What are the options as far as getting an electric passenger seat into a KJ2?

I've been looking for KJ2 Xi seats but haven't come across any yet.

I assume the US Diamante seat would fit, but the cost of shipping something like that would be unfeasible.

Can anything realistically be done or should I accept a manual seat?

Seeing your passenger isn't really very busy while you drive him/her around, why not stick with the manual seat adjustment?

Or is this a "must have" mod for you? If so, contact Mal @mitsfix.

You can't plug a usa seat in anyway as it's wired very differently. I imported one and fitted it back in the day to my old car. It required a new switch, new harness in order to work.

Mike.

I am pretty sure the KL and KW XIs also had electric passenger seats which may open up more choices.

I am pretty sure the KL and KW XIs also had electric passenger seats which may open up more choices.

They will work in a KJ but they are a very very different chair to accommodate the side airbag. They are also higher, padded differently and adjust much differently.

The only pre KL car to come with a power passenger chair is the KJ XI Series 2

Is there any way to build an electric chair with a combination of other chairs?
ie, fit KL/W Xi motors into my KJ frame etc?

The reason I want it is:
1. It bothers me how one side is electric and the other isn't.
2. I have the leather kit for the electric seat. I know it can be covered up etc, but I am not sure how well this turns out?

You can't plug a usa seat in anyway as it's wired very differently. I imported one and fitted it back in the day to my old car. It required a new switch, new harness in order to work.

Mike.

Umm... what? Why?
Surely its just a plug to receive 12V DC power, all the switches and such are part of the seat........

Umm... what? Why?
Surely its just a plug to receive 12V DC power, all the switches and such are part of the seat........

Yes, by all means feel free to test your theory by importing a seat and then trying to "plug it in" because "surely it should work"

It won't, it is wired differently as I mentioned.

Umm... what? Why?
Surely its just a plug to receive 12V DC power, all the switches and such are part of the seat........

Diamante runs a completely different wiring system which transmits data instead of power(multiplex harness)

Diamante runs a completely different wiring system which transmits data instead of power(multiplex harness)

Still don't quite understand. I imagine that wiring is for something like a position memory button in the door. Surely it still has the normal controls on the side of the chair though? And as such you simply leave the extra harnesses disconnect, and feed 12v power to the chair
Or does it
1) not have side buttons and they're instead on the dash or something
2) For some retarded reason have the buttons send signals out the wiring harness, into a remote controller thats on the car itself, and then back into the chair?

The wiring harness itself is irrelevant. You just cut and splice a new connector as required (should only need 12v input and a ground) The only thing that makes sense to me - as to why it wouldn't work - is if the design itself doesn't make sense and is done in a retarded way. Even so, if it has buttons in place and does do an ass-about-face method then it doesn't matter. There's 2 wires that go to each motor, all the switch block does is bridge the 12v input to those 2 wires, reversing them as necessary. Thus if the switch block is present, rewire it so it has 12v input, and all the motors are outputs. For forward you run positive to positive and negative to negative on the motor terminals, for reverse you switch them and run positive to negative etc

Still don't quite understand.

I know.

I imagine that wiring is for something like a position memory button in the door. Surely it still has the normal controls on the side of the chair though? And as such you simply leave the extra harnesses disconnect, and feed 12v power to the chair
Or does it
1) not have side buttons and they're instead on the dash or something
2) For some retarded reason have the buttons send signals out the wiring harness, into a remote controller thats on the car itself, and then back into the chair?

The wiring harness itself is irrelevant. You just cut and splice a new connector as required (should only need 12v input and a ground) The only thing that makes sense to me - as to why it wouldn't work - is if the design itself doesn't make sense and is done in a retarded way. Even so, if it has buttons in place and does do an ass-about-face method then it doesn't matter. There's 2 wires that go to each motor, all the switch block does is bridge the 12v input to those 2 wires, reversing them as necessary. Thus if the switch block is present, rewire it so it has 12v input, and all the motors are outputs. For forward you run positive to positive and negative to negative on the motor terminals, for reverse you switch them and run positive to negative etc

The car has - as mentioned - a MULTIPLEX data based wiring harness. The seat has an ECU not a simple wire and switch arrangement. This means the switch is built differently, the harnesses are different, wiring uses data not simple power and earth to work.

Plugging it in won't work. Since as far as I know, I am the only person to ever import a chair from the states and try this, I am qualified to tell you it won't plug in. And it will require a new harness before it can be made to function.

