MK2 Heated Seats from Titanium into a Studio

[Dom_KA_RU8]

Hi all,

 

I have fitted MK2 Titanium heated leather seats into my Studio KA mk2. I've been using them about a year without the heat working.

 

I now have an electrician coming next week to wire in the heated seats to the car. The switches are on the base of the seat and the appropriate wire/connector is hanging down.

 

Can I ask if anyone knows if the wiring will be either already be in place, or whether my electrician will be able to add it to the loom / harness readily enough? Any Ford parts I may need before the job takes place so I can prepare?

[unofix]

Hi Dom, welcome to the Ford Owners Club.

You might think connecting up heated seats would be a two minute thing .......... wrong !!

I don't know much about the Ford Ka, but speaking in general with regards to other Ford vehicles the seats will be controlled from the Body Control Module (BCM) or the Generic Electronic Module (GEM) depending on which your car has. It is probable that there will also need to be relays fitted to control the supply for "heating" as the switches on the seat will be for control only and not for the actual power. Then on top of all this once everything is connected up correctly you will need to connect up to the cars OBDII port with a laptop and ForScan software and reprogramme the cars BCM/GEM to tell it the car now has heated seats.

So in short, yes it can be done, and many people on these forums have fitted heated seats to many diffrent cars (not sure about the Ka), but unless your electrician has knowledge of automotive electrics they are going to have a lot of investigation to do, before they even start.

[Dom_KA_RU8]

Thank you for the helpful reply. I like to know what I'm faced with.

So, based on what you said, are there any Ford specific parts or software required to do this? I had no idea about the BCM or GEM, or that it would need updating for something to receive power. I thought it would be like attaching a dash cam.

The electrician coming is specifically an automotive electrician specialist, so that is his day to day and I will forward him my intel and some photos beforehand to see if this is doable.

[Dom_KA_RU8]

I can't edit my post but I see the ForScan software you mentioned now... will look it up. Thanks unofix. Any other views will be helpful.

 

I think the software is downloadable for free.

 

Would this cable do the trick? There is a more official forscan sounding one for 3 times the price

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Veepeak-FORScan-Compatible-Professional-Diagnostic/dp/B07S7W14X9/ref=pd_lpo_263_t_0/261-9912944-8498631?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07S7W14X9&pd_rd_r=f99e59ff-9a05-489f-bda5-7b86ebd9776b&pd_rd_w=Dj6UJ&pd_rd_wg=h27Mv&pf_rd_p=d05bd3be-6ad4-4468-b3fb-b2079408c7ac&pf_rd_r=T0YQ6NWXKB7R8T06Z60Q&psc=1&refRID=T0YQ6NWXKB7R8T06Z60Q

[unofix]

The lead recommended to be used with ForScan is from a company called "TunnelRat Electronics"

.https://tunnelrat-electronics.fwscart.com/USB_Modified_with_switch_ELM327/p4541936_17045457.aspx   = £17.95

You can use others but some 'imports' are known to have problems.

The software ForScan can be downloaded for free and for most tasks it works without a licence. If you do need to buy the licence it's about £10 for a year.

https://forscan.org/download.html

If you can use a laptop with windows 7.

[Dom_KA_RU8]

Ah I have a laptop with Windows 7 or 10, I can't remember which. Will 10 not work?

[unofix]

I've never used Windows 10, it generally is a pain in the #rse when it comes to connecting to equipment. I'm told it does work but can be a bit funny.

Windows 7 is more stable and works well with ForScan. Very very very important, BEFORE you make any changes to the vehicle software make sure to save the "As Built" file for the module you are going to change. Then if you screw up and the world ends, you can always reload the 'asbuilt' file.

[Dom_KA_RU8]

2 minutes ago, unofix said:

I've never used Windows 10, it generally is a pain in the #rse when it comes to connecting to equipment. I'm told it does work but can be a bit funny.

Windows 7 is more stable and works well with ForScan. Very very very important, BEFORE you make any changes to the vehicle software make sure to save the "As Built" file for the module you are going to change. Then if you screw up and the world ends, you can always reload the 'asbuilt' file.

 

Roget that. I will back it up twice if I can. I don't fancy bricking the car.

 

You can get replacement BCMs on eBay for £45.

 

I cannot find the wiring diagram for the seats at the moment. I've found where the fuse should be and the correct rating. 

 

 

[unofix]

6 minutes ago, Dom_KA_RU8 said:

I cannot find the wiring diagram for the seats at the moment. I've found where the fuse should be and the correct rating. 

You really could do with the real Ford circuit diagram, or worst case a Haynes workshop manual. The location of where the fuse should be, check it carefully it might only have the electrical contact fitted on the incomming side of the fuse, the side that would go to the seat might just not be there.

If you are lucky then both sides of the fuse will have electrical contacts and that will mean that at least part of the wiring for the heated seats is already in place.

[Dom_KA_RU8]

I've got the Haynes Workshop Manual for the car, it has a number of wiring diagrams but not the one for the heated seats. I wonder if it can be extrapolated from the others though