Fuse Question: Aftermarket Heated Seats on Hybrid S

[rjdanforth]

I recently installed aftermarket heated seats in my 2014 Fusion Hybrid S. I installed Bussman Add A Circuit to two fuses in the interior fuse box. I tried a number of fuses which I thought would be off when the ignition key is not engaged, but all of the ones I tried were always active. Given the difficulty of accessing the fuses under the dash, I decided to take the risk and train myself to turn off the heated seats so as to not drain the battery down. Within 24 hours, I forgot to turn my heated seat off and was subsequently locked out of the car using the remote unlock. I was able to remove the key cover and get into the car. It started up without a problem as the battery wasn't completely dead.

 

So, I have a a few questions. Will the car basically go into a low power mode to prevent completely drawing down the battery? Second question, and probably more important, are there circuits that will shut down when the ignition key is not engaged?

 

Thanks in advance.

[murphy]

If the 12 volt battery voltage gets low the car goes into a protection mode that shuts off everything that can be shut off.

 

The 12 volt power taps (used to be called cigarette lighter sockets) turn off about 70 minutes after the car is turned off.

 

According to my 2013 manual fuse 65 (20 amps) located in the engine compartment fuse panel on the driver side is for the "front heated seat".

[rjdanforth]

Murphy,

 

Thanks for the reply. Indeed, my manual as well calls out Fuse 65 (20amps) for the front heated seats. I'm going to extend the wires and tap off that circuit. Actually, I am going to first test it to ensure that it is off when the key is not engaged. I didn't even look at running the wires to the engine compartment fuse box, as I made the assumption that most of the interior circuits were switched. Access to the fuses in the engine compartment box should be at least easier. The fuse box under the dash was absolutely horrible for access!

 

Thanks again.