wiring power seats into 96 Disco I

[achampagne]

Let me start by saying I have looked and looked but can't find a thread on the issue:

My disco came with cloth non power seats, I picked up a set of leather seats, but they are power, I have the wiring and harness to hook up power, I picked up some DPDT switches and 14 gauge wiring, inline 30 amp fuses, I wired it up and nothing, Is there a ground for the seat in the harness I am missing some where?

 

[no694terry]

all the leather power seats do is crack, quit working, and let you slide out the window when off camber. and a couple months ago, someone on here had one go flat in his XD and we could never find that damn air leak

 

[fishEH]

someone on here had one go flat in his XD and we could never find that damn air leak

"flat"? Like its filled with air? Not to my knowledge.

What did you do with the manual seats? They'd probably fetch a good price around here.

 

[no694terry]

thanks fish, took me forever to find the old post and now my dinner is cold. and i had the seats wrong, his seats were manual cloth

http://www.discoweb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=70970&referrerid=15344

 

[jeepfiend]

Those power seats are nothing but a headache, throw them away put your manual seats back in. The seats in my 97 Disco were always having issues, and half the functions on my Range Rover seats haven't worked in years. The optimal Disco or Range Rover would be manual everything, even windows. That way Lucas never gets to put as many gremlins in.... You know the warm beer thing isn't a choice in England, it's because Lucas makes their refrigerators too....

 

[achampagne]

Ah crap, my manuals looked liked ass, and were completly compacted and uncomfortable, I really just want to be able to move the power ones forward/back, seatback up/down. I tossed the old ones in the dumpster.

 

[jeepfiend]

I honestly think you'd be better off adapting some other type of seat in there. The jeep catalogs have all sorts of aftermarket seats. You could get some sliders from something like a cherokee and adapt those into the disco and have a decent set of seats.

I am sure you can get the power seats to work, but I really never have liked the Rover seat switches. The leather in my Disco wasn't too bad, as long we stayed on top of keeping a good leather conditioner on it (which my wife was really good at). I just hated the switches. I was taking those things apart every couple of months to clean the contacts and get them working again. My Range Rover switches finally just completely shit the bed and only one or two movements work, regardless of how clean the switches are. Were the harnesses already in the Disco for the power seats, or did you pull power to the switches? Your best bet is just chasing power and making sure it's getting from the switch to the seat motors. Check all the grounds. I have had more electrical issues from grounds than anything else.

 

[no694terry]

i put chrysler 300m power seats in a dodge intrepid before. they were heated and power, all self contained. just run 12v power to drivers seat and the passenger seat was powered by the drivers seats control unit. but i think to get the heat to work i had to run a single wire to the vehicles body control unit for the temperature. I never got the memory funtion to work and all the swithes were on the side of the seat.

 

[achampagne]

My disco was manual with no other wiring, the only way I can get the seats to move is putting a neg and pos wire to the seats harness, I am trying to hook a DPDT switch, but I can't figure it out?

 

[achampagne]

So how about an easy to follow diagram for wiring a DPDT switch to a motor? Kind of a guide for dummies of sorts.

 

[p m]

Make sure your switches are self-centering, not staying in one or another position.

 

[Blue]

I put power leather in my '96 years ago.

Did you also get the proper center console with the power seat switches? That's what I did and wiring was very simple.

 

[achampagne]

Blue, no I didn't, I just DPDT switches to wire it up, I only want it to go forward/back, and the same with the seat back. My switches are not self centering but I think I camanage to remember to center it.

 

[p m]

Blue, no I didn't, I just DPDT switches to wire it up, I only want it to go forward/back, and the same with the seat back. My switches are not self centering but I think I camanage to remember to center it.

You may be able to remember, but you or someone else may knock one off its center position, and burn up the motor(s) or fuses. Don't do it.

EDIT: here's a few DigiKey switches you could use:
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=450-1535-ND
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=360-2308-ND
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=CKN9757-ND

 

[achampagne]

well they are working out pretty fine, I'm happy anyway.

 

[desertdude]

I'm thinking of putting in P38 Rangie seats in my Disco, well actually have been thinking about it for over a year now and haven't gotten around to doing them yet.

P38A seats are some of the most comfy seats I've ever sat on so yea they are number one choice. Also because a nice set really isnt that much here.

I remember we fitted those in a buddies Jeep XJ, just had to modify the floor pan a bit for them to fit level. The electrics are all self contained and just needed a fused 12v and everything worked perfect save for the memory stuff and that we needed two wire harnesess from the passengers seat, as the original driver seat had somekind of a brain for memory and talked to the Rangy BeCM so it would move the seats when fired up. So had to use the dumb seat wirings on the driver side aswell. It was a plug and play. Also helped having a Rangy Rave on hand to figure out which wires need juice ( two from what I can remember ) and one earth

What more can you ask, air lumbar and even the headrests go up and down and not like crappy D1 electrics which never seem to work

Hopefully I will be able to do this sometime this year.

 

[achampagne]

Well for $200 I got a full set of seats in mint condition, including the rear jumpers. It was a great deal I think, ans the are all wired up now and I think are wicked comfy. Since I am the only one who drives it I'm happy with my choice.