DIY: Heated Seats for 2006-2011 Yaris

[CTScott]

Attached is my DIY for installing seat heaters on a 2006 to 2011 Yaris. The DIY includes installing and wiring the seat heaters both with aftermarket seat covers and under the OEM seat fabric.

I installed a set (both front seats) in my 2009 Yaris Liftback, under my Clazzio leather seat covers (purchased from MicroImage). This installation was incredibly easy and would have been even easier if I was installing the seat heaters and seat covers at the same time.

I also installed one seat heater on Crashy's OEM driver's seat (2008 Liftback) under the OEM fabric. Fortunately, as a budget car, the Yaris seats are quite simple, so removing and reinstalling the OEM seat fabric was not difficult.

I have not removed the OEM seat fabric on a Yaris with the side airbags in the seat, so I would not recommend doing so. For seats with side airbags, I would recommend using seat cover like the Clazzio ones (which are designed to be used with seat mounted airbags). The other option for airbag equipped seats would be to install a single pad style seat heater, where just the lower cushion receives the heat pad.

The power circuit used in my DIY is more than capable of supplying power to four or five seat heater kits, should you choose to also outfit the rear seat. My kids are arguing that it is unfair that my wife and I have heated seats and they do not, so I believe that I will soon be adding rears to my installation to prevent a mutiny.

I purchased my seat heater kits from http://www.warmseats.com. Upon receipt I was very impressed with the quality of the pads and the wiring harness, so I would definitely recommend them to others.

As a final note, you will notice in the DIY the significant rust on the OEM seat which I perform the under OEM fabric installation. If you are wondering how a seat frame gets this rusty; It was Crashy's seat. After her demise and before I bought her, she spent over a year parked outside with all but her left rear window missing. There was actually moss growing on the front seats.

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[47_MasoN_47]

SWEET! CTScott, you are freaking awesome!

[Shinare]

CTScott, you are truly a great asset to the Yaris community and your efforts are very much appreciated. Thanks for everything you do!

[Hard_Yaris]

+3 thanks for being so awesome!

[Eatoman]

Wow! Excellent write-up! You da man CTScott! I sure hope this has been stickied!

[suckerface]

A+ Write up yet again Scott! This definitely needs to be stickied.

[henry33]

scott you are sick
is something you can't do ? :)
great stuff you are posting here
thanks

[Lil Abner]

As always Scott, you rock! Do you have any pics of the OEM seat covers finished with the heating pads under them? I'm curious if you can see the heating pads under the OEM fabric or not. I don't see foam on the backside of the OEM fabric, so it makes me think you can see the marks where the heat pads are at.

[sickpuppy1]

I'm still kinda grossed out by using seats that had moss growing on them,lol
Seems kinda......squishy

[CTScott]

I'm still kinda grossed out by using seats that had moss growing on them,lol
Seems kinda......squishy

I was pretty grossed out myself, but I was amazed as to how well they cleaned up. The car also had a couple of inches of water on the floor, when I went to pick it up, and the spare tire well was completely full. The amazing thing with the seats is that the foam did not actually soak up the water, as opposed to the carpet and the thick sound isolating padding that was under some areas of the carpet, which were completely saturated.

[CTScott]

As always Scott, you rock! Do you have any pics of the OEM seat covers finished with the heating pads under them? I'm curious if you can see the heating pads under the OEM fabric or not. I don't see foam on the backside of the OEM fabric, so it makes me think you can see the marks where the heat pads are at.

Here's a picture of the finished product. The pads are so thin that they really don't show, even with the lack of foam on the OEM fabric. The only thing that is noticeable is a small bump near the back of the seat bottom, where the thermostat is located.

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[swidd]

2-3 minutes warm-up time. How much do you estimate you spent in parts all said and done? I'm wondering if it is worth it, seeing as the Yaris gets warm quickly and my tolerance for freezer-burn pain is quite high...

[CTScott]

2-3 minutes warm-up time. How much do you estimate you spent in parts all said and done? I'm wondering if it is worth it, seeing as the Yaris gets warm quickly and my tolerance for freezer-burn pain is quite high...

The heaters are $75 per seat shipped (if you buy them from their ebay listings, rather than their website), including their harness, and the rest of the parts (relay and socket, butt splices, etc.) I had on hand. I would say that for someone to do 2 seats it would be $150 + about $15 for the relay and parts.

With the 2-3 minute warm up, that is very similar to the heater coming on, and I really had no interest to putting one in for myself, but now that I have it, I can wait to go out in the car. There is such a difference in directly heating your buns and back, as opposed to having dry hot air blowing on or around you. I could drive with my moon roof open on a below freezing day now.

