AlsCobra

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.

TomServo92

There's a 30A fuse for the power seat and it's good.

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?

TomServo92

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.

cdynaco

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.

TomServo92

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.

TomServo92

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.

eric n

I am also experiencing some issues with my power seat. Everything works except up and down. I can hear the motor turning but... no movement.

TomServo92

Sounds like you have a mechanical issue. Stripped gears most likely.

David Young

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

TomServo92

That's why I want to replace mine with a new, warranted rack versus one from a junker.

AlsCobra

So are all 3 motors the same? If so a junkyard piece would probably be great. If they are all different motors then maybe I would go new.
So you did jump the motors direct right? Not sure if I got the results of that.

TomServo92

They are the same but I would not attempt to disassemble the rack to change them. It's pretty complex. It would be easier to just swap the whole thing out.

I didn't try running them directly due to time.

FordService

Hi guys,

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

dusman59

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.

David Young

Its looking like most of the people having problems with the power seat motors have 2011's.

TomServo92

It's looking that way. I did a search on TSB's and recalls for 2011's and there wad nothing about power seats.

TomServo92

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.

kylerohde

Nice! Any tips/tricks, good sets of instructions you found, etc.?

TomServo92

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.

kylerohde

Tom - how do I disconnect the seat cover from the base?