Passenger heated seat not working.

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Alonso14

Member
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11
Location
England
The passenger heated seat is not working in my freelander 1 hse. For me being the driver it's not a problem but the Mrs will complain! Now the light on the switch does not come on so could it be something as simple as a fuse? Thanks
 
Well I am rulling out a fuse as according to the manual the front heated seats use the same fuse. Guess I'll check the wiring under the seat! Also got a problem with one of the parking sensors, doh!
 
Alonso14 said:
Well I am rulling out a fuse as according to the manual the front heated seats use the same fuse. Guess I'll check the wiring under the seat! Also got a problem with one of the parking sensors, doh!
Click to expand...

I'd be making sure that the 4X4 system is in good health, before messing with trivial things. Check out the link in GGs previous post.;)
 
The prop shaft was removed by previous owmer for fuel economy and I have no reason to doubt them. I have the prop shaft and it looks it decent nick, looking at receipts vcu and bearings was replaced about five years ago. I am undecided whether or not I will have it put back on, may wait for winter. Any ideas on how much labour it would take for a garrage to do it for me?
 
Putting the props on is about 30 minutes - its quite an easy job. I doubt they took the props off for fuel economy though - something will be broken. They may not have used genuine bearings and they went - lots of non genuine one go within a couple of months! Similarly, the VCU if it was a recon may not have been done properly as there were a lot of cowboys doing refurbs back then.

All the time its 2WD though - you can't screw the transmission up :)

If you want to go back to 4WD, you can install the props and do the 1WUT once installed - you can always take them off again.
 
Regarding the heated seats, you say the light does not come on on the switch... I would have thought the switch tells an ECU to turn on the seat and that then primes a Relay. So if the actual heating element was faulty, the light would still come on. If they both share 1 fuse, then I'd be looking at the switch next.

I don't know how these are wired - that is just a guess!
 
Presumably you can swap the switches over to test.

However, that is possibly not a 30 minute! To change the switches over, I believe you have to remove the console - or at least be able to move it back to get behind it to the switches to release them. I have done that and everything was easy - except removing the radio mounting bracket. That was a pig of a job that drew blood and in the end I hacked the bracket out - never to be used again. This was on my parts car trying to get the cigar lighter out - so did not even attempt to fix the lighter on my main car!

This is on a pre facelift. If yours is a facelift it may be different, or I may have missed a trick and its actually easy to get that bracket out!
 
GrumpyGel said:
Putting the props on is about 30 minutes - its quite an easy job. I doubt they took the props off for fuel economy though - something will be broken. They may not have used genuine bearings and they went - lots of non genuine one go within a couple of months! Similarly, the VCU if it was a recon may not have been done properly as there were a lot of cowboys doing refurbs back then.

All the time its 2WD though - you can't screw the transmission up :)

If you want to go back to 4WD, you can install the props and do the 1WUT once installed - you can always take them off again.
Click to expand...
GrumpyGel said:
Putting the props on is about 30 minutes - its quite an easy job. I doubt they took the props off for fuel economy though - something will be broken. They may not have used genuine bearings and they went - lots of non genuine one go within a couple of months! Similarly, the VCU if it was a recon may not have been done properly as there were a lot of cowboys doing refurbs back then.

All the time its 2WD though - you can't screw the transmission up :)

If you want to go back to 4WD, you can install the props and do the 1WUT once installed - you can always take them off again.
Click to expand...

They were my thoughts initially also but having been reassured and seeing how the prop, I am inclined to believe them so will find out once at the garrage I guess they can test it. Is it worth replacing bearings while off?vcu was £500 for part on bill so surely not a reckon?
Getting a little side tracked back to seat and sensors for now! :)
The switch removal sounds a bit of effort I will check wiring under seat first. Thanks
 
Mine had become disconnected under the seat, look for a little white connector and cable that runs to the outer edge of the seat once plugged back together hey presto it worked.
 
TBH £500 means nothing - there were/are lots of cowboys in the Freelander VCU market. A garage will probably have no idea how to test a VCU. There are torque testing methods and expected results published by LR which they give to dealers (not sure if it is in Rave). The 1WUT described in that link (and the links from it!) is about the best/easiest to do at home - and probably by a garage as well - but is designed to test the VCU on the car.
 
Alonso14 said:
The prop shaft was removed by previous owmer for fuel economy and I have no reason to doubt them. I have the prop shaft and it looks it decent nick, looking at receipts vcu and bearings was replaced about five years ago. I am undecided whether or not I will have it put back on, may wait for winter. Any ideas on how much labour it would take for a garrage to do it for me?
Click to expand...