Arguing with these facts is as pointless as putting a screen door on a submarine, but - as mentioned - you are fully welcome to try.

Explaining the WHY is about 1000x more useful than simply saying "No it won't work"
Maybe if you just said that originally?

I appreciate the help and information, but my experience on this forum is that its often required to ask the same question several times to get an adequate answer

Explaining the WHY is about 1000x more useful than simply saying "No it won't work"
Maybe if you just said that originally?

I appreciate the help and information, but my experience on this forum is that its often required to ask the same question several times to get an adequate answer

Refer post # 3 for the reasons it wouldn't work.

Happy to help.

Mike

So you did manage to make it work by using a new switch and new harness?
Is the seat itself and motors the same?
Out of curiosity how much did it cost to import?

Mike please prove me wrong with a detailed response to Spetz's questions, enough detail to actually make someone else be able to derive a conclusive picture of the process without the need for asking several more questions

Until then i'm going to say it probably still doesn't matter. A switch is a switch, obviously each position is going to bridge 2 or more terminals together. I really can't see it being a difficult process to just gut the harness completely, bypass all the other crap and make it a simple effective design that sends 12v to the appropriate motor which will make it move. Our drivers chair just bridges terminals together in the switch block, there's no fancy resistors or anything, literally just bridges 12v power to the respective motor. So take the drivers seat out and spend a bit of time with a multimeter figuring out which wire goes where then rewire the passengers side exactly the same. To just be a 'dumb terminal' that bridges power to the appropriate place in each switch position

Ok,

http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp136/mcstannard_bucket/20D0C775-F60E-48A7-98B6-187768E6BECE-12723-00000828CB2931EF.jpg
http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp136/mcstannard_bucket/685990BE-E564-43F3-95D8-0D86D6AA5EB1-12723-00000828D73736B8.jpg


You have to use a switch and wiring harness from an aussie car. You will have to rewire the harness to reverse the motor directions, as the switch will drive the motors in the opposite directions.

So, step 1

Import chair - import the base, the base assembly, and that will be enough. The backrest is universal, the motors and drive gears are all handed. The foam base is also different.

Step 2, buy a RHD power chair, to get the plugs, loom, switch from.

Step 3 rebuild the loom to suit the new chair, and fit the backrest.

Step 4, remove all the existing electrical hardware from
Under the chair, which will be many. Plenty of pics of this process in my ride thread.

So, to get this to work, you need, a spare RHD power seat, a drivers power seat from the states, wiring diagrams, the ability to build a harness properly, and a trimmer if your leather isn't going to be changed or you want to use fabric (which is silly)

I won't go into the cost of all this, as I had help stateside.

But for anyone attempting this out of the blue, budget $1200. And that's just parts and transport. (No, I didn't spend that much)

Pics of this procedure, the end result, and some Of the process are in my ride thread for the KH.

if all that doesn't help, then nothing will. I said at the beginning it won't plug and play, I also said it will need a new loom and a new switch. I'm not interested in proving anyone wrong. It's a waste of time. IF you reckon it will work, go for it! That's all I did......

When you say base and base assembly, does this include the rails?
You mention the foam being different, but can we still use the foam from a non electric seat (ie, our original one)?

The cost is prohibitive though, as at $1,200 I wouldn't even spend that on a KJ2 Xi electric passenger seat. I assume the largest cost is shipping from the US?

Foams are different between the electric and manual bases, as well as different between lh and rh.

Yes, different, but does that mean they cannot be used?
As from what I understand the leather and cloth foam is different too, yet interchangeable

They don't physically fit.
As far as i'm aware the cloth and leather foams are the same (non electric seats) for the same model ie cloth Verada and leather Verada foams are the same. Certainly the TL and TW foams are the same weather leather or cloth, same with KL and KW.

Parts that are interchangeable from the manual seat to a power seat:

The plastic headrest clips;
The headrest.
The back panel that has the seat back pocket.

Nothing else.

If you really want a power passenger chair, then buy a smashed KJ2 XI. or trade your car in for a KJ 2 XI.

Importing the seat is very very expensive. I got incredibly lucky when I did mine.

The seat base you would have to import includes - the base frame, seat foam, all motors and rails, seatbelt, plastic panels.

You don't need to import the backrest as the motor for its adjustment is in the base assembly. But you will need a power seat backrest frame to bolt on.

For my car, I had a spare power chair, I got very lucky with importing the seat cost wise, so it was ok for me. I would not attempt this again. I have purchases entire cars for less money than this mod would cost.

Mike