I would like to know if I can fix my heated driverside seat without buying a new seat? I just bought my first Mazda: a 2001 Millinia. It is a nice car to drive. I would like to drive it awhile and I live in MN, so I would like heat!! I would appreciate any help.
Thank you.

 

The heater grid for the cushion and seat back are both available as separate repair parts. The cushion heater is the most common to fail as drivers weight causes more flexing of the grid wires then the seat back grid. Part number for cushion heater grid is TC88-88-121A. Seat back heater grid is a
TC88-88-122A. Dealer retail is $94.86 and $100.96 respectively. Also available from www.onlinemazdaparts.com for $75.68 and $80.77.

 

babyhuey is right. it is probably the element. HOWEVER, to check it, you need to remove the back panel. in doing so, you will probably break off a few clips, and if you cannot glue/jb weld them back on, you will have to buy a new panel, too. they are quite easy to get off, but because you dont know where the clips are, and it is very difficult to explain, be prepared to get a new panel, too. the way to remove it, is you pull the outer "wings" that wrap around the sides of the seat out. then, holding the wings out, you push/pull the whole panel upward. dont pull the lower part of the panel out, i broke the bracket when i did. if you are lucky, and all the brackets still are on the panel, remove the clips that are still attached to the seat, and put them on the brackets. this will make it way easier to put the panel back on. especially important are the 2 clips up on the upper part of the panel. take a screwdriver, and poke them thru the bracket on the seat, then they will fall out, and you can put them on the panel. if you dont do this, it will take you forever to connect them. after removing the rear panel, you will see the connector for the upper and lower element. it is wrapped in foam, in the lower left side of the seat. you disconnect them, and ohm them to see which one is bad. the upper element contains the sensor. one person found one wire going to the sensor had broke, and he just resoldered it, and the seat worked. since they are in series, if one element goes bad, both dont work. with the back panel off, you can easily take off the upper seat. 2 bolts on each side, and unclip the upper cover, if i remember correctly. the upper part is really light. it is way easier to remove the lower part without the upper part connected. the lower part is really heavy.
to get to the lower element, you will have to remove the seat. iirc, 2 nuts, 2 bolts, at each corner. then, lift the seat, and disconnect the wire harness. this is kinda a pita, part of the harness is clipped to the duct for the rear, if you raise the seat as much as you can, you might be able to unclip the harness from the duct, thus allowing the seat to go higher. easier to get to the harness. then, remove the seat from the car. now the real fun begins. you will need to remove the seat cover, in doing so, you will break the bezel around the seat control switches. dont even try to remove it, it cant be done. the cover kinda clamps itself around the lower outer part of the seat. after you disconnect the outer parts of the cover, the rest is held to the pad with hog rings. they are really a bitch to remove. i cut them all, but the problem then is you gotta find new ones. bmw has some really nice ones, 52 10 1 945 543. because we have 2 millenias, and i have done the seats in both cars, i bought a special pair of hi torque cutters, they have really long handles, and trust me, your hand WILL get sore from cutting all the hog rings. i also got a set of hog ring pliers, one is straight, and one is angled, for reinstalling. it is my contention that if you do the job yourself, you get to buy special tools as a reward. the old element is attached to the foam pad by stickum on it, carefully peel it off, some of the foam pad might come with it. be careful when you install the new element, if it is not straight, it will get in the way of the hog rings.
one of our cars had a bad upper element. you can switch the back part of the seat with the other side, it is not a direct fit, but very close. but, getting to the upper element i think is more difficult than the lower, so hope it is just the lower. oh, and here in texas, we do get cold winters, and the heated seats are excellent. your butt will love you

 

Keninn, you are a geniuswhen it comes to Milly's. Great info on seat heater repair.

 

Thank you for your help babyhuey and Keninn. I really appreciate it. I will let you know how it turns out.