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Bought a 2005 Boxster base 987.1 with both heated seats that were not working. What is the suggested procedure for troubleshooting this?
- Fuses - which ones should I look for in the fuse box in the driver's footwell? Is it odd that BOTH seats are not working - are they protected by one fuse?
- Confused about handover - the battery appears relatively new - is it possible to there needs to be something re-coded to re-enable the heated seats "feature" after the battery swap? When I got my PPI they 'cleared' all the codes, would they have seen an issue then? Can independent mechanics do the "handover" or is this a dealer only capability?
- Any other troubleshooting steps?
Presumably the lights in the buttons come on?
Looking at the fuse diagram I have, I don't see specific seat heater fuses but theres a couple of 30amp maxi's in fuse holder E for "electric seats"
If the fuse tests good, I'd check for continuity on the heater element itself. These are simple resistive heaters and they can burn out. If you're getting current to the heaters then they warm up if there's an intact heating element. I don't think there's much of a "coding" element to the situation.
I've subscribed OP because I have a new-to-me '06 Cayman S 987.1 currently experiencing the same issue. I used LemonSquad PPI (shame on me) and they didn't report this feature was non-functioning .
Hmm, might be time to invest in a decent scanner like a Foxwell NT530 or something similar. Or find someone local to you that has one? If you're a member of your local PCA then there's probably more than a few that have one.
Not so much for seeing error codes in this case but seeing sensor/switch status and also activating things. I had a problem with my Boxster roof and couldn't open it with the switch (though the switch worked for closing) but I could use my NT530 to access the "open roof" test in the rear comfort module and open the roof. You might be able to activate your seat heater with the NT510/530 and discover that the seat warms.
Spot on @Julian_KCMO ! No solution yet but using the Foxwell NT510 Elite (thank you Jessica at Foxwell Support) I was able to do some testing. I found the seat heater option and confirmed the feature is "installed". I then did an active test but the light on the dash button failed to light up as I expected it to. The test started and stopped with no other message. I tried a similar test for the garage door opener and the active test did light up the LED. The live data monitoring displays fluctuating values of .05A to .09A (amps?). I do have a general low voltage code but I'm unsure if this would allow all other electronics to work other than the seat heaters. I will plug in the batter tender and run the test again after the battery charges up.
With a $5 ohm meter you can measure the continuity of the seat heater and confirm it's not damaged. I had exactly this issue on my 996. Start with the basics before assuming more complex reasons for the problem.
To access the electrical connections you'll need to unbolt the seat (four bolts on the rails). Then you can choose if you want to remove them, or just tilt them back to allow easy access to the plugs. Here's the wiring diagram: