Adding cooled seats

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GKrabbe

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I have recently installed heated / cooled seats in a 2012 Ram 1500 originally equipped with manual seats. Wired them per the factory wiring diagrams, everything works except the on/high/low LED indicators in the dashboard switches. Reading earlier posts, I am not the first one to have this problem- did anyone ever figure out how to get the LED's to work?
 

jimlmackjr

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Ok my silly questions is and I've read about 10 pages or posts. I know we are trying to get the system(heat and cool) to look factory but why not just add a retro fit kit and splice in to the seats.
I'm really looking at some Rebel seats and just thought of add in timer type switch for the fan and a second switch for the heat. Running off a key off fuse. So I don't leave it on running

Only thing I need to know is what wire off the harness runs which.
 

Ricks Ram

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Ok my silly questions is and I've read about 10 pages or posts. I know we are trying to get the system(heat and cool) to look factory but why not just add a retro fit kit and splice in to the seats.
I'm really looking at some Rebel seats and just thought of add in timer type switch for the fan and a second switch for the heat. Running off a key off fuse. So I don't leave it on running

Only thing I need to know is what wire off the harness runs which.
I would not reccomend even trying to simply run power to the factory heated seats. They run of of a three wire system that is controlled by the heated seat module. You would have no way to regulate the heat and they would most likely catch on fire. You can't just install a switch to make them work. The cooling fans can be wired to turn on to just one speed with a switch. The main thing to note is the 13 to 18 seats will Not work in the 09 to 12 and visa versa. They operate on a completely different system. If your truck is a 13 to 18 and you are installing 13 to 18 seats and your truck doesn't have the required wiring you can purchase the harness from M2mods and make all of the functions work. One thing to note is you would need the 8.4" radio in order for the vented seats to work and you would need the Alfa tool to program all the codes. If your truck is a 13 to 18 Bighorn trim level or higher you will have all the nessisary wiring. The Express and Tradesman doesn't. If you own a 09 to 12 truck no one makes a harness at this time but if you can find the schematics you could build your own harness and try to make them work. This is all gone over in my original post in the DIY section when I installed heated/vented seats and heated wheel in my 14 express. (How to add heated/vented seats and heated wheel to an Express/Tradesman.)

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Ricks Ram

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I have recently installed heated / cooled seats in a 2012 Ram 1500 originally equipped with manual seats. Wired them per the factory wiring diagrams, everything works except the on/high/low LED indicators in the dashboard switches. Reading earlier posts, I am not the first one to have this problem- did anyone ever figure out how to get the LED's to work?
Did you enable the codes with the Alfa tool? I am more knowledgeable about the 13 up conversion but I have seen this happen before in the 2012 trucks . I think there was a member who got the LED lights to work but I'm not sure which codes he enabled. Also kudos to you for building your harness. I originally built my own harness for my 14.

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Ricks Ram

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Just trying to figure out the wiring in my seats. I have a 2011 SLT 2500 and I had cloth seats which were just power and lumbar on the drivers side only as far as I can tell, passenger is manual. I picked up the whole interior from a 2014 SLT HD and am having a problem. These seats have the airbag and are heated but other than that are the same as what I had. (power drivers manual passenger) I have the two seat plugs in my truck + the jump seat plug (Grey) on the drivers side and they both plug into my new seat but when I plug in the larger plug into the now yellow plug in my new seat it kills the radio and throws a few errors on my dash. And on the passenger side the grey plug in my truck is totally different than the yellow plug on my new seat. Is there a wiring diagram for a 2011 SLT and 2014 SLT so I can figure out what they changed? Or is this even possible? Or is there someone who has done this and made a harness? I don't really care if I get the heated seats to work just want to get my power seat working again. Thanks!
Unfortunately the 13 and up seats are wired completely different than your 2011. You would need to try to re wire them to make the seat belt and occupancy sensors work and completely change the passenger side harness to make them work. The grey 20 pin connector right next to the yellow connector in your new driver's side seat is for the heated seats and heated steering wheel feature so you don't need to worry about it. The power adjust wires are the solid red wire and the solid black wire in the yellow seat connector. If your handy with wiring and can get the schematics for the 2011 and the 13 and up seat harnesses you could change all the wiring and probably make them work except for the heated feature but it's up to you how much work you want to put into it instead of finding a set of seats the correct year or possibly reupholstering your seats if they are worn.

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Canadian Mopar

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Unfortunately the 13 and up seats are wired completely different than your 2011. You would need to try to re wire them to make the seat belt and occupancy sensors work and completely change the passenger side harness to make them work. The grey 20 pin connector right next to the yellow connector in your new driver's side seat is for the heated seats and heated steering wheel feature so you don't need to worry about it. The power adjust wires are the solid red wire and the solid black wire in the yellow seat connector. If your handy with wiring and can get the schematics for the 2011 and the 13 and up seat harnesses you could change all the wiring and probably make them work except for the heated feature but it's up to you how much work you want to put into it instead of finding a set of seats the correct year or possibly reupholstering your seats if they are worn.

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haha that's an old post, I actually did get them to work in my '11 but have since upgraded to a newer truck. Thanks tho!
 

BigHornGuy

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Ok so maybe I missed it along the thread but I'm looking to upgrade seats on my 2014 1500 big horn, I understand I need the seats of course and definitely the controls on the center stack and enable parameters with alfaobd.

Am I missing anything else?
 

ontime

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I have a 2014 ram 1500 express and I'm replacing the seats with some Laramie, heated and cooled seats. My understanding is I need some harness from the original truck and to find a dealer who can update my build codes. Can anyone tell me if I just need the "pig tail" connector under the seat or if it's something more? Also, I'm updating the radio panel to add cooled and heated seat buttons. Is there an adapter I should ask the seller for? Thanks!
I just added Laramie seats to my 2013 SLT all the wires were there plugged right in. I changed my radio from a 5 inch to an 8.4 installed new switch banks used alpha OBD to program the seats. Everything works perfectly.
 

ontime

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I suggest installing the seats and just connecting them to.power so all of the adjustments work. The nay be install the VP4 NA 8.4 radio with the factory bezel conversion. You will think you are driving a different truck. Then maybe go from there. As I stated I am going to just use aftermarket switches to make mine eork. I have it pretty much figured out. I just need to find the time to get it all hooked up. You can also add the factory Homelink in your overhead console and it will work plug and play. Your truck l ready has the overhead console so you have the CV2 sales code. If you add the Homelink module make sure it's foe a 13 up truvk as they are different. You can also add the premium cluster plug and play
I got mine working in my 2013 slt all stock
 
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