Strange experience with power seat motor...

[tery]

I'm wondering if anyone else has had this experience with a power seat motor, gen 2

I cleaned up Ginger's pass seat today and took it out. I'm going in tomorrow for pro tint on Babe and then I''' put in the new/old seat.
Had a tricky time getting it out...when I hooked up the battery so I could move the seat around, all the functions worked except move seat forward and back...it would work for a sec or two and move it a bit and then stop...no forward or back but again all other functions worked. Then I worked on the front bolts for a while cause I could almost het to them with a box end, then after a couple minutes, I tried it again and was able to get the seat to go back...got the front bolts out and moved forward some...enough to again get something on the nut but not really enough, started to get worried about having to cut the bastard out of the car, ...tried the motor again and it moved the seat all the way forward. I'm tryin to decide if I should take the motor off Babe seat which has never done that hesitation stuff or just leave the old one in like maybe since it hadn't been moved in months...it just needed to "wake up" for a while and now works fine. Doesn't make mechanical sense, but I don't understand why the motor would work and then not work and then work>>?? any thoughts

 

[sperold]

**** the tracks really well when you put it back in and "ride" the seat back and forth while you are in it and helping it along with your legs.
Take the side mouldings off the seat and get the switch that moves back and forth and take it apart and clean it up. I can't remember any details about when I did it, but I know it helps.

 

[kevinspann]

I had to change the switch on mine - at one point the seat would only move backwards, but not forwards.

 

[rubydist]

typical symptom of a motor that is starting to have shorted windings is that it will work fine sometimes, other times it will not want to move.

you can confirm that by this test: the next time it does not want to move f/r, put a vice grip on the end of the pinion shaft and turn it about 15*. (you may need to raise the seat all the way up first, that uses a different motor.) then attempt to move the seat with the switch again - if it works that suggests the motor has a shorted winding. if it doesn't work, that suggests that you have a dirty switch.

 

[tery]

Hey...Here's a pic pf the motor...It worked enough to put in the car but is still not dependable. I want to check the pinion you mentioned, but I don't know what I'm looking for. Where is the end of the pinion shaft>>
tks in advance
T

 

[rubydist]

the seat motor (front/back) turns a shaft with a gear (pinion) at each end. that gear engages a rack on the seat frame on each side. there is a nub of the shaft that sticks out past the end of the pinion on each end of the shaft, and you can see that shaft (usually, you need to raise the seat to see it). if you grab that end of the shaft with a vicegrip, you can turn the shaft a little, which accordingly turns the motor to a different winding.

you need to look at the side of the seat asm, not the bottom.

 

[tery]

Thank you Fred, I saw the gears at either end of that silver shaft, the aluminum casing...I grabbed that and tried to turn it but no go...I understand now what you are referring to I think cause I saw the gears, I didn't notice the nub but it's probably smaller than what I thought I was looking for... And you say that with the seat all the way up, you can see the nub to grab??
I found that if I just wait some time, half hour to several hours, it kicks in again enough to more the seat to get to the mounting bolts. Since I don't have anyone riding shotgun anymore, I'm just gonna leave it for now, but I will try and finish the diagnosis. I've got Babe's old parts from her torn up leathers that I can use if I decide to switch it out. I don't think it is the switch, just because of the way the motor acts when it is working and the sound of thud it does a few times when you keep trying the switch and get no movement

 

[EL SHO]

at least from my experience also on the passenger seat, it was a dirty switch. It would only move forward and rarely would work backwards. Since you have everything taken appart, clean the switch and try it hopefully is just that.