Hi guys.

Recently started digging around my seats after discovering a non-standard heating element connector on the passenger side. Turns out both seats actually having heating elements, but someone at the dealer cut the wiring off the driver's element. I'm left with maybe just enough of the wire ends to crimp or solder to, but the real question is: why are there four wires?! Every other connector I've seen (even the one on my passenger seat) is a three wire cable, with black, brown, and green/purple. This one has a black, two browns, and green/purple. Are the two browns just connected somewhere down the line before the connector?

Curiously, the diagrams on the retrofit instructions (http://motoringfile.com/howto/miniheatedseats.pdf) on page 11 show the A5 and A8 connector to have four wires, but on the connections list on page 6, they are labeled as "black 3 pin socket casing"

Pictures of 3 pin on the passenger's side: https://i.imgur.com/MkNLQLh.jpg

Pictures of the four wires on the driver's side (pardon the terrible quality): https://i.imgur.com/zQPpOOR.jpg

 

Did you check here:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-retrofit.html

Or

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ux-gauges.html

As a guide

 

Once I took another look at it, it actually became obvious. Two grounds, one for the thermistor, the other for the heat loop. My guess is somewhere down the line the grounds are spliced together before being crimped in the 3 prong connector.

 

You are welcome and glad you have it figured out