• Sign Up! To view all forums and unlock additional cool features

    Welcome to the #1 Fiesta ST Forum and Fiesta ST community dedicated to Fiesta ST owners and enthusiasts. Register for an account, it's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the Fiesta ST Forum today!


2014 Recaro driver seat into 2017

Messages
167
Likes
62
Location
Middlesex county
#1
Can anyone advise how to swap a 2014 Recaro FiST driver seat into a 2017 FiST? I’m picking up the seat Saturday so I’d like to know what I have to swap between the seats beforehand. Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


OP
D
Messages
167
Likes
62
Location
Middlesex county
Thread Starter #2
The seat rails should bolt right into the floor with no modification. Likewise, assuming the seat you've purchased includes the harness, the seat harness should connect to the body harness with no issue. Be aware that you will not be able to use the heated seat functionality even if you install the OEM heater switches since none of the seat heater wiring on the body harness and BCM exists on base seat models.

I am currently working on a retrofit harness and installation guide to make this possible for Recaro swap people, however, and should have the first prototype finished soon. I'm just waiting on a few materials. Depending on interest, I may make a limited run of them to sell here. [shhh]
Thanks for the info. Apparently the 14-15 wiring harness connector is different from 16+. I’ve never had heated seats before but I’d definitely be interested. I’m only swapping the driver seat since my wife would never sit in them in the passenger seat.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


OP
D
Messages
167
Likes
62
Location
Middlesex county
Thread Starter #3
I have not seen anything about the body harness/seat harness connectors or wiring being different between the model years. Do you have a source for that? I would like to research it. [biggrin]

EDIT: Looks like the 2014-2015 body wiring harness is part # D2BZ-14A005-C while the 2016+ part # is G2BZ-14A005-C. I do not know what the differences between them are, or if it would effect the connection for the seat harness. As I recall, Ford began eliminating ambient lighting above the glove box in 2017 or so, so perhaps the revision is related to that. I have my doubts that it will be an issue for you, but I suppose we shall see. Please keep us posted.


This is from one of the Fiesta ST Facebook groups. The larger connector is the seat connection from a 2015 and the small connector on the left is the one inside of the car in a 2016. From what I can read and have been told by those who have done the swap is simply swap wire harnesses on the seats and it’s done. I’m just trying to confirm that here and also want to know if there’s anything additional about the seat rails and everything that I need to worry about.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


OP
D
Messages
167
Likes
62
Location
Middlesex county
Thread Starter #4
I just remembered one of the perks of my occupation - I currently have online access to all service manuals for every Ford model produced from 1994 to current.

This is the layout diagram for a 2018 FiST driver seat harness (note that they did not update the visual representation of the body harness to seat harness connector to the smaller one):


Looking through the connector face and pinout diagrams for the different system connectors on the 2018 seat harness reveals that they are identical to 2014-2015 harnesses. So, it appears that for the purposes of swapping seats, that body harness to seat harness connector is the only difference, as I suspected. The wire colors are also identical as well. So, to answer your question, yes - it appears that you simply need to swap the seat harnesses and you're golden.

You might have a loose connector on the new seats after swapping harnesses. That would be for the seat heaters. Please let me know if you do, because if so I will need to include the appropriate pigtail in my retrofit harnesses for people that must swap their seat harnesses for their Recaro swap. I will not run into this problem for my personal install, since I am not installing Recaros, but seat heaters into base seats and making them work with the OEM system.

I was also have the pinout for the updated body harness connection since you've inspired me to go looking:
Wow that is probably some of the best info I’ve gotten for this car in general. Thanks very much for that! I will update after I swap the seats this weekend for sure.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


OP
D
Messages
167
Likes
62
Location
Middlesex county
Thread Starter #5
No problem at all. I haven't torn into my 2018 FiST seat harnesses yet, so I wouldn't have known about the difference in the body-seat harness connector at all, much less considered it, until I had done so if it weren't for you and this thread. So, thank you.

I'm planning on making my own retrofit harness for my application (heated base seats, factory switches and system) and using what I've learned from that to make harnesses for others on here so that they can have heated Recaros in their base STs with OEM switches. I can understand why nobody seems to have solved that puzzle, since it is fairly complicated, and this extra layer of variation adds to that.

As it is, my heater retrofit will require tapping into the existing +12v terminal in fuse location F17 in the cabin junction box (the heated seat fuse location, in fact), installing the appropriate harness terminals to the correct pins on three of the BCM connectors, both of the console switch connectors, and both of the seat harnesses, and then using FORscan to change a flag in the BCM programming to enable the heated seat function. It isn't really easy by any stretch, but it's my hope that my harness and guide will make it easier.

Using the service manuals, I believe I can design my harness and boil the process down into a "follow the steps and match the colors" process in the installation guide.

Thank you in advance for the information about whether or not you will have a loose connector by installing your 2017 base seat harness on a 2014 Recaro seat. I greatly appreciate it.


EDIT: Heh, according to online service manual, the passenger side seat harness connector is identical across all model years? How strange...
My Recaro driver seat is in, and there is indeed an extra connection labeled seat heater on it! Harness swap was easy just a few connections and prying our the little plastic clips that hold it in place.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


OP
D
Messages
167
Likes
62
Location
Middlesex county
Thread Starter #6
That's what I figured, thanks. Good part is that the heater element connector is identical across all years, which means that making a universal heater retrofit harness that bypasses the body and seat harnesses and connects to the heater directly is possible. I should have such a thing ready in a month or two. Anyways, don't mean to threadjack. Congrats on your new seats! [cool]
Threadjacking is welcomed when it’s good info like this! Let us about the adapters I’d be in for one!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


Messages
159
Likes
175
Location
Santa Fe, NM, USA
#7
My Recaro driver seat is in, and there is indeed an extra connection labeled seat heater on it! Harness swap was easy just a few connections and prying our the little plastic clips that hold it in place.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
So you take the harness off the base seat and swap it onto the Recaro correct? And then the Recaro just has the one extra connection which the base harness doesn’t connect too? Fingers crossed I’ll be getting this soon, just started my research (2017 acquiring 2015 recaros)
 


OP
D
Messages
167
Likes
62
Location
Middlesex county
Thread Starter #8
So you take the harness off the base seat and swap it onto the Recaro correct? And then the Recaro just has the one extra connection which the base harness doesn’t connect too? Fingers crossed I’ll be getting this soon, just started my research (2017 acquiring 2015 recaros)
Yep that's all it is
 


Messages
284
Likes
76
Location
Ridgecrest
#9
Just wondering if anybody has seen an orange Recaro driver seat for sale anywhere
 




Top