I'm hoping someone can help me with an issue I started having. I have a 2012 M37x and when I turn the drivers side seat heater on the orange light on the knob stays lit for about 4 seconds and then shuts off for about 3 seconds and repeats. The seat does heat up either. Hoping its something simple maybe I am maybe overlooking. Thanks.

****** edited for clarity of issue ***********

welcome to the club
I have not seen the exact problem but in my previous 2006 I did have the switch under that knob go bad
sorry that is all I got
Mazz

No worries and thank you. I saw some earlier posts which schooled me as far as how this heater works, not the old coil style. I checked today and when i turn the switch the fan doesn't run at all. I'm going to look around a little more. Damn car is only a few years old, lol. Thanks Mazz.

I know this is a older thread, but I'm interested to see if Ryan4882 found a solution to his problem. I'm having this same issue right now and about a week ago, my switch stopped working completely.
If anyone has a solution, please give me a holler.

The blinking is a code...saying one of the components is malfunctioning and giving a blinking code to try and point the user in the right direction. Because your last post and the one above mention the dead switch, I'd start there. Switch the switch from one side to the other, does the issue follow?

M37Ryder18 wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 17, 2018 10:28 am

... I'm having this same issue right now and about a week ago, my switch stopped working completely.
...

Is there any response when you turn the switch to cool the seats?
https://forums.nicoclub.com/08-seat-hea ... 22244.html

I'm in the same boat. Driver side heated seat stopped a couple weeks ago, of course just as winter started getting bad. Same deal choosing heated or cooled seats, the orange light comes on for a couple seconds, maybe, then shuts off. I haven't noticed it blinking to the point it would be a code, but if I did, how would I decipher said code? Is there something in the FSM? I believe my passenger side works fine, but the driver side fan is not even kicking on.

Have you guys tried moving switches to see if the issue follows? #graspingatstraws

Ilya wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 20, 2018 12:24 pm

Have you guys tried moving switches to see if the issue follows? #graspingatstraws

as soon as it's not so cold out I'm going to get my meter and try to do some testing, but haven't yet. It was originally doing this, so on a hunch, I took off the filter and cleaned it. Once it put it back on, it worked for a week and then stopped again. This may have all been coincidental though as I have messed with the filter a little more and gotten nothing.

I finally dug into this by uprooting the driver seat. I disconnected the CCSM, and saw the plug on the wire going into it had a little black circle around it, and the connection to the module itself had apparently melted a little around where the power to the heated seat goes. It appears something shorted out at some point but I tested the wires and as far as I can tell I didn't see anything irregular. I did find a used CCSM on ebay that matches for $100. I just received it, but right now I'm reluctant to just replace it directly as if there's a short, I could fry it right away and I'd literally be setting $100 on fire. I am also considering plugging my "bad" module into the passenger side to see if it works there (assuming it will plug in, I think they're the same) and if it works on the passenger side (which is currently working normally) then I'll know it's a wiring issue and not a module problem.

mrnix wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 15, 2019 12:41 pm

I finally dug into this by uprooting the driver seat. I disconnected the CCSM, and saw the plug on the wire going into it had a little black circle around it, and the connection to the module itself had apparently melted a little around where the power to the heated seat goes. It appears something shorted out at some point but I tested the wires and as far as I can tell I didn't see anything irregular. I did find a used CCSM on ebay that matches for $100. I just received it, but right now I'm reluctant to just replace it directly as if there's a short, I could fry it right away and I'd literally be setting $100 on fire. I am also considering plugging my "bad" module into the passenger side to see if it works there (assuming it will plug in, I think they're the same) and if it works on the passenger side (which is currently working normally) then I'll know it's a wiring issue and not a module problem.

I swapped driver and passenger side modules, cleaned them with electronic parts cleaner spray, and reconnected them. Driver side worked for 2 days, but went out again just in time for the "polar vortex" so I have negative degrees out and no heated seat. I skimmed through the service manual, and it appears there is a sensor in the seat bottom and one in the seat back, and that failure of either disables the whole system. I'm going to try to check these out, but I'm not quite sure how to. I've been googling the issue and it's frustrating to see that many have reported the issue (seat doesn't heat/cool, light goes on/off for 4 seconds at a time) but no one has reported a solution.

