Passenger Seat won't move back - it's not the missing plug <SOLVED> (1 Viewer)

[Pascoscout]

My passenger seat was put all the way forward and now won't go back. All the threads I have seen point to the little white plastic plug but mine is in place and fully threaded in (never came out). The motor clicks when I push the button forward but makes no noise or movement when the button is pushed back so the screws aren't binding. All other functions work. Seems like it may be a contact or some issue with a limit switch but not sure where to start.

 

[LINUS]

I'd start with an ohmmeter & a jumper wire. And the EWD.

Verify good amperage power going to the motor, jumper across the switch to verify.

That's without having had the PS seat out, which may need happen - seems that work area with a rear heaterbox there is small.

 

[Malleus]

Just pull the seat and turn it over. It takes 5 minutes.

 

[nukegoat]

I would start by investigating the problem

 

[BILT4ME]

I would start by investigating the problem

Just replace the head gasket and be done with it.

 

[inkpot]

The seat gears can easily strip out without the plug falling out. That is just one symptom that is easy to spot. Get a set of gears from Gamveti ? It is pretty easy to replace them. I have done several dozen of them.

 

[Pascoscout]

So thanks to Nukegoats stunning revelation that I should investigate the problem I finally got around to looking through the seat today. Seriously I thought I'd ask before I started tearing into things to see if anyone had found solutions to this problem that were not related to the white plug so I could try those...

Anyway.

After removing the seat for ease of access I first checked the gears to be sure they were not stripped even though the cap was still in. All appeared good.

Next I pulled the drive screws off the rails and out of the gear boxes so I could be sure they were not binding and test the motor without them in. Motor worked fine in forward but no dice on going back. The switch for forward/reverse works by reversing the polarity to the motor. In forward you should have 12v to the red wire and the green acts as ground. In reverse you'll have 12v to the green and red as ground. I laid the seat back in the truck and plugged the harness back in. In order to check the motor I needed to get 12v to the green wire and have the switch close (pushed back) for the ground. All the harnesses need to be plugged in to easily test this. Used a jumper from the blue/black wire on the power feed harness and put it directly to the back of the green wire on the plug while holding the switch in the reverse position. Motor started up and ran the seat all the way back. This isolates my problem to the wire harness or the switch. Since the harness is well protected and unlikely to be damaged I started with the switch.

After popping off the toggle covers and the cover plate I could see the switch. In order to get it out you'll need to bend back the three metal tabs that hold the seat leather down and pull the leather back a bit. Tabs are shown in this pic, keep in mind my seat is upside down in all of these pictures.

There are three screws that hold the switch to the seat assembly. Two can be seen through the holes behind the cover plate the third is near were the seat back connects to the base. Easy to see with the leather pulled back.

With the switch out I found that it can be pulled apart and serviced. It's a simple unit with small contacts for each switch on a simple circuit board. There doesn't appear to be an easy way to disconnect it from the seat but this repair was easy enough with it hanging off the side. I started by removing the tan plastic support of the seat leather, there are two gold screws on the back side holding it on.

Next I removed the rubber dust cover. Carefully work your way around the edges and be careful not to tear it.

With the dust cover off you can remove the plastic plate that holds down the switch levers. Work your way around the edge with a small screw driver. There are 9 or so tabs that hold this on. I went around a couple times working it a little each time till it popped off.

 

[Pascoscout]

Now you can remove the switch toggles. Pay attention to where they go as one of them is different from the other 3 (its offset).

Under the toggels you'll find 2 metal contactors each (8 total). Sorry didn't take a picture of these. They are all the same so it does not matter what location they go in. They will only go in one way though, you'll notice one side of the tab they rock on is narrower than the other. With those out I found my problem. The contacts on several locations had burned and were corroded.

I cleaned them all up with a small wire brush and cleaned the back of each rocker as well. I put a dab of dielectric grease on each contact point and put the hole thing back together. Seat works like a charm now.

