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I'm having the following problem with my 2011 Ford Mustang: the power seat adjustment on the driver's side is no longer working.
At first, the errors only occurred sporadically, for example when adjusting the tilt angle up and down. After that, the height adjustment started having issues. And finally, the forward and backward function of the seat stopped working altogether.
I briefly sprayed the seat and the gaps with some compressed air and contact cleaner. Strangely, the forward and backward function worked again for a few seconds afterwards, but then stopped working completely. I've checked the fuse and the cables, but couldn't find anything unusual at first glance. I even ordered and connected a new seat switch, but the seat adjustment still doesn't work.
Does anyone have an idea what the problem could be? Could the motors or the control unit be defective? The passenger seat, by the way, works perfectly fine, there are no issues there.
Sorry Still Half Asleep Did Not See You Got New Switch. There are a Lot More Threads on The 05-09s in Regards To Seat Tracks and They Are The Same Setup So Might Want To Dig Around There!
Checking For Voltage at Pin 4 Would Look To Be a Good Start. As Shown in Connector Pdf. I Believe it Should Be Hot at All Times. If Not Hot I Would Look At Backside of Fusebox at Driver Fuse Seat Location. Driver Compartment Fuse 32. I Have Seen Rodent Damage To Wires Underside Before Causing Odd Issues.
That sounds like the same problem I had with my 2011. I finally ended up replacing the entire seat track once I verified that the motor was getting power but not working.
I had a Bad Track in an Old Dodge Pick Up And Tore Into and Was Able To Find a Piece Here & There on Ebay To Repair But You Got To Just Dive in and Find What Has Gone South. Just a Thought!
Ford Does Have a Repair Kit But it is Only For Height Adjustment Part.
I had a Bad Track in an Old Dodge Pick Up And Tore Into and Was Able To Find a Piece Here & There on Ebay To Repair But You Got To Just Dive in and Find What Has Gone South. Just a Thought!
Ford Does Have a Repair Kit But it is Only For Height Adjustment Part.
Hey guys, I thank you for your answers and advice. And sorry for the late feedback.
I have externally checked the fuses and wiring harnesses and could not find any visible damage. Unfortunately, I don't have the technical capabilities and the in-depth knowledge to search for the causes.
I suspect it has to do with the wiring harnesses. What I noticed is that the switch for the lumbar adjustment works perfectly; that switch is connected to a separate plug/cable. Another suspicion is that, in the worst case, the motors are defective. The motors had a slightly louder noise than the passenger seat. Strangely, the individual functions failed at larger intervals.
I forgot to mention: after only the forward/backward function worked, I stupidly sprayed the switch with some WD40 🤦 My mistake! After that, the forward/backward function only worked for a few seconds, then not at all. Then I tried using some compressed air and contact spray, then it worked again for a few seconds, but ultimately not at all anymore.
I went to my Ford garage today, the one I've been to before. I live in Germany, and there are very few garages, including Ford garages, that repair US cars.
The mechanic I spoke to earlier suspects there might have been a short circuit somewhere in the electrics, possibly due to the WD40, or that the seat rails are not working optimally. Now I have to wait until June 2nd, as that's the earliest appointment I could get.
Until then, I will also try again to see if I can find the fault myself after all.
Checking For Voltage at Pin 4 Would Look To Be a Good Start. As Shown in Connector Pdf. I Believe it Should Be Hot at All Times. If Not Hot I Would Look At Backside of Fusebox at Driver Fuse Seat Location. Driver Compartment Fuse 32. I Have Seen Rodent Damage To Wires Underside Before Causing Odd Issues.
KC
I thank you for the info. I will look again. You surely mean the fuse box under the glove compartment?
That sounds like the same problem I had with my 2011. I finally ended up replacing the entire seat track once I verified that the motor was getting power but not working.
What did the new seat rail cost you?
My biggest worry is that the motors are defective and perhaps everything would have to be completely replaced, which is really expensive.
My further concern is that here in Germany, we have to go to a state inspection organization every two years. They check if the vehicle is in technically perfect condition.
The inspection organization told me that if the seat switches don't work, that's a defect, and they can then revoke my operating license. That's a real problem for me.
Thank God I still have until October before the inspection is due.
But I'm already budgeting up to 2000 dollars for this problem.
