Power seat died
#41
A Man Just Needs Some....
Possible.
Post a couple pics of the wiring diagram. Maybe I can help diagnose. If one motor is hot to the touch, unplug that one and see if the others work correctly. I believe the seat motors are protected by a circuit breaker. If one is shorted, it may trip the breaker for all.
Post a couple pics of the wiring diagram. Maybe I can help diagnose. If one motor is hot to the touch, unplug that one and see if the others work correctly. I believe the seat motors are protected by a circuit breaker. If one is shorted, it may trip the breaker for all.
#42
Legacy TMS Member
Thread Starter
Possible.
Post a couple pics of the wiring diagram. Maybe I can help diagnose. If one motor is hot to the touch, unplug that one and see if the others work correctly. I believe the seat motors are protected by a circuit breaker. If one is shorted, it may trip the breaker for all.
Post a couple pics of the wiring diagram. Maybe I can help diagnose. If one motor is hot to the touch, unplug that one and see if the others work correctly. I believe the seat motors are protected by a circuit breaker. If one is shorted, it may trip the breaker for all.
Now it's get's more bizarre. I mechanically disconnected the seat track from the drive mechanism and pushed it forward enough so I can drive the car. While reattaching it, I accidentally hit the front up/down switch and the motor (the one that was getting hot) ran. I was able to run it both directions briefly before it stopped working again.
How would I check for a grounding issue?
#43
Legacy TMS Member
Thread Starter
Plan for tomorrow:
1. Check power and ground wire splices (S302 and S303 on diagram) to make sure they are solid connections.
2. Use jumpers to try to run the motors directly (bypassing the switch).
3. Button it all back up so I can drive to work on Thursday.
If 1 and 2 don't resolve anything, I'll just wait until I can afford to replace the entire rack. The seat is forward enough now that I can remove the inner rear nut and take the entire seat out easily.
1. Check power and ground wire splices (S302 and S303 on diagram) to make sure they are solid connections.
2. Use jumpers to try to run the motors directly (bypassing the switch).
3. Button it all back up so I can drive to work on Thursday.
If 1 and 2 don't resolve anything, I'll just wait until I can afford to replace the entire rack. The seat is forward enough now that I can remove the inner rear nut and take the entire seat out easily.
#44
Post *****
Join Date: December 14, 2007
Location: State of Jefferson Mountains USA
Posts: 20,005
Likes: 0
Received 4 Likes
on
4 Posts
FYI I really don't know all the connections but from experience in more mundane assemblies, if there is a ground wire to a washer/bolt, it wouldn't hurt to unhook and dress (file) the connectors in case there's a bit of corrosion.
#45
Legacy TMS Member
Thread Starter
The ground wire goes back into wire harness and I don't know where exactly it goes. I will say that the seat motors and the lumbar support share the ground wire and the lumbar works fine. However I'm going to unwrap that part of the harness again because I believe the seat motor ground is a splice off of the lumbar ground. It was wrapped in tape so I'm going to check the connection before putting it all back together.
#46
Legacy TMS Member
Thread Starter
The ground splice wrapped in tape was a solid connection. It had a very solid crimped band tying the wires together.
I went through every motor line and when the switch is in the center position, they are all grounded. When the switch is activated, the corresponding line get power. By making sure all lines at the connector were seat properly, I got the two up/down motors to run. The front/back motor ran for about a second and stopped. It also seems like the the two motors that work will stop working when they get hot. I think they whole rack just needs to be replaced. When I can swing the $300, I'll do it. Meanwhile, the car is drive-able so I'm good for now.
I went through every motor line and when the switch is in the center position, they are all grounded. When the switch is activated, the corresponding line get power. By making sure all lines at the connector were seat properly, I got the two up/down motors to run. The front/back motor ran for about a second and stopped. It also seems like the the two motors that work will stop working when they get hot. I think they whole rack just needs to be replaced. When I can swing the $300, I'll do it. Meanwhile, the car is drive-able so I'm good for now.
