Seat recline motor

Carrera Sled · 02-10-2005, 09:53 PM

The power seat-back adjustment no longer moves in the forward direction on my '85. The other 5 adjustment directions work fine. I searched the forum for this kind of problem, and came up with mainly power switch issues. Has anyone seen problems with the motor? How is the recline motor accessed? I'll put the multimeter to the switch, etc. this weekend. Thanks!

Steve87-911 · Steve87-911's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by Carrera Sled
The power seat-back adjustment no longer moves in the forward direction on my '85. ... I'll put the multimeter to the switch, etc. this weekend. Thanks!

That's what I'd do first...test the switch. I had a similar problem with the seat up/down switch. At first I only tested it with a 12v lamp tester...in the down position the lamp lit brightly...in the up position the test lamp was much dimmer and so the seat motor would not even turn in the up direction. So either cleaning the switch or replacing it will probably do the trick. You can probably swap out the wires from one motor to another just to make sure it's the switch. Just don't drop $160.00 on a new seat motor until you know for sure...unless of course you want to start a collection of expensive and unneeded parts like I did.

Tim Hancock · 02-11-2005, 03:22 AM

Switch contacts needed cleaning in two sets of mine. Be careful that when you take them apart so that you don't loose any pcs and remember how they go back together.

maxhofer · 02-11-2005, 07:46 AM

Ben,

The way I once accesed the motors was by removing the seat. It's not a difficult task. There are 3 allen type bolts on each rail, one on the front and two on the back. By sliding the seat all the way forward or all the way back they are easily accesed.

Max.

Steve87-911 · Steve87-911's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by maxhofer
Ben,

The way I once accesed the motors was by removing the seat. It's not a difficult task. There are 3 allen type bolts on each rail, one on the front and two on the back. By sliding the seat all the way forward or all the way back they are easily accesed.

Max.

Max is right. I'd also add that as you remove the allen bolts, slip a finger inside the rail and under the rectangular nut thing so it doesn't drop inside the rail. If you don't you might need some needlenose plyers to retrieve it. After the bolts are out you can tip the seat back to access and unplug the wires. The Bentley book explains all this BTW. Good luck.

VaSteve · 02-11-2005, 11:31 AM

Please post your results. It's on my list of things to do as well. If I ever get the motor back in.

john walker's workshop · 02-11-2005, 11:33 AM

it's almost always the switch.

Carrera Sled · 02-11-2005, 04:55 PM

Thanks for the input, guys. I'll post what I find with the switch troubleshooting; hopefully it's just cleaning the contacts.

I WILL be careful during the switch disassembly... When removing the engine/transaxle for a clutch replacement, while pulling the main electrical connector for the engine, the engine side backshell popped off, along with all the wires! After a few expletives, and a cold neck oil (Coors Light, I believe) I was able to place the wires back in the shell with pretty good confidence on the pin locations just by the "set" the wires had taken in the shell. It ran fine... whew!