yeah ive considered that. but if you fully swap before turning on car, you should not cause light to come on. Did you have some time without a seat airbag? I ran a few weeks without waiting for connector.
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P85 Premium Seat Retrofit
- Thread starter McGillUSAF
- Start date
I've been riddin with it for some time now with that light.... I call Tesla tomorrow and see if they'll reset it. I'll just tell them I pulled the seat out to clean it or something 
maybe it'll work lol
maybe it'll work lolTo clarify I meant how long did you drive without a airbag plugged into the connector?I've been riddin with it for some time now with that light.... I call Tesla tomorrow and see if they'll reset it. I'll just tell them I pulled the seat out to clean it or something
So today I did an attemt to install the old switch boards in to the new side covers.
I cut away all of the old mounting holes using an Dremel tool.2
The hole for the lumbar controll is of the same size, so no need to change that.
The issue is the two boards need to be very close to eachother to match the new holes with the old one.
I chose to offset it a bit, but i see now i could have gotten it 1-2 mm closer and therefor better finish.
I have to let the glue cure 100% first, then I can try to make the finish better.
This is atleast one approach to it that seems to work ok.
These side panels come as an spare part and should not cost that much if you need to change it later for some reason.
The glue i used is similar to TEC7, it stays somewhat flexible and i think thats important.
Using glue like Epoxy will easely crack and not hold very well.
I cut away all of the old mounting holes using an Dremel tool.2
The hole for the lumbar controll is of the same size, so no need to change that.
The issue is the two boards need to be very close to eachother to match the new holes with the old one.
I chose to offset it a bit, but i see now i could have gotten it 1-2 mm closer and therefor better finish.
I have to let the glue cure 100% first, then I can try to make the finish better.
This is atleast one approach to it that seems to work ok.
These side panels come as an spare part and should not cost that much if you need to change it later for some reason.
The glue i used is similar to TEC7, it stays somewhat flexible and i think thats important.
Using glue like Epoxy will easely crack and not hold very well.
Rockwell
Member
Today i made some progress, and got the seat heaters to work, both sides.
I used the controller from the old seats, and basicly it works like this.
On the input you have 3 wires, Ground, Line-BUS then 14V.
You might just want to check that you do have 14V there just to be sure, if not then some fuse have gone.
Then on the output you have two main connectors.
The two grey wires are for Temp-sensor in the seat.
This will be like 10-20 Kohm depending og the temperature inside the seat.
(might be even more, or less but its in the Kohm reange anyways.
And the black connectors are for each heater element.
Each heat element will be like 3-4 ohm.
There are two heater elements, one for the back, and one for the bottom.
And you really have to connect ALL 6 wires to the controller before it will give any power out.
The new seats will have temp sensor both in the back and in the seat.
Since the controller only has one input you have to chose, and I chose to use only the one for the seat.
I used the controller from the old seats, and basicly it works like this.
On the input you have 3 wires, Ground, Line-BUS then 14V.
You might just want to check that you do have 14V there just to be sure, if not then some fuse have gone.
Then on the output you have two main connectors.
The two grey wires are for Temp-sensor in the seat.
This will be like 10-20 Kohm depending og the temperature inside the seat.
(might be even more, or less but its in the Kohm reange anyways.
And the black connectors are for each heater element.
Each heat element will be like 3-4 ohm.
There are two heater elements, one for the back, and one for the bottom.
And you really have to connect ALL 6 wires to the controller before it will give any power out.
The new seats will have temp sensor both in the back and in the seat.
Since the controller only has one input you have to chose, and I chose to use only the one for the seat.
Rockwell
Member
Today i had the Model S in to fix some other stuff and i also asked them to have an look at the airbag lamp issue.
I told them straight away that the seats have been switched and this is the reason for the airbag lamp to be on.
They seemed kind of cool with it and told me the seats look great and they will have an look at it.
Then they called me later and told me "the error message is coming from the drivers seat".
Trying to figure out what he meant , i asked him if the "memory seat module" was sending the message, and he confirmed that yes that was the case and there was not the airbags them-self causing the issue. That being said i dont know if he really know what he is saying, or if he was just chatting along. To proceed they needed to get under the seat to see whats going on.
I warned him that this is not an standard seat as it has the hardness from my old seats, but he said thats ok we can check it out.
