Full Power Seat Installation

[KevinH90]

I have the driver’s side seat bottom to a full power seat and I’m planning to install it in my 2000 Boxster that has the basic two-way power seat. (“Two-way” apparently means that the seat back moves forward and backward. Everything else is manual.) I decided to do this because I am regularly taking 100-mile trips in the car and I’d like to vary my seating position more frequently. I received a fair deal on the seat bottom. Unfortunately, the seat back was in bad condition so I decided to buy just the bottom and save shipping cost on the back.

Apparently the tricky part is the wiring. Here is a YouTube video I found on the subject:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49ztXTTpGGo

This is pretty good information, but I have a few special problems because I don’t have the seat back or the wiring that goes to it. Also, the seller had to disassemble the seat to ship it and the connectors were not attached to the memory module when I received it. So, I have to figure where each connector goes.

Here is a picture of what I have with my best guess at connector location:



If you look closely, starting on the left, the first 6 connections are labeled in German.


I think I have been able to translate it pretty well, but if anyone else is better at German, please feel free to correct me.
1 – Lehne – Rest (back rest) - currently not occupied because I don't have the backrest
2 - Höhe hinten – height rear
3 - Höhe vorne - height front
4 – Langs – length – (front/aft seat adjustment)
5 – Tastatur – Keypad - Blue/Black connector seems to fit here - assume it connects to the seat controls
6 – Spannungs versorgung – power supply - this seems to be the location that the tech uses in the YouTube video.

From what I have been able to gather from research on several forums, the memory controller in the driver seat is what controls the servo motors; i.e. when you push an adjustment button, the button talks to the memory controller, and the controller instructs the motor to move. So, unfortunately its not as simple as just plugging the seat into power. That is why the YouTube video shows the technician making a jumper.

So, I'm planning to hook the power up to socket #6 and then I'm going to have to figure out how to power the seat recline function. I'll probably need to look closely at the connector in my current seat and figure out how to adapt it to the memory controller. I'm assuming that the seat recline function is controlled by socket #1. Ultimately, I think I will need to hook the seat up to a power source and do some trial and error.

Here are my questions - your responses may save me some time:

1. Does anyone have a good basic diagram for wiring the seats? (The YouTube video helps a bit, but I work better from a diagram.)
2. Does anyone know what size/part number for the connectors that the tech used to make the jumper?
3. Does anyone know where the motor that controls the seat-back recline function is located on a 2-way power seat? I'm assuming it is at the base of the seat back, but I'd like to confirm this before I disassemble the two-way seat in my car.
4. Any other tips or suggestions?

Here are the other threads that I have been able to locate that touch on this topic:

Installing full power seats

Full Electric Seats

Electric Seat Retrofit 2000 3.2S?

As you will see, some of the poster offered to post diagrams, but I haven't been able to find them.

By the way, here is a picture of the seat bottom from the sellers ad. It may help someone with sharp eyes assist me:

__________________

[Gwndds]

Kevin,

Read your post and checked out the you tube video and today built a wiring jumper and hooked it up in the 6 area as you show with your solid white arrow. And it worked. We installed a full power drivers seat from a 2001 S into our 2000 S. Look closely at the guy in the video as to where he puts the power wires and where the two ground wires go and you are set. Rather than pull the block apart to hook up the power and ground from the car we just spliced into a red hot wire and a brown ground wire before they entered the block.

George the Oldporscheguy

[KevinH90]

Thanks for your reply.  I'm planning to splice into the wires before they go to the block as well.  Thanks for for letting me know that worked for you.

 

My situation is a little different from yours.  I don't have the entire seat - the seat back was heavily damaged and I bought just the base.  I'm planning to use the seat back and seat cushion from my two-way seat.

 

I have the base hooked up to a computer power supply and I have it working.  I connected the power supply as shown in the You Tube video, but I was able  to source a plug instead of using the 5 separate connectors.  From left to right in this picture, the connectors are:

 

Seat back recline

Up/Down

Not Used

Forward/Back

Control

Power

 

That does match exactly what I determined based on my Internet German translation.  The biggest concern is that the seat back recline control seems to act in reverse.  That is, when I push it forward, the seat back mechanism reclines and when I push it back it moves forward.  Also, the two-way seat I have now must use a different mechanism for reclining the  seat since there is no motor in the base. 

 

I think the only option I have now is to disassemble my two-way seat, hook everything up and see if it works. 

Edited August 30, 2015 by KevinH90

[KevinH90]

After some procrastination, I finished installing my seat.  The YouTube video shows how to hook up the power.  A board member on the 986 Forum also provided a diagram.  You can find that here: http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/58080-full-power-seat-installation.html

 

I took a slightly different approach by using one of the black 5-connector plugs that another board member sold me.

 

I still had to figure out the backrest control.  If you look at the picture of the control unit in my first post, you can see that the socket at the far left (backrest control) is empty.  I did not have that plug for that socket in the unit I bought.  The seller left it attached to the seat back which I didn't buy.  (The backrest was in very poor condition and I didn't want to pay to ship it.  I also used the seat bottom from my existing seat.)  I had to use the wiring that was already in the seat.  I cut this connector and the two wires attached to it from the control of my two-way seat:



I used the red and brown wires that remained to power all of the seat motors.  

I stripped about a quarter inch of insulation from the end of the wires:



Then I crimped on two connectors:



The crimp-on connectors fit on the terminals in the blank spot on the control panel:

 

When you orient the control unit so that the backrest control is on the right as in this picture, the gray wire with the green stripe is in the front and the gray wire with the black stripe is in the rear.  If you put it in the opposite way, the backrest control operates in reverse of what it should.

You then just plug the connector into the existing connector in the two-way power seat bottom.  The existing harness provides power for the motor, so you don't need to make any changes there.

Overall, this was a nice improvement and makes the car feel more refined.  The height and distance adjustments are much easier to make than with the manual controls.  (The manual height adjuster was particularly clumsy.)  One oddity is that the backrest now operates in steps rather than continuously.  It is not a big deal since I don't usually make big adjustments.

Edited November 22, 2015 by KevinH90