Pass seat not moving fore/aft but tilts up and reclines (1993)o

[ovysimac]

After a long time of dutiful service, the passenger seat on my 93 model will not go fore/aft neither using the switch, nor automatically when the seatback is folded forward. It will tilt up though and the seatback reclines, and the lumbar works, so I have power at the switch/module. The seat is stuck in middle of track position so it can be used albeit it is not confortable even for my 5'-3" wife. Besides the obvious troubleshooting by removing the seat, etc (I found Bill's very good write-up about rebuilding motors), has anyone a "lazy-boy" quick and dirty solution to at least move the seat all the way back and fuggedabout it? Tried juggling the switch, sprayed some WD40 on track but so far it didn't help.
I very seldom have someone on the passenger seat so I'm not inclined to remove the seat, etc. in 110 degrees Vegas summer weather to fix it.
Any suggestions are appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Jamesvinar]

When you hit the switch do you hear a click sound?

 

[driller]

I had a very similar incident with my '96.

After much trepidation, I removed the passenger seat for a more thorough diagnosis. Upon finding no obvious broken components, I temporarily placed the frame back in the car and plugged in the harness connections. Amazingly, everything worked.

I reassembled the seat and reinstalled it in the car and it has been fine since.

 

[billcu]

You can try swapping the switch with a known good switch, I had one of those go bad once.

Another possibility is the module is bad, but you might have to remove the seat for that too. You should be able to remove the bottom cushion without removing the seat and apply 12 volts directly to the motor, but it might be easier if you just remove the seat (only 2 bolts and 2 nuts).

If the seat is in the middle of the track at least you might be able to get to the rear nuts to remove them. If you can't get to them, you have to remove the bottom cushion anyway.

 

[ovysimac]

Thanks for the suggestions. The switch works sometimes (i.e. the seat moves) but when it doesn't work it doesn't click either when pressed. The seat won't go back all the way (so it may be the proverbial penny in the track) or tilt up (only down); so, it looks like intermittent working switch and/or dirty contacts. I'll spray some electrical contact cleaning fluid on it hoping that it'll do. And try to check/clean the track, of course.

What do I need to do to remove the bottom cushion only? I have a 1993 complete service CD but it was intended for an old windows OS (95? 98?) and my Win 7 machines won't read the old program necessary to open/view it. Thanks.

 

[Jamesvinar]

My passenger seat has that no click thing, all i do to get it to work is push it harder though

 

[billcu]

Thanks for the suggestions. The switch works sometimes (i.e. the seat moves) but when it doesn't work it doesn't click either when pressed. The seat won't go back all the way (so it may be the proverbial penny in the track) or tilt up (only down); so, it looks like intermittent working switch and/or dirty contacts. I'll spray some electrical contact cleaning fluid on it hoping that it'll do. And try to check/clean the track, of course.

What do I need to do to remove the bottom cushion only? I have a 1993 complete service CD but it was intended for an old windows OS (95? 98?) and my Win 7 machines won't read the old program necessary to open/view it. Thanks.

It's easier to remove if the seat is out of the car but if you can't get it out:

This may not be exact, but it gives you an idea how to do this.

Remove the switch plastic cover piece and switch, then remove the bolts holding the seat back and tilt motor to the seat bottom. Then unplug the air hose going to the lumbar air bag from the seat bottom.

The console side of the seat back is held in by a J shaped hook, you might need to remove the console to get it to come off the seat bottom. The cushion is held on with plastic clips, follow the leather down until you feel the clips, push down on the cushion to release the tension and pull the clips down sliding them off the plastic frame all the way around the cushion.