I'm at my wit's end...power seat is loosey goosey

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etarasoff

etarasoff

Joined
Sep 2, 2012
Threads
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Location
Ashland, OR
I have a feeling that I'm not the only one with this problem. My driver's side power seat has had this problem where at any point in its fore/aft travel except all the way forward or all the way back, it would move a 1/4" at sharp stops or take offs. It was never a huge priority for me as I always have the seat all the way back, and had attributed the problem to a likely worn gear. Well, last week the cap popped on my seat and the gear stripped. Ordered a new gear and did the repair, including replacing the big rubber washer next to the gears with new ones (which just made the motor struggle) but the slop/movement is still there. When I had the seat upside down, I could see that the slop was coming from these 2 brackets where the red arrows are pointing (this is not my picture). It would seem that whatever is inside these things that the threaded rod spins inside of has worn down, causing the slop.


seat_repairtips.jpg

From what I can tell, these things are not serviceable? Do you guys think my diagnosis is correct? Anyone else have this problem and fix it? Please help. Now that I'm letting this issue bug me, it's very annoying! :)
 
Last edited:
Not sure what the solution is but using the @NLXTACY "wits end" will certainly garner a lot of opinions.
 
musthave said:
Not sure what the solution is but using the @NLXTACY "wits end" will certainly garner a lot of opinions.
Click to expand...

LOL - that's what I was hoping for. I really am at my wit's end with these seats, though. I'm slowly building up this truck in preparation for expedition-style travel. These power seats with their gears, falling-out caps and loosey goosey moving are not confidence inspiring. I'm *this close* to selling the replacement leather covers and seat cushions I bought (still boxed up in the garage) and dropping in some manual Recaros.
 
I have tracked down several threads related to this issue so I'm going to try responding to all of them in hopes this info might help others.

The fix for this issue is ridiculously simple. The issue is indeed the brackets as indicated by the red arrows in the picture below (which is not my picture). Inside those brackets are some white plastic bushings the threaded rod spins inside of. Eventually these wear out slightly, and a little bit of play is generated.

But the advice in that picture (which I believe is part of the instructions for the Gamiviti seat gear repair), to make sure the brackets are perfectly perpendicular to the lead screws (threaded rods), turns out to not be that great, especially on an older seat. As any of you who have done the seat gear repair know, those brackets can be tightened down at a slight angle instead of perpendicular, and by design they don't really "lock into perpendicular" position. By fastening them at a slight angle, just enough to tighten up on the rod, the seat play/clunk/looseness is completely eliminated...and the seat still moves fore and aft smoothly.

seat_repairtips.webp
 
cahill said:
Of course! The title clearly is a cry for help addressed to you :)
Click to expand...

Lol. I didn't see it till now but I would been of no help. I've never run across this myself. I've yet to touch my seats even I have all of the crap sitting and collecting dust.
 
etarasoff said:
I have tracked down several threads related to this issue so I'm going to try responding to all of them in hopes this info might help others.

The fix for this issue is ridiculously simple. The issue is indeed the brackets as indicated by the red arrows in the picture below (which is not my picture). Inside those brackets are some white plastic bushings the threaded rod spins inside of. Eventually these wear out slightly, and a little bit of play is generated.

But the advice in that picture (which I believe is part of the instructions for the Gamiviti seat gear repair), to make sure the brackets are perfectly perpendicular to the lead screws (threaded rods), turns out to not be that great, especially on an older seat. As any of you who have done the seat gear repair know, those brackets can be tightened down at a slight angle instead of perpendicular, and by design they don't really "lock into perpendicular" position. By fastening them at a slight angle, just enough to tighten up on the rod, the seat play/clunk/looseness is completely eliminated...and the seat still moves fore and aft smoothly.

View attachment 1081887
Click to expand...

maybe I am not understanding this, but what you discovered is that the brackets have to be aligned just right ?

no, I am not trying to be fastidious here, just want to know if I really do need to read the "destructions" (as a former employee of mine used to call them :lol:)
 
Not aligned just right, but angled to the point where you feel the rod just stopping the bracket from angling any father.
 
Did you point an infrared thermometer at it yet?:flipoff2: I had identical symptoms as well. I put in the new gear and it did solve my unwanted motion much to my amazement as it surely looked as if the play was coming from your indicated area. Perhaps you didn't clean up the excessive tolerance when you replaced the gear? Just install a new modded blue hub fan clutch under the seat and call it a day.
 
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