#siiiiiiiiiiigggghhhhhhh#

ok, I set about swapping my "new" leather seats today in place of my cloth seats. Wetn ahead did the rears no problem, then went to fit the undertray from the old drivers side to the new drivers side. Had to make it fit, as there are differences in the seat, but what I found is the killer. The orange plug on the leather seats, is totally different to the plug on the cloth seats!!

see here:

cloth seat orange connector


leather seat orange connector



both seem to be three wires, is there any thing i can do?? i obviously need the old cloth seat orange connector on the leather seat (the white ones look the same).

really hope you can help guys, im stuck!!!

ok...had a think. as the wiring is the same (black brown blue) and so are the pins (just the plastic connector is different) am I right in thinking I should be fine to simply cut the wires, and solder back and use heat shrink? so id cut off the connectors leaving plenty of wire from my old seats, cut off the wires on the new seats, and solder back on..

rather than trying to seap out the entire seat wiring? I cant imagine why this wouldnt work fine, especially when there are fixes out there for air bag warnings involving soldering work...!!

what do you guys think?

Can you not just push the clips holding the terminals out the back and refit on old plug or is it totally different, what are the wires for ? Electrics on seat , airbag?
You don't want to solder if you don't need to.

i believe the orange connector is air bag. I had a look to see if I could pop the wires out, and although i was being very careful, they wont budge.

not sure if i am missing something!?

You would think there would be some sort of tab on the side of them you push to let them push back through , but if you can't I would say soldering would be ok. I have done a few plug replacements on damaged cars when the bags have fired and melted the old one without any problems. I just never twisted the wires when soldering, left it stranded and just a little solder works for me.

Or can you not swap the full bag in the seat. Don't know how much hassle that would be or if the bags would be different on different seats. Wouldn't think so. Anyone know the procedure for swapping the seat airbag ?

im not sure about swapping the whole thing, i think it would be a lot more work than just soldering three wires. if soldering the wires is ok, then thats the better solution...

Chop and solder mate. all will be fine!

Yeah go for it Clivvy, just keep the wires the same length it should help keep resistance acceptable. And as you said in your first post, heat shrink every thing to keep it nice and tidy. Good luck.

I had the very same problem so all I did was insert a very small flat bladed screw driver and pulled the individual wires out of the seat plug and pushed them into thier respective positions on the car plug. As already mentioned the plug casings are different but the wire positions are the same. Once done I wrapped the wires in heat srink and it works a treat ......oh and it goes without saying make sure you disconnect the battery

That's what I thought, much like the way you remove plugs on a computer power supply.
There is usually a small barb on the side you push in to pull it out the rear of the plug.

Yeah that right only it's not on the side as such you insert a screw driver right down the wire and you'll see a little tab, once released just pull gently and it'll come out. It's really easy I've done it a coupe of times (I'm on my third interior now lol)

gadge said:

Yeah that right only it's not on the side as such you insert a screw driver right down the wire and you'll see a little tab, once released just pull gently and it'll come out. It's really easy I've done it a coupe of times (I'm on my third interior now lol)

Click to expand...

on the new plug, i can see a purple tab, is that what you mean?

ill go try again!

It may have been said amongst the discussion, but personally I would cut the required connector off the cloth seat wiring, cut the un-required connector off the leather seat wiring, then solder the required connector onto the leather seat, matching wiring colours and using heat shrink tubing to ensure reliable insulation. That way you can still remove the seat easily if needed in the future, and it all looks original to the casual inspector

"choc block" (terminal strips) are a good substitute if soldering is unavailable, but obviously look a little more 'bodged' at the end of the day, just personal preference - I've done both before

-Alex

thats the plan, Aelex!

in fact, im just going back out now to finish the job. Im having to do it in the snow, due to lack of space...!

SUCCESS!!

i took the "cut the wires" method, and by all accounts this worked fine. I am now leathered up!

Also found an added bonus-adjustable lumbar support on the drivers seat, which i didnt have on the older seats!

Im well chuffed, everything looks great!

Nice one mate. Pictures would be good

Good good, glad it worked out well

Let's have some pcs then