I’m having the same issue. I haven’t dug further into it yet but I believe I know what’s going on. I did some research on this issue and found a post in the g37 forums where someone had the same problem. They pulled out the module under the seat and one of the connectors going into the module was burnt/melted and it was obvious that one of the terminals was arcing, eventually causing enough carbon buildup to create an open circuit.

On my car, when I reach under the seat and apply pressure to the connector at a certain angle, it will cause my heated/cooled seat to begin working again. As soon as I let go, it goes back to the blinking orange light.

When I get a chance to pull the seat apart, I’m going to clean the connection and explore methods of securing it - perhaps a conductive grease or epoxy. Or maybe cleaning the carbon buildup will be enough.

David__Allen wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 05, 2019 7:03 am

I’m having the same issue. I haven’t dug further into it yet but I believe I know what’s going on. I did some research on this issue and found a post in the g37 forums where someone had the same problem. They pulled out the module under the seat and one of the connectors going into the module was burnt/melted and it was obvious that one of the terminals was arcing, eventually causing enough carbon buildup to create an open circuit.

On my car, when I reach under the seat and apply pressure to the connector at a certain angle, it will cause my heated/cooled seat to begin working again. As soon as I let go, it goes back to the blinking orange light.

When I get a chance to pull the seat apart, I’m going to clean the connection and explore methods of securing it - perhaps a conductive grease or epoxy. Or maybe cleaning the carbon buildup will be enough.

Please keep me posted! Mine was indeed melted, but I swapped modules and it worked for 3 days then stopped again. Suggestions on conductive grease to try?

mrnix wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 05, 2019 7:06 am

David__Allen wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 05, 2019 7:03 am

I’m having the same issue. I haven’t dug further into it yet but I believe I know what’s going on. I did some research on this issue and found a post in the g37 forums where someone had the same problem. They pulled out the module under the seat and one of the connectors going into the module was burnt/melted and it was obvious that one of the terminals was arcing, eventually causing enough carbon buildup to create an open circuit.

On my car, when I reach under the seat and apply pressure to the connector at a certain angle, it will cause my heated/cooled seat to begin working again. As soon as I let go, it goes back to the blinking orange light.

When I get a chance to pull the seat apart, I’m going to clean the connection and explore methods of securing it - perhaps a conductive grease or epoxy. Or maybe cleaning the carbon buildup will be enough.

Please keep me posted! Mine was indeed melted, but I swapped modules and it worked for 3 days then stopped again. Suggestions on conductive grease to try?

No suggestions yet, I have to get it apart and see what the connector looks like and how much room I'm working with. Do you by any chance have pictures of the connector and/or socket on the module?

If I can come up with a solution that does not involve conductive grease I will. My concern is that with heat, shock/movement, and time, the grease will eventually run and create a short. I don't want to set my a** on fire! Lol. I'd also like to avoid replacing the connector entirely because I'm lazy and it was clearly a poor design to begin with.

David__Allen wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 05, 2019 8:19 am

No suggestions yet, I have to get it apart and see what the connector looks like and how much room I'm working with. Do you by any chance have pictures of the connector and/or socket on the module?

If I can come up with a solution that does not involve conductive grease I will. My concern is that with heat, shock/movement, and time, the grease will eventually run and create a short. I don't want to set my a** on fire! Lol. I'd also like to avoid replacing the connector entirely because I'm lazy and it was clearly a poor design to begin with.

Post #16 of this thread looks just like our module and plugs, but it's accessed from the rear of the seat and not the front:

https://www.myg37.com/forums/general-te ... rly-2.html

Mine even had the little melted part on the module housing and the charred black on the plug.

mrnix wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 05, 2019 10:05 am

David__Allen wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 05, 2019 8:19 am

No suggestions yet, I have to get it apart and see what the connector looks like and how much room I'm working with. Do you by any chance have pictures of the connector and/or socket on the module?

If I can come up with a solution that does not involve conductive grease I will. My concern is that with heat, shock/movement, and time, the grease will eventually run and create a short. I don't want to set my a** on fire! Lol. I'd also like to avoid replacing the connector entirely because I'm lazy and it was clearly a poor design to begin with.

Post #16 of this thread looks just like our module and plugs, but it's accessed from the rear of the seat and not the front:

https://www.myg37.com/forums/general-te ... rly-2.html

Mine even had the little melted part on the module housing and the charred black on the plug.

