850 heated seat repair

Covert · Post by **Covert** » 09 May 2017, 11:23

So whilst the 850 is off the road having a back end rebuild i thought i would tackle having no heated seats !
Stripped the seat and found a burnt wire on the element , how do people go about fuxing this as the wires are really thin !
In anticipation of a warm bum in the winter (mark)

Post by **Clemens** » 09 May 2017, 15:59

I haven't done it myself but you should be able to solder a piece of thin wire in there with a 15-20W solder iron. If it doesn't work try a junkyard seat.

Post by **scot850** » 09 May 2017, 16:08

Easiest thing is to swap another seat base over. The 850's have a problem of breaking the 2 wires that run under the seat and up though the middle of the seat base foam to the heating element. The wires are not well supported so with the regular moving of the seat on the sliders the wires eventually break off. The seat switches can also light up, but they may not actually be working. Not sure if the heating elements are available any longer for the 850. It may be worth looking at the seat base for a V/S 70 as the seat wiring for the heating element is a better design and should be modifiable to fit an 850.

Neil.

Post by **rspi** » 09 May 2017, 19:51

You can also replace the heating pad.

Covert · Post by **Covert** » 10 May 2017, 00:24

we dont have any scrap yards over here that keep older cars in stock
i mended the wires to the thermostat and played around with it all last year so i know its getting power.
when i took the base cover off there was a big burn mark , obviously the cause of the problem.
ill have a go at soldering some thin wire in there , i did think about getting a replacement pad for it but it may be more hassle than its worth ??
still got the passenger side to do as neither of them work.

Post by **scot850** » 10 May 2017, 07:23

I am wrong on the pads. They are still available from Volvo. From on-line dealers the are from $60 US and up.

If you have to remove the seat cover to repair the pad anyway, it is not that hard to replace. It is sticky backed and you just stick it on. Check you are getting power to the passenger seat too. They are normally less common to fail as the seat is used less. The switches themselves can fail, they light up but pass no power.

Neil.