the two types of seat, earlier cars had a bolt that simply passed through a loop in the end of the seatbelt, the later cars employed a spring loaded quick release clip, again the two are not compatible although you can swap the brackets.

4/ Finally if the "new" seats are electrically powered for adjustment the self resetting circuit breakers won't be fitted to your car unless it previously had power seats, the wiring is all there but the two metal can circuit breakers need adding to the fusebox at the base of the windscreen, you can't see where these go by opening the flap to get at the fuses, you have to remove the top of the fusebox (four torx head screws) - Mike

lowufo777 · Post by **lowufo777** » 08 Dec 2013, 07:38

thanks for the info !!! excellent response !!

Post by **osman** » 08 Dec 2013, 11:51

Its easier to put 99+ seats in a 98 and earlier model than the other way around but it can be done.

Post by **mikealder** » 08 Dec 2013, 11:57

osman wrote:Its easier to put 99+ seats in a 98 and earlier model than the other way around but it can be done.

Doing that leaves you with no SIPS airbag protection as the 99+ seats are electrically fired, a pre 99 car doesn't have any of the wiring or sensors and controls to fire such a seat in the event of an impact.

I have a full set of seats from an 850R (leather/ alcantara) in my 2000 phase one V70, yes it was "interesting" to get them working with the car but because they have mechanically fired SIPS bags I still have the full protection - Mike

edjohnson1 · Post by **edjohnson1** » 21 Mar 2016, 16:14

My car is a 99 V70 T5. The leather on the drivers seat is trashed and I jsut at to repalce the leather "skins" -- NOT the whole seat. I found the leather "skins" from a 98 on ebay. From the photos on eBay, they appear to be the same. Can anyone verify that the 98 Skins" will fit (and match) the the 99?