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I have repaired my seat heaters many times.
This is the long version:
-get into the back seat, bend under the back of the front seat to reach the black wire connector that powers the heater and disconnect it.
-Go to the front seat. Pull the seats up as close to the dash as possible.
-Get in the back seat and use a socket wrench to remove the 2 bolts behind each seat. (On one side of each seat, the nut will be covered by a plastic cover. Pull it off carefully and you will see the nut behind it).
-Get into the front seat.
-Push the seat as far back as it will go.
You have now exposed the front nuts, which are inside the rails that move the seat backward and forward.
-Slip a socket in there and undo the nuts.
-The seat is now loose. I usually get back into the back seat, and pull the seat out from behind, turning it sideways to get it out the door.
-Bring it into the house, and turn it upside-down on a work table.
-You will see the upholstery is held in place with metal rings. I use 2 needle-nose pliers to grab these and twist them in opposite directions to get them off. I like the other guy's suggestion of using plastic tie wraps to replace them. I did it the hard way and salvaged each ring and put them all back on! Now, remove all the rings. Watch out, the tips are sharp!
-After the rings are removed, you will feel a long, horizontal flat bar that is slipped inside the edge of the sewn vinyl, at the bottom back of the seat. You must grasp it from the middle so that it bends slightly, and pull one end out, then the other. It is affixed to the metal frame through a small hole on either side of the seat. (getting this back in is a little tricky. I bend it slightly, then slip one end in, and use needle-nose pliers to push the other end in).
-you can now reach underneath the fabric of the seat and feel for the plastic square-ish mat that holds all the heating wires together, and carefully lift and pull it out. There will be wires leading from it to the upper seat back, and you may have to leave it connected to the upper seat while you work on it. It depends how yours was made. You can now see how broken the white plastic mat is, and how tangled the wires are, if you weren't careful. To one side of the mat, there is a tiny metal "button" which is your thermostat. The plastic may be melted all around it. In this case, take an exacto knife (be VERY careful not to cut your hand)and cut away the melted plastic until the thermostat is free and you can see if the wires joining it are disconnected or broken. Solder any wires that may be broken and put the pieces back together again. If the thermostat is broken, I suggest you purchase one from a scrap yard, since our dealer wanted $70 for a new one! Test the wires for continuity with an appropriate tester BEFORE putting the mat back under the upholstery.
-do the same removal procedure with the upper seat back, and make any necessary repairs.
-slip the flat bar back inside its "sleeve" and struggle to get it back into its groove.
-re-clip the rings, or use plastic tie-wraps to hold down the upholstery.
(-now is also a good time to see if your 'wire mat' that holds your seat springs in place needs replacing. I paid about 16$ Canadian for a replacement from the dealer but it is a bugger to get on. Getting the old one off is easy.
I use wire cutters and clip all the wires down one side. Et voila! The old wire mat falls off!
Lay the new mat in place, and hook up all the springs on one side only.
Now comes the tough part. I actually used a chrome "u" shaped towel holder (I removed it from its installation bracket) from the dollar store to slip under the wire mat, grab the hook end of the spring, and pull it through the other side of the wire mat. It really works!)
If you didn't need to replace the seat springs, go ahead to placing the seat back into the car, from the back seat, bottom seat first.
-tighten the front nuts first, then the back nuts. Then put back the plastic protectors onto the rear nuts. Re-connect the wire clip unde the seat, and if it hangs down too low, just use a plastic tie wrap to hold it up out of harm's way.
Hope you can do it. If I can, so can you! And I've done it many times! And I'm not a guy!
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