So i thought, cool then go ahead.
But then they called me back again and said sorry we can not fix this, you should put back the original seats to fix this.
So, to sum it up i an still stuck with airbag lamp on.
I did not connect the "feedback" wire to the backrest support meaning it does not work as intended
I am starting to think this is giving some sort of error messages.
I do know there is some sort of logic from the chairs reporting the position of the driver to the airbag control unit.
There are probably some calculations on timing of the airbag related to if the driver is further away from the steering wheel.
Hopefully someone will find an fix and post it in this tread.
I told them straight away that the seats have been switched and this is the reason for the airbag lamp to be on.
They seemed kind of cool with it and told me the seats look great and they will have an look at it.
Then they called me later and told me "the error message is coming from the drivers seat".
Trying to figure out what he meant , i asked him if the "memory seat module" was sending the message, and he confirmed that yes that was the case and there was not the airbags them-self causing the issue. That being said i dont know if he really know what he is saying, or if he was just chatting along. To proceed they needed to get under the seat to see whats going on.
I warned him that this is not an standard seat as it has the hardness from my old seats, but he said thats ok we can check it out.
So i thought, cool then go ahead.
But then they called me back again and said sorry we can not fix this, you should put back the original seats to fix this.
So, to sum it up i an still stuck with airbag lamp on.
I did not connect the "feedback" wire to the backrest support meaning it does not work as intended
I am starting to think this is giving some sort of error messages.
I do know there is some sort of logic from the chairs reporting the position of the driver to the airbag control unit.
There are probably some calculations on timing of the airbag related to if the driver is further away from the steering wheel.
Hopefully someone will find an fix and post it in this tread.
Good day folks!
I finally fixed the airbag issue.
First of all, It seems to be no need for Tesla to delete any error logs.
Once everything is connected correctly, the lamp will go off.
Second of all, my airbags are connected like shown in post #52 in this tread.
I can not tell for 100% certainty this is correct but this works for me.
Will the airbags deploy correctly? Well, hard to tell but i feel quite confident on that.
Third, and this is probably also what others are struggling with.
In the drivers seat there is an inductive sensor under the seat on the forward/aft sled, and the same goes for the old seats.
This sensor is basically there to indicate when the drivers seat is really close to the steering wheel, like with an driver with short legs.
Then the safety systems will compensate for the timing of deployment of the airbag (less delay i guess).
In the passenger seat, there is no such sensor.
Anyhow, the sensor in the new seat has an different connector, and that means you have to cut the wire splice in to it.
And this sensor being inductive means its also polarity sensitive, its not simply an on/off switch.
i had it connected, but with reverse polarity. I switched the two wires and airbag lamp went off!.
Leaving it unconnected will also give airbag error btw.
So, it has to be connected like the picture below and with right polarity, reversing polarity will not work.
Pink to purple, and yellow to white with green stripe.
I also connected the feedback to the backrest motor, so now also the memory works for the backrest.
4 of the motors in drivers seat have 2 feedback wires, while the two lumbar motors does not.
It COULD be important that all motor feedback wires are connected, did not investigate this much after i got everything working.
To sum it up, ALL motors work inkl memory, Heater works, and now also NO AIRBAG LAMP.
Installation complete!.
I finally fixed the airbag issue.
First of all, It seems to be no need for Tesla to delete any error logs.
Once everything is connected correctly, the lamp will go off.
Second of all, my airbags are connected like shown in post #52 in this tread.
I can not tell for 100% certainty this is correct but this works for me.
Will the airbags deploy correctly? Well, hard to tell but i feel quite confident on that.
Third, and this is probably also what others are struggling with.
In the drivers seat there is an inductive sensor under the seat on the forward/aft sled, and the same goes for the old seats.
This sensor is basically there to indicate when the drivers seat is really close to the steering wheel, like with an driver with short legs.
Then the safety systems will compensate for the timing of deployment of the airbag (less delay i guess).
In the passenger seat, there is no such sensor.
Anyhow, the sensor in the new seat has an different connector, and that means you have to cut the wire splice in to it.
And this sensor being inductive means its also polarity sensitive, its not simply an on/off switch.
i had it connected, but with reverse polarity. I switched the two wires and airbag lamp went off!.
Leaving it unconnected will also give airbag error btw.