Last edited by TomServo92; 1/1/14 at 06:43 PM.
#48
Legacy TMS Member
Thread Starter
#49
legacy Tms Member MEMORIAL Rest In Peace 10/06/2021
Join Date: September 16, 2009
Location: Clinton Tennessee
Posts: 3,377
Received 125 Likes
on
101 Posts
Thats what happened to mine. Wife has to raise the seat when she drives my Mustang, i leave it all the way down. Dealer replaced the whole rack assy, just before my warranty expired Seems like a lot of people having problems with the power seat motors going bad
#50
Legacy TMS Member
Thread Starter
That's why I want to replace mine with a new, warranted rack versus one from a junker.
#51
A Man Just Needs Some....
So you did jump the motors direct right? Not sure if I got the results of that.
#52
Legacy TMS Member
Thread Starter
I didn't try running them directly due to time.
Last edited by TomServo92; 1/2/14 at 11:50 AM.
#53
NOT CURRENTLY ACTIVE ON THIS SITE! DO NOT USE PM FEATURE!
Join Date: October 25, 2010
Location: Dearborn, MI
Posts: 5,279
Likes: 0
Received 16 Likes
on
14 Posts
Let me ask this question. Did you guys notice any symptoms before the seats died? I ask because my '11 driver seat is rather loud (you can really hear the motors strain to move the seat) when I move my seat and I am wondering if that is a precursor to failure.
Thanks
Thanks
You should speak with your service manager at your Ford Dealer. He is in the best position to ensure a proper diagnosis, and will be able to provide available options and/or coverage for any work needed.
Also, remember repairs done at a Ford Dealer come with a 24 months/unlimited miles warranty. You can schedule an appointment online here.
Deysha
#54
Legacy TMS Member
Well my up down quit except the grinding of gear sound on the passenger side. I bet it was used maybe five times total. All the other functions worked fine. I have worked on many power six way seats years back. Most were easy fixes. I looked at my broken rack and thought it was an engineering overkill design. No wonder the dealer replaces it as an assembly. I hated to have the dealer work on it even if it was under warranty. I only got one small scratch on the door sill that I touched up. I wasn't happy about it but a car will have things happen to it that kind of gives it character.
#56
Legacy TMS Member
Thread Starter
#57
Legacy TMS Member
Thread Starter
This past weekend I replaced the nearly dead power seat rack with a brand new one. It cost me just over $300 but well worth it. The seat was stuck in a fairly uncomfortable position. It was a fairly easy swap and took only a couple of hours.
#58
Legacy TMS Member
Nice! Any tips/tricks, good sets of instructions you found, etc.?
#59
Legacy TMS Member
Thread Starter
No, it's pretty straight forward. There are four bolts underneath the seat cushion that hold the rack on (seat cover must be detached from base). Remove the wiring harness from the rack but don't forget where the plastic mounting pins attach. There is a small magnetic sensor on the right side of the rack that needs to transferred to the new one. Also, the seat belt buckle needs to be transferred as well. Once those are transferred, loosely attach the rack to the seat, flip it over and reattach the wiring harness to the mounting points and plug all the connectors back in. Reattach the seat cover and put it back in the car and connect the seat wiring harness to the car harness. Before bolting it back down, test it. If it functions correctly, tighten it all back down.
#60
Legacy TMS Member
No, it's pretty straight forward. There are four bolts underneath the seat cushion that hold the rack on (seat cover must be detached from base). Remove the wiring harness from the rack but don't forget where the plastic mounting pins attach. There is a small magnetic sensor on the right side of the rack that needs to transferred to the new one. Also, the seat belt buckle needs to be transferred as well. Once those are transferred, loosely attach the rack to the seat, flip it over and reattach the wiring harness to the mounting points and plug all the connectors back in. Reattach the seat cover and put it back in the car and connect the seat wiring harness to the car harness. Before bolting it back down, test it. If it functions correctly, tighten it all back down.