[fnkngrv]

Scott,
I have been pulling out my hair trying to find a 20 Amp relay along with the socket like you used. I went to AutoZone, O'Reillys, CarQuest, and another auto parts and wasted 3 hrs to no avail. Can you assist? Also, none of them actually carried a 18-22 AWG top splice either....please help me not waste another evening getting nothing accomplished! Thanks mang!

[CTScott]

Scott,
I have been pulling out my hair trying to find a 20 Amp relay along with the socket like you used. I went to AutoZone, O'Reillys, CarQuest, and another auto parts and wasted 3 hrs to no avail. Can you assist? Also, none of them actually carried a 18-22 AWG top splice either....please help me not waste another evening getting nothing accomplished! Thanks mang!

For the relay, you want a "universal automotive relay", which is typically rated for 40A. Here's one from Autozone's website, but they definitely carry them in their stores as well:

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/KC-HiLiTES-40-Amps-relay/_/N-25ev?counter=3&filterByKeyWord=relay&fromString=search&itemIdentifier=437420_0_0_

Here's the 18-22 AWG tap splice (the red one in this kit of three):
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Dorman-Conduct-Tite-22-10-gauge-quick-splice-terminal-assortment/_/N-25oe?counter=2&filterByKeyWord=splice&fromString=search&itemIdentifier=421789_0_0_

[fnkngrv]

For the relay, you want a "universal automotive relay", which is typically rated for 40A. Here's one from Autozone's website, but they definitely carry them in their stores as well:

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/KC-HiLiTES-40-Amps-relay/_/N-25ev?counter=3&filterByKeyWord=relay&fromString=search&itemIdentifier=437420_0_0_

Here's the 18-22 AWG tap splice (the red one in this kit of three):
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Dorman-Conduct-Tite-22-10-gauge-quick-splice-terminal-assortment/_/N-25oe?counter=2&filterByKeyWord=splice&fromString=search&itemIdentifier=421789_0_0_


Ouch...they are showing nothing below 22 bucks per relay for some reason...the 40 amp that you link to they want 30 bucks...not sure that I want to swallow that type of investment on the relay, but then again it is much better than a dead battery possibly. What about the socket though?

[CTScott]

Ouch...they are showing nothing below 22 bucks per relay for some reason...the 40 amp that you link to they want 30 bucks...not sure that I want to swallow that type of investment on the relay, but then again it is much better than a dead battery possibly. What about the socket though?

That sounds way too high. Radio Shack even carries them for $8:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3020762&CAWELAID=145898269

Typically, places that sell them will also have the harness or socket for them. The other option is to use fully insulated female spade connectors, if you can't find the harness.

I bought a bunch of relays and sockets a while back for doing remote starter installs. I remember paying about $4 each for the relays and less than $2 each for the harnesses. Here's a place selling the harnesses for $2:

http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/SRLY-2/SOCKET_FOR_AUTOMOTIVE_RELAY/-/1.html

[yaris2010RS]

epic write up. this is beautiful. this should be a sticky. i will be trying this for next year (mine has seat airbags but i gonna try it anyways)

[fnkngrv]

WOOHOOOO! Finally have mine 100% installed and working! In a funny twist I installed heated seat kits in 98 degree weather! Bwwuuhahahahahaha!

P.S. Thanks to Scott for an awesome DIY and the assistance provided.

[monbonlupin]

Scott,

I'm about to install a remote starter and heated seats. In your DIYs you recommend to wire the power to an unused fuse location. How can I wire the remote and 2 heated seats to that location ? What wire gauge should I use ? Some pics would be great !

Thanks for the awesome DIYs.

[CTScott]

Scott,

I'm about to install a remote starter and heated seats. In your DIYs you recommend to wire the power to an unused fuse location. How can I wire the remote and 2 heated seats to that location ? What wire gauge should I use ? Some pics would be great !

Thanks for the awesome DIYs.

Page 13 of the DIY shows a picture of both the seat heaters and my remote starter wired to the female spade terminal that connects to that unused fuse position. The female spade needs to be rated for the size/number of wires that it will hold. In my case, the remote starter power wire and the relay socket wire were both 16 AWG, so the 12 AWG female spade terminal was the correct size for two 16 AWG wires.

[monbonlupin]

Thank you for the fast reply, it's very much appreciated !

[bad]

what made you decide not to get the water proof heaters?

[CTScott]

what made you decide not to get the water proof heaters?

Good bladder control.

Actually, just price. At $20 less for a pair, I didn't see the need for the waterproof ones. On Crashy (my snow plowing Yaris) I did use one of the waterproof ones, as without doors or windows, the seats get a bit wet while I am plowing.

[bitz767]

sorry to bring this back from the dead, but I just followed the instructions and got my seat heaters installed without any issues! Thanks so much for the wiring diagrams Scott!