If you chase your problem down to the switch on your seat this may be your issue. The switch is so simple that I can't see much else going wrong with it so worth a try to do this before tossing it for a new one. Whole repair took about an hour which included diagnosing the switch as the issue.

 

[Flank]

My experience with the seats not working had nothing to do with electronics - it was purely mechanical. In my case, the original grease that was in the gearboxes attached to the motor for the forward and rear motion for the last 20 years had turned to a thick gooey sludge and had basically glued the gears frozen. I disassembled the gear box on the driver side, and spent about an hour cleaning out the sludge with brushes, small knives and a solvent. Re-assembled and it worked like a dream. Still have to do my passenger side.

 

[Pascoscout]

Thanks Flank. I did inspect the grease while I had the gears apart. Everything in the little plastic boxes and in the sleeve that the drive shaft goes from the motor to the gear box was still good. Nothing was hardening up. I know what your talking about though, had to clean up all the old grease on my power window regulators to get those working again.

In this case it was the electronics causing the seat to not work. All is good now.

 

[BILT4ME]

Thanks Flank. I did inspect the grease while I had the gears apart. Everything in the little plastic boxes and in the sleeve that the drive shaft goes from the motor to the gear box was still good. Nothing was hardening up. I know what your talking about though, had to clean up all the old grease on my power window regulators to get those working again.

In this case it was the electronics causing the seat to not work. All is good now.

Great fix and DETAIL! This will be VERY helpful for others in the future!

 

[nukegoat]

Just replace the head gasket and be done with it.

The first place Id start for power seat issues

 

[L8Shift]

Just replace the head gasket and be done with it.

The first place Id start for power seat issues

I typically spend ~5 minutes before I realize the seat is all the way back, already...

 

[Malleus]

Reminds me of the power window switches.

PSA points to @Pascoscout

 

[BILT4ME]

Once again......I read about something in 'Mud.....and my truck finds out..........

Now my DS won't move forward. It did on Friday, but my son drove it a couple times this weekend and moved the seat. Now it doesn't move.......

I swear that EVERY time I read about something, then my truck figures it out and decides that I need to deal with it hands-on. Worse than a wife watching Oprah!

At least now, thanks to @Pascoscout , I have a Men's Manual to guide me through the minefield! I never got that with the Oprah thing.....

 

[Pascoscout]

Sorry your truck broke but glad this may help. I get so much out of these forums it's nice to give something useful back.

Forgive my ignorance but what is a PSA point?

 

[cowboyjack]

Just wanted to add my thanks for the folks who post what actually FIXED the problem they were seeking help with. That is SO helpful to those of use relatively new to the Cruiser community. Thank you!

 

[BILT4ME]

Sorry your truck broke but glad this may help. I get so much out of these forums it's nice to give something useful back.

Forgive my ignorance but what is a PSA point?

PSA point = Public Service Announcement point.

 

[Haspin FJ]

I had not seen this post previous to having the issue with the drivers seat going back. I did basically what is described in this post just to have it happen again a short time later. I did it a second time using parts out of a used camry switch the second time since the metal rockers for this function in my switch were rougher then the rest. Worked a while longer but ultimately failed again.

I hesitate to post this as no doubt it will fail tomorrow but I redid it a third time and this time coated the little metal rockers with solder using a torch and as little solder as I could leave on them and they've worked perfect for longer then the previous fixes with more usage. The arcing seems to wear a factory coating off the metal contacts turning them black and causing the issue. May be worth trying if youve had this fix fail.

 

[Pascoscout]

Yes I could see where the coating would wear down. Some of the points on mine were worse than others. On the really bad ones I bent the tabs on the switches down a little to make sure they were making contact. Hoping the dielectric grease helps reduce arcing but I have no illusion that this is a done forever deal. So far I've had no issues though. Thinking that I will tear down the drivers side and do a little cleaning and grease as a preventative measure. In addition to preventing corrosion the grease should provide some lubrication which will help with point wear.

Adding a little solder should bring it back to the original size and maybe give you another 20 years of life. Will keep that in mind if I have issues again. Good addition to this!