Here is One on Ebay That I Believe Will Ship To Germany. It Will Get Spendy! It is Currently The Best Buy on a New One on US Ebay. I Did Not Find Any on Ebay Germany
I Think if Lumbar is Still operating You Do Not Have a Power Issue. Here is a Little Experiment
Not Sitting in Drivers Seat Get Someone To Stand to The Side of The Seat and Wiggle it Briskly Side To Side & Fore & Aft While You Try Each Seat Position on The Switch and See if it Has Any Movement. What Happens is Within The Three Way Drive Systems in The Seat you will get One Section Jammed Up It Ends Up Jamming All Modes. If it Frees Up at Anytime During Test You Likely Will Have To Replace Track Unless You Can Find Some One To Tear into and Check For Where The Failure Occurred and Try To Remedy. The Most Common Being The One Ford Has The Kit For as Mentioned in Above Post 6!
I Think if Lumbar is Still operating You Do Not Have a Power Issue. Here is a Little Experiment
Not Sitting in Drivers Seat Get Someone To Stand to The Side of The Seat and Wiggle it Briskly Side To Side & Fore & Aft While You Try Each Seat Position on The Switch and See if it Has Any Movement. What Happens is Within The Three Way Drive Systems in The Seat you will get One Section Jammed Up It Ends Up Jamming All Modes. If it Frees Up at Anytime During Test You Likely Will Have To Replace Track Unless You Can Find Some One To Tear into and Check For Where The Failure Occurred and Try To Remedy. The Most Common Being The One Ford Has The Kit For as Mentioned in Above Post 6!
KC
Okay, I will try it. Thanks. What's your opinion? Do you think all three motors under the seat could be defective? How likely is that? How would you rate the motors? Are they very robust and resistant?
I Would Venture, That is if You Are Getting Power That a Plastic Gear in The Seat Mechanism Has Broke and Once One Goes, It Gets out of a Synchronized Setup and Locks Up The Whole Unit after a Few Adjustments After That Part Broke.
When Repairing The Seat Track in My 92 Dodge Using some Gears an Aftermarket Supplier had on Ebay It Took Some Trial & Error To Sync Everything So it Did Not Bind Up. I Removed Seat From Track & Worked on Bench For Repair & Then Could Go To Truck With The Bare Track & Test Until I Got Everything To Work Together. It Was a Challenge But I Did Not Want To Spend The Big Bucks on a Good used One or Give Up & Put a Manual Seat Track in!
I Can Only Guess But I Would Lean Towards a Broken gear Vs a Bad Motor. It Would Need To Be Tore Down & Inspected to verify. Some Times Motors Can Have Bad Contact on The Armature & Brushes and a Cleaning Can get Those Going Again as Well. Also There Are Cables Like The Old Speedometer Cables Which Can Get Twisted Up.
If You Have Somebody Local That Restores Older Cars They Are More Likely Able To Repair Track Vs a Dealer Who Will Most Times Just Replace Entire Failed Unit. Actually The One on Ebay looks To Be a Pretty Good Deal Except I Don't Know What the Costs Will Be After The Ebay International Shipping Setup Gets ahold of it. They Are Pretty Heavy & Bulky.
Be Thankful They are Still Making The Seat Tracks as a Lot of S-197 Stuff Has Gone Obsolete!
This Maybe Helpful. I Had Forgot I Had a Bad Seat Track Out in Storage. It Was My Intention to Try & Repair & Have as A Spare For My Gt-500 or Sell Down The Road. Anyhow Here Are Some Pics Which Will Show Better What You Have!
I Wish I Had Tore Into as it Likely Has Same Issue as Yours if Track is Bad!
Could Be Handy if You Seek Out a Repair Shop So You Can Show Them Setup.
This is Exact Track You Have!
SEE COMMENTS UNDER EACH PIC!
Kc
TOP VIEW Note Three Cable From Motors to Transmissions. Gears in Trans Can Shear! Cables Can Twist & Bind Up! Transmissions Also See Speedo Type Cables From Motor To Trans. Bottom View See Fore & Aft Gear at Top Just Off Center Fore & Aft Gear Other Side!
[QUOTE=05stangkc;7091654]I Would Venture, That is if You Are Getting Power That a Plastic Gear in The Seat Mechanism Has Broke and Once One Goes, It Gets out of a Synchronized Setup and Locks Up The Whole Unit after a Few Adjustments After That Part Broke.
When Repairing The Seat Track in My 92 Dodge Using some Gears an