Well it was only a matter of time before something else happened

I was out Sat night and turned the drivers side heated seat on since it was like 50 degrees here in Dallas. It worked great and then I parked the car for about 3 hours. When I got back in I attempted to turn it on and it clicked like normal, the red light came on and then went off. Rinse repeat this morning. The seat won't heat up and again when I click it on the red indicator light lights up for a second and clicks off when you let go of the heated seat button. Passenger seat works great.

Any ideas??

 

996's only have the ability to operate either the heated seats or the rear license plate lighting. The electronics can't handle both at once.

 

what Captain Funny is referring to is that my plate lights didn't work when I got the car but that issue seems to have sorted itself out. On to the next problem

 

I have this same problem with my driver side seat. When I press the heat, the light turns on then off right away. Any ideas?

 

Have you checked the fuses? Sounds as if there is a loss of power supply shortly after the switch is pressed. I am not too mechanically inclined or an electrical expert, but you would be surprised the glitches something as small as a blown fuse can cause. Any posibility of it shorting itself out somewhere along the line?

GL, David

 

There are relays for each seat, mounted under each seat. One might have gone bad. Check Dennisvogel.com and look at his project to add heated seats to a Boxster, there are lots of pictures and diagrams that might help you identify the problem.

 

I had the same issue. I check the fuses and relays but it turned out to be a damaged element. I took the seat and replaced the heating element with a new stock unit. I think it was about $100...which is a lot cheaper than a new seat.