2018 Explorer Platinum Driver's Seat Heater Module Fail (and Solution)

[Sam@OR]

To make a months-long story somewhat shorter: my Explorer's front seats stopped heating in March. Here in Oregon, I run the seat and steering wheel heaters year round (not only keeps the hands and lower back happy, but sometimes it's chilly - like now (end of August, first of September, 2020).

I finally got around to the dealer in later March and based on the codes they replaced the seat module (warranty) and sent me on my way - all good, but only for a day. It was dead the next morning, and back to the dealer I went. This time, they kept it over a week - escalated to Ford Engineering where it was finally decided that my vehicle was the 2nd one in the world to melt a related harness connector under the console. That harness took until mid-August to get here, but seems to have truly repaired the seat module functionality.

One additional [related?] note: at some point during the mid-summer, I noticed that my S*bux iced drink was sweating majorly into the cup holder - and I was hearing crackling sounds along with the Sync 3 display acting wonky. (Yes, these are acceptable technical terms, LOL.) Although I've not discussed this with the dealer just yet, I'm thinking they may all be truly related - I suspect the condensate is dripping into the console somehow and causing a short.

This theory is not one that I'm personally going to prove, but if you've had any experiences of this sort, I'd be curious of your observations.

 

[peterk9]

I would think that the first thing that should have been done was to figure out why the harness melted in the first place. A short should have blown a fuse. You could be experiencing the same thing again if the initial cause wasn't corrected. Good luck.

Peter

 

[Sam@OR]

I agree, unreservedly. It is every concerning that a fuse didn't blow.

I really don't want this vehicle to ignite in my garage - or anywhere else for that matter.