That’s the same post I referred to in my first post, I figured ours were similar. I may end up trying to source the connector and replace it entirely, hopefully the socket on the module isn’t too damaged or I’ll be replacing that too.

I’m going to try to tackle it this weekend, I’ll let you know what I come up with.

David__Allen wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 05, 2019 10:43 am

That’s the same post I referred to in my first post, I figured ours were similar. I may end up trying to source the connector and replace it entirely, hopefully the socket on the module isn’t too damaged or I’ll be replacing that too.

I’m going to try to tackle it this weekend, I’ll let you know what I come up with.

cool. let me know. I saw some posts on Cadillac forums - seems theirs had a similar issue - and some people soldered a ground wire directly on to the module, drilled a hole through the connector plug for the wire and tied the wire into existing wiring. I could certainly do all that, but I'm reluctant to permanently alter the integrity of the existing electrical system. (although I guess you could say Nissan beat me to it!)

I finally identified the specific issue. The plug going into the climate controlled seat module apparently had a short at some point. If I wiggle the plug while the heat/cool controls are set to on, the fan kicks on and will stay on until the offending wire loses its contact.

I did some digging yesterday and it sounds like cadillacs have a similar issue, must be the similar wiring/module, that apparently the ground is insufficient for the current draw. someone there took the module and soldered a ground wire directly onto the module. I'm reluctant to do that, but I figured I would just replace the affected plug which per my research appears to be delphi 15332141, infiniti part B558. (I took another pic and the identifiers on the plug itself don't actually mean anything). Anyone have ideas on where I can obtain a replacement part? I suppose I would need the plastic plug as well as at least 1 of the metal terminals. I think I found the right part at Mouser Electronics but it's literally backordered with a 52 week estimate.

(here's a forum post and video of one of the cadillac repairs)
https://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/c ... 17781.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=MZ5_xqavGzw

Yikes, that's a wicked short. Maybe try to see if you can find one at a dismantler? Or just hard wire all of the wires and ditch the connector? Or make your own plug'n'play harness using quick connect terminals/spade connectors?

Knock on wood, I think I finally fixed this problem. As noted in my prior post, the root of the problem was a short in the 2nd (green/red) wire. After much searching online, I found what I hoped would be the part match for the wire plug on Mouser electronics, so I ordered a couple along with the metal clips for the wires themselves. Here are the proper parts:
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/829-15332141-B
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/829-12191812

So I undid the 4 bolts on the seat, and propped up the rear with a couple blocks of wood, maybe 10 inches high. You don't need to actually unscrew the CCSM itself, the plug can be disconnected once the seat is raised up a little - you also don't need to disconnect ANY other wires, so there's no concern about airbag or CEL. Once I had the larger harness unplugged, I cut back the sheath and got to work. Notice the Green/red wire 2nd from right is a little charred.


The clip from the wire in question actually melted into the plug. I was able to remove the other 5 by pushing down with a bent out paperclip from below the front end each and then pulling the wire out from the rear but the defective wire was not to be removed.


Here are the 5 existing wires - no modification needed - plugged into the new plug. The offender is loose for now, awaiting soldering to a new length of wire attached to the new connector.


While I was adding a piece of wire, I decided to do something Nissan should have done 6+ years ago, and added a fuse in-line.


I soldered the fuse wire and new connector in line, plugged everything back in, and so far so good! Let's hope this works for another 6 years. Finished product:

I'm not seeing any of the images - is that a problem for me in my settings or are others having the same problem?

kmiles wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 19, 2019 3:21 pm

I'm not seeing any of the images - is that a problem for me in my settings or are others having the same problem?

In Chrome browser I see them, in Firefox, I don't. Weird. Here they are again, in case I did something wrong initially.

Thanks for reposting - I can see them now. Great job troubleshooting and repairing this. The inline fuse is a great idea - hopefully it doesn't ever need to do it's job. I really wonder what was the original issue that caused the short?

I'd almost bet there is a problem in the heating element itself causing an excessive amperage draw. Wires don't just suddenly short without reason.

satown210 wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 19, 2019 11:14 pm

I'd almost bet there is a problem in the heating element itself causing an excessive amperage draw. Wires don't just suddenly short without reason.