From my experience, a Freelander that was sold with the props removed for "economy reasons" has some kind of issue with the 4X4 system. There's absolutely no difference in economy, with or without them fitted. Well there is, but it's a tiny amount. Mostly due to the reduction in weight. It's hardly noticeable and well under 1Mpg difference.

Generally the story goes like this.

"I took my Freelander to the garage because it was making a funny noise. The garage said it might be the VCU and replaced it at a cost of £££.
However it's still making a funny noise when turning corners. The garage now say the IRD or diff has failed. It's going to cost ££££££££ to fix it. But if the props are removed, I can still use it until I sell it. The garage said to sell on. So I put it up for sale saying "props removed for economy reasons"".

I've seen this same story told many many times.
If you are happy with a FWD Freelander then fine, leave it as a FWD. Personally if I want a FWD vehicle, I'd buy a Ford Focus or Vauxhall Astra. Both have as much space as a Freelander and both are better on fuel, cheaper to maintain, cheaper to insure, less complicated, and generally more reliable.

A Freelander can be expensive to fix, unless you can DIY? If reliant on garages, you can find yourself paying for their mistakes, because most don't understand how to repair or maintain your Freelander correctly.

As a new owner of a FL1. The seat heaters are of absolute irrelevance imho.
 
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What Nodge says is true - but don't be scared by what he said - I've had my '99 Freelander for 7 years and its been boringly reliable (apart from chewing the transmission a few years back). I don't consider them as unreliable motors, well I consider the V6 to be an abomination as regards reliability - but Nodge disagrees with that :) Personally I think Freelander has lots more character than most cars, and when its costing hardly anything to maintain and I'm getting 40mpg, I'm a happy bunny. I agree that sub 30mpg from a diesel auto is pretty poor, but it does depend on the type of driving you do, and what setting you have the tuning box set to.

I use and abuse my car, I don't wrap it in cotton wool to achieve the reliability I've had. It is just as likely to be popping down the supermarket or bouncing down some dusty gravel track to a fishing spot. It has on a number of occasions towed weights well above what is legal - the Freelander's never broke, even if it hasn't got home cos the trailer has fallen to pieces! I'm sure a Focus or Astra would soon fall to pieces given what my Freelander loves doing :) Even after what I put it through at the weekend, banging and bouncing over boulders - it still didn't break!
 
The FL1 needs more careful maintenance than a normal hatchback vehicle. Tyre maintenance is one area of particular importance, when in 4X4 trim.
They aren't particularly unreliable if looked after correctly. However most general garages don't know how look after them. So it's generally down to the owner to do it. I agree with GG, that the Freelander does have character which normal hatchbacks don't have.
 
I've been 2WD for so long, I've forgotten about tyre maintenance.

And when I was 4WD, I didn't know about it.... hence being 2WD :mad::mad::mad:

So yeh - you do need to be on the ball with maintenance, as you say, even if you let garages do the work and when tyre shops have stuck a new pair of tyres on the front etc.
 
What's the logic behind reducing a functional AWD to 2 WD when the VCU and prop is supposed to be working ok? I am of a suspicious nature me but that smells fishy. You don't save much 2 WD but do lose traction and the VCU and UJs and propshaft hate being made to do yoga as they are removed and refitted. When no one turns up to help like my rubbish friends. To be fair though, I make a lot of them up.
Anyhoo, Nodge; I have posed you a question and wondered on your thoughts? If I have sent it to you because it is stupidly early. Thanks everyone
 
Philgt50 said:
What's the logic behind reducing a functional AWD to 2 WD when the VCU and prop is supposed to be working ok? I am of a suspicious nature me but that smells fishy. You don't save much 2 WD but do lose traction and the VCU and UJs and propshaft hate being made to do yoga as they are removed and refitted. When no one turns up to help like my rubbish friends. To be fair though, I make a lot of them up.
Anyhoo, Nodge; I have posed you a question and wondered on your thoughts? If I have sent it to you because it is stupidly early. Thanks everyone
Click to expand...
TBH, when my transmission went bang, I would have recommended to everyone to remove their props to eliminated the risk of that particular very expensive trouble. However, I was very angry and bitter then, now 4 years later, I'm just angry and bitter :)

BTW You don't happen to have a diagnostic device for Freelander or know anyone/where that does do you? https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/the-three-amigos-l-series.316164/#post-4005193
 
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