On the Hot Seat! (Seat heater malfunction)

[LJ]

My 2005 K2500LT CrewCab with seat heaters has started having a mind of its own. The drivers side heaters come on at every engine start! I was able to turn it off, but now the seatback is staying hot- even though the indicator light says it's not on. Would it be a faulty switch? I had read somewhere that moisture gets into them sometimes. Are they hard to change? Or, should I stop by my friendly GM dealer and put myself at his mercy?

[cabletech]

Had the same problem with my 06 3500. It was a bad power window switch on the drivers door. Part number is 15883323. It cost about $200. You can get it cheaper from gmpartsdirect.com. It was a DIY job on my truck with no programing necessary.

Jay

[LJ]

My 05 has the window controls on the horizontal armrest, and the heated seat controls on the vertical side of the door above them. Would it be the same switch, or did they change it from 05 to 06?

[cabletech]

Same thing in my truck. The wiring for the heated seats goes through the power window switch. The power window switch is actually the door controller for the drivers door. The dealer parts guy showed me some tsb or bulletin about that switch being sensitive to moisture and thats the reason for the heated seat problems. It would be free if you are still under warranty.

Jay

[jamesm]

Any idea if the wonky switch can be removed and serviced with judicious use of "contact cleaner" or similar?

[cabletech]

It didn't work on mine. It's not actually the switches, but the electronics under them that goes bad.

Jay