So, it has to be connected like the picture below and with right polarity, reversing polarity will not work.
Pink to purple, and yellow to white with green stripe.
I also connected the feedback to the backrest motor, so now also the memory works for the backrest.
4 of the motors in drivers seat have 2 feedback wires, while the two lumbar motors does not.
It COULD be important that all motor feedback wires are connected, did not investigate this much after i got everything working.
To sum it up, ALL motors work inkl memory, Heater works, and now also NO AIRBAG LAMP.
Installation complete!.
Attachments
Thanks! I can confirm the position sensor wiring is correct in this post and my airbag light instantly disappeared after starting the car with the position sensor connected. We can also confirm we were also seeing the same errors prior to connecting it, in our case we simply forgot that sensor. No additional visit needed to clear codes.
Now to finish the heating connections and wiring listed.
We are still working on finding a way to do the control panels, but at least functionally this will be completed this weekend!
SevenWithaT
Member
I am looking to upgrade my 2013 P85+'s seats, too. Recently, I found that Model 3 are actually using the same seat skeleton as model s ,model x and y. (Based on Munro's video on Model Y seats) Would it make sense to put model 3's seats into model s? The model 3's seat doesn't have headrest movement, if I remembered correctly. I wonder if the connections are any similar. Does anyone know?
You would have to check the motors. We found the current 2018 seats use the same motors to adjust as the classic seats, so we gutted the wiring and controls from original seats and modified some connectors to the new seats. Some connectors didn't need modification and were plug and play.
SevenWithaT
Member
I see. Just to understand this correctly, it sounds like we are keeping old seat controller in the new seats and the connection between the controller and new seat's motor are either plug and play or plug and play with connector modification. How is the connection between the buttons and the controller. Can the new button communicate with the old seat controller smoothly or we need the old buttons, too? I saw Offpist did modify the button, is it a must?
First of all, the passenger seats have no memory module in GEN1 seats.
That means that all the current running to the seat motors go directly thru these switches.
While in an Gen4 seat, there is an memory module in each seat, so they build the swithces smaller and with thinner wires..
You can tell just by looking at the new swithces with wires, they are not build to handle any current, only to give signal to the seat/memory module.
So there that, secondly the new switches also have less wires going to them and totally different connector.
For lumbar support its the same, current go thru old switches as the seat has no memory in 2013, even in drivers seat.
Gen4 seats have memory for lumbar support but you will never get that to work. Only without memory, but for me i dont mind that.
To sum it up, it would probably be very possible to make an adatptor kit with an relay board enabling you to use the switches in the new seats. For me, that would have been to much of engineering work, remember its actually 6 motors in each seat. (7 if you include headrest).
Moving the old switches in to the new seats was really not that hard, I did that in one afternoon.
Making it look perfect and original, thats the hard part.
Anyhow, i am super happy with my seats.
Now i feel i can keep the car for many years more.
That means that all the current running to the seat motors go directly thru these switches.
While in an Gen4 seat, there is an memory module in each seat, so they build the swithces smaller and with thinner wires..
You can tell just by looking at the new swithces with wires, they are not build to handle any current, only to give signal to the seat/memory module.
So there that, secondly the new switches also have less wires going to them and totally different connector.
For lumbar support its the same, current go thru old switches as the seat has no memory in 2013, even in drivers seat.
Gen4 seats have memory for lumbar support but you will never get that to work. Only without memory, but for me i dont mind that.
To sum it up, it would probably be very possible to make an adatptor kit with an relay board enabling you to use the switches in the new seats. For me, that would have been to much of engineering work, remember its actually 6 motors in each seat. (7 if you include headrest).
Moving the old switches in to the new seats was really not that hard, I did that in one afternoon.
Making it look perfect and original, thats the hard part.
Anyhow, i am super happy with my seats.
Now i feel i can keep the car for many years more.
I have a mid 16’ I bought 17’ seats The drivers seat fully connects Black connector, Grey Connector and Yellow connector. The seat will move forward and back and the back rest will tilt, no lumbar movement and my steering wheel will not move. No air bag light as both had 4 wire yellow connectors. Passenger seat is as stated above, original has no memory, new 17 has the module. Needs the grey connector, car does not have the grey connector for passenger side. So can someone help me with moving forward?
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