2005 LeSabre Limited: both right doors intermittent, and both front heated seats inoperative

DrivenDaily

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Buick Ownership
2005 LeSabre Limited
Hey guys, thanks in advance for reading, and for any input you may wish to share.

Item 1:
When I bought my 2005 Les Ltd 6 months ago, both right-side doors did not roll the windows up or down, and the locks did not work. Most of the time, even the power mirror would not work! The issue is from both the driver's controls and the controls on the RF door.

As I drove it, I would notice that sometimes the RF window would work, but only once in a blue moon. The lock almost never operated. At times, both will work, but because they are intermittent, I'm afraid to roll the window down as it might decide not to work when it's time to roll it back up!

Lately, the RR door has allowed me to roll the window down and back up, and sometimes even the lock will operate. Yay! However, like above, lowering the window leaves me feeling a bit queasy about what to do if it quits and won't go up.

I understand that there is a module in and/or for each door. With them coming to life now and then, what are the chances that it's a corroded connection that can be cleaned, or a damaged wire that can be repaired?

Item 2:
The heated seat controls on both front doors light up when I push the buttons, but there is absolutely no heat being generated unless I sit my butt in the seat, and then I get a frozen tush when it's 16°F / -9°C outside (and inside!).

What might be the best things to check before I go ape or have an upholstery shop look into it, costing probably more money than it's really worth?

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Just a heads-up: I'm really good at wiring and good enough as a DIYer that friends seek me out when they need help, and I oblige. Now I need your help, please, and it's all appreciated!
 
Well... Outside an obvious wiring failure... I'm "guessing" you're looking at replacing a door module. (For each area affected). I had to do this to mine.

For the heated seats - (again, after you have eliminated the obvious.) Each heated seat is controlled by the module under the seat. (per side.)

Those reasons are the "most likely" reasons for everything not working. It's just my experience and 0.02cts.
 
Thank you. This car and even the Buick brand are new to me, so I am not sure what controls what or where it is.

I will put some effort into finding and fixing this ASAP.
 
I don't have the window/door lock problem, but the heated seats were dead near 2 years out of the factory. (My dad bought the car new.)
Agreed. I’ve yet to come across a LeSabre with even one heated seat working.
 
My passenger side heated seat works but not the driver's side. You probably have a break in the heating element in the seat cushion.
As far as your doors you should check the wiring in the bellows for continuity.
 
Thank you. This car and even the Buick brand are new to me, so I am not sure what controls what or where it is.

I will put some effort into finding and fixing this ASAP.
DrivenDaily - The door modules are located inside the doors. Once you take the panels off, you'll see them.

Here's a thread that I posted some pics on. - Complete Loss of Power to Doors/Windows/Locks/Etc.

And another with diagram - 2001 LeSabre Custom rear door no power window, locks

You may also want to use some specific "trim removal" tools to remove the door panels. (Got mine at Harbor Freight).

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Keep in-mind - there are screws and other procedures involved, not just "popping off" the door trim. There are more than few YouTube videos:

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Lastly, and most importantly - At this point, I am "assuming" it's your door modules. If you're decent with diagnosing wiring... then by all means make sure it's not a continuity problem, broken wire, fuse etc...

You can get used modules off off eBay. I hope this helps! Let us know what you find out.
 
Driven Daily:

I am not clear on if the wire prevents operation of a door's parts from that door or just prevents it from the driver's side controls, but there's a tan (light brown) wire from the driver module that communicates with the 3 other doors. As I understood things, all the controlling is done via a network. That brown wire has a connector to the 3 other doors under the carpet, on the center, under the back end of the front seats. The connector can become corroded and stop or off/on break communication with a particular wire leading to one of the 3 other doors.

I saw a picture of one owner's connector and it was like the 95-99 leSabres where the ground buss along the door sill under the carpet corroded, affecting varying things from working.

As for the seats..., I think I put my knee on the seat bottom to reach or do something on my 2003 leSabre and that broke the wire in the foam pad. I tried splicing and so on, but never got the drivers side seat to work. Troubleshooting with a good circuit diagram might help. For some people, switching the module under the seat from one side to the other would troubleshoot IF one side was working okay...

There are replacement heat pads that go under the leather that folks put in to fix the problem. I believe that was available from GM at one time.

Good luck on both problems.
 
04 lesabre here with 55k miles. Drivers heated seat is shot, im not sure about the passenger side since no one sits there.
 
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