When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
My expedition is a 2014 limited with factory heated/ cooled seats. My climate control seats have been intermittently not working for a couple of years. Until this past february, the car had been under warranty. It went to the dealer several times for that and other things and each time we were told there was no codes, nothing wrong with them, they work. etc. A week ago, they stopped all together. Called back to the dealer who essentially said tough crap for you. Saw that thread linked above about the same time and searched the forum to find some other threads with a tsb listed. .
Here is what I have concluded based off of the information gathered from the schematics, tsb, etc. The tsb is from 2008. It does not show to cover any other vehicle past that time period. A fact the dealer was quick to point out while we were sparring about this issue this week.
Pin M melted
Repair connector
Underneath the passenger seat is a module called the DCSM that controls both heated/cooled seats. It slides into a black plastic holder that is 90 degrees to the bottom seat cushion. It has 3 connectors on it. Two small ones and one large one. PIN M in my large connector melted. That was the same failure in the 2008 tsb. That is the main ground for the module. When it loses connection, it goes offline and also clears any codes in it. That was an important part of my argument with ford. When you push the button for the heated seat, the light will flash 3 times and go back off. That process will repeat until such a time as the pin makes connection or forever if it does not.
I refused to buy the repair connector from the ford dealer. The last time my car was in there took 3 weeks at which time we were renting a car. I ordered the motorcraft p/n on amazon for about $40. It took me about an hr to put it in earlier today. I split the wire coming off of terminal m to make it into two wires. One that i connected to the original location and the other i hard grounded to the frame. My terminal in the module was a little melted in the base. It is working and does not seem to be getting hot. If the module has to be replaced, it will require the dealer to reprogram it. I will be taking it further away to a different dealer as i refuse to spend money at the other.
Maybe this will help someone else. I am assuming the configuration is the same up to the 2017 body style. 6 years after the original tsb was drafted was when mine was built so I am assuming they should be aware of it but chose not to do anything.
It’s a solid fix, I just did it in my 2012. I did not splice the 11 wires, I disconnected the 10 that were not melted from the factory plug and put them in the new plug. The melted ground I cut off and spliced.
Thanks Carlton!
I just had the exact same issue with that overheated wire on my 2017 Lariat. I took it apart, cleaned it up and put it back together and now cooling and heating again. Im getting a new truck next month. Maybe it will last that long?