I agree. I would have upgraded the wire itself had it been feasible, but I think it's part of the large wire harness that goes under the carpet and feeds up to somewhere under the dash. Hopefully my fix lasts a while.

So it has only taken two winters, the threat of a brutal winter this year (all black woolies are everywhere) and mrnix's most excellent write-up (really should be pulled out of being buried in this thread and made a how-to) to get me motivated, but I tackled my M's non-functional drivers seat climate control issues the other day with great results.

I ordered the parts linked to in his post above (bought this spring - everything was in stock) and the entire job took about 90 minutes with numerous breaks and two beers. The best part of interior jobs is the drinking... something that is often a big no-no when working on the outside bits.

In my case, I never checked to see if the connector was the issue. The system never worked right since I bought the car, showing 4 flashing lights a pause and then six lights repeating, stopping altogether after a few minutes when either heated or cooled was selected (passenger seat works fine). On occasion (likely the below zero days) I would try the seat just for smitts and giggles and more than a few times IT WORKED! Never with any consistency, and over the last winter it gave up completely with out even indicating the 4/6 lights when not working. All this together had me reading mrnix's post with great interest - I do love how consistent modern cars can be about their troubles... One mans blood and vulgarities spewn into the depths of their elsewise unoccupied garage no longer go unheard. Mrnix had found and solved my problem with me barely getting a kink in my mouse wheel scrolling finger.

My connector was quite a bit more crispy:


and required a hack and slash disassemble:


Everything else went just like mrnix said it would. The ground wire wound up being fine, so I only replaced the pin connector on the power line and I used a 15amp fuse as I didn't have a 10amp available, but I think I'll replace it next time I'm down there. The seat works great now. Hot or cold air being blown up my backside, just as promised. THANKS MRNIX!

This is excellent info! I missed the post back in Feb but will certainly add this to the FAQ once I get my WordPress access sorted. I love this community!

So it has only taken two winters, the threat of a brutal winter this year (all black woolies are everywhere) and mrnix's most excellent write-up (really should be pulled out of being buried in this thread and made a how-to) to get me motivated, but I tackled my M's non-functional drivers seat climate control issues the other day with great results.

I ordered the parts linked to in his post above (bought this spring - everything was in stock) and the entire job took about 90 minutes with numerous breaks.

Everything else went just like mrnix said it would. The ground wire wound up being fine, so I only replaced the pin connector on the power line and I used a 15amp fuse as I didn't have a 10amp available, but I think I'll replace it next time I'm down there. The seat works great now. Hot or cold air being blown up my backside, just as promised. THANKS MRNIX!

Thanks for the kind words. If my write-up helped one person then it was totally worth it for me to post. Silly that under $10 in parts - and a fuse - correct something that probably costs thousands at the dealer.

As a follow up and heads up to anyone performing this repair, mine shorted out a second time. It seems that the first time, only one wire scorched and melted the connector terminal. It was the 2nd wire from the side as shown in my post above to which I added a fuse. The first wire from the side proceeded to melt (similar to Crrraig's picture) so I had to perform the repair a 2nd time so if you're doing it, add fuses to both of the wires just in case. It seems all right now since I fixed it a 2nd time a few weeks ago. Good luck to anyone that does this, but it's well worth giving it a shot if your heated/cooled driver's seat has shorted out like many apparently have. I can only imagine this is a $2000+ repair at the dealership since they would likely replace the entire harness and module - only to probably have it short out again due to poor design.

mrnix wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 02, 2020 11:11 am

As a follow up and heads up to anyone performing this repair, mine shorted out a second time. It seems that the first time, only one wire scorched and melted the connector terminal. It was the 2nd wire from the side as shown in my post above to which I added a fuse. The first wire from the side proceeded to melt (similar to Crrraig's picture) so I had to perform the repair a 2nd time so if you're doing it, add fuses to both of the wires just in case. It seems all right now since I fixed it a 2nd time a few weeks ago. Good luck to anyone that does this, but it's well worth giving it a shot if your heated/cooled driver's seat has shorted out like many apparently have. I can only imagine this is a $2000+ repair at the dealership since they would likely replace the entire harness and module - only to probably have it short out again due to poor design.

You've clearly got something wrong and I doubt it is the wiring. You are fixing the symptoms but not the cause. WHY is it shorting and melting wires? You have a fire risk developing.