Seat Heater Light Won't go Off

[1schoir]

MY97 base Boxster.

My passenger's side seat heater switch has the red indicator light on permanently, and does not vary no matter which way or how many times the switch is pressed. However, the seat does not heat up in all three positions.

In other words, there is one position where the light is on red and the seat does not heat up (so this should be the "off" position but the light is not "off"). When the switch is pressed again, it should be yellow but is red and the seat gets warm. Press one more time and the light is red and the seat is hot. Press off position and seat heater turns off, but light remains constant red.

I tried swapping the switch with the driver's side switch, then installed a brand new switch and still no joy.

The driver's side works as it should (i.e., off=no light, warm=yellow light, hot=red light. Any ideas on how to proceed?

Regards, Maurice.

[1schoir]

MY97 base Boxster.

My passenger's side seat heater switch has the red indicator light on permanently, and does not vary no matter which way or how many times the switch is pressed. However, the seat does not heat up in all three positions.

In other words, there is one position where the light is on red and the seat does not heat up (so this should be the "off" position but the light is not "off"). When the switch is pressed again, it should be yellow but is red and the seat gets warm. Press one more time and the light is red and the seat is hot. Press off position and seat heater turns off, but light remains constant red.

I tried swapping the switch with the driver's side switch, then installed a brand new switch and still no joy.

The driver's side works as it should (i.e., off=no light, warm=yellow light, hot=red light. Any ideas on how to proceed?

Regards, Maurice.

To clarifiy further... The red light is NOT on when the ignition is off. It is on when the ignition is on or when the engine is running.

Any help appreciated.

Regards, Maurice.

[Richard Hamilton]

There is a control module for the seat heating on the underside of each seat. It might be worth trying to switch them side-to-side.986_Seat_Heating_Control_Module.pdf

[1schoir]

There is a control module for the seat heating on the underside of each seat. It might be worth trying to switch them side-to-side.986_Seat_Heating_Control_Module.pdf

Richard:

Thanks so much for the crystal-clear diagram. I have to take out my seats to resolve my other problem (airbag light) anyway, so I will try the swap as you suggested to see if I can narrow down the cause of this annoying red light.

Regards, Maurice.

[1schoir]

There is a control module for the seat heating on the underside of each seat. It might be worth trying to switch them side-to-side.986_Seat_Heating_Control_Module.pdf

Update:

Took the seats out, disconnected and swapped the seat heater control relays between the passenger's side and the driver's side.

The passenger's side seat heater control relay was definitely the culprit, as swapping it transferred the problem to the driver's side and the passenger's side now worked fine.

That's the good news. The bad news is that the relay, part number 996 618 521 00 costs over $145 with one of the online dealers.

Took apart the defective relay, could see nothing obviously wrong with it.

For anyone else that may run into a seat heater problem, it's not difficult to take out the relay, once you figure out that you must press the center pin out of the plastic rivet that holds the bracket for the relay in place.

I'm going to try to find a less expensive source for the relay.

Thanks again to Richard Hamilton.

Regards, Maurice.