Heated seat problem

Yes, that's what they do. Normal behaviour. If two occurrences constitutes a normal behaviour.

I have a 2001 A4 TS Avant. Mine started feeling warm on the left side of the driver's cushion (driver's seat on left hand side of the car). Then it smoked, burned a hole through the seat fabric, scorched my trousers, then shut off never to work again, regardless of whether I dialled 1, 6, or 47 on the panel. I still haven't got it fixed.

In your case, it sounds as if it's about to fail. Unfortunately I have no advice on how to repair *before* it goes but it might be an idea to stop using it; I wish I had. My reading of the situation is that the heater element started cracking in one place, leaving a too-thin strip which could not carry the current adequately, resulting in overheating prior to complete failure. Quite reasonable when considering that the outside of the seat takes a beating since that's the first and last point of contact as the driver enters and exits the car. But I have no evidence that it's not the heater control (though I doubt it).

You others out there (who actually know, please): to replace the heating element:

1) do you have to remove a fuse or disconnect battery to reduce airbag detonation, 2) does the whole seat cushion have to be removed, or can the element be replaced separately? 3) any idea of cost?

/Robert

Same thing happens to me, A4 1.8T (00'). I'm really getting tired of the "little" things going wrong with this car. It's nickle and diming me to death.

Tim in Portland

It seems it's a fairly common problem. Does anyone have a cause and remedy for this? I hope I don't have to buy a new seat...I love the heated seats in the winter. Any advice is appreciated

VW has a recall out on this, maybe Audi does too.

-- Mike Smith

Thanks, I looked, but didn't see any recalls for 2001 Audi A4 at all. If anyone has any more info, I'd be grateful to hear about it. Does anyone know if the seat has to be replaced to fix a problem like this?

Haywood, If the seats are anything like the Audis of "old", it's either a problem with the switch, a problem with the control relays, or a broken wire in the seat heater element. The first two shouldn't be too hard to diagnose. The broken wire is a tougher thing to check - involving removing the upholstery from the seat (kinda like the Furby Autopsy). See:

an idea of what repair is like on the older cars. The heater wires don't take kindly to bending - and you do that every time you sit on the seat. Many cycles result in a break in the wire. Loss of seat heat is one thing that I have heard from A4, etc. owners - I suspect that we'll be hearing about non functional power windows next (as the harness in the driver's door jamb begins to break).Cheers! Steve Sears

1987 Audi 5kTQ - non functional driver's seat heater, repaired breaks in numerous flexing wiring harnesses 1980 Audi 5k - seat heaters work!!! - fixed 'em myself 1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes - "seat heaters? what will they think of next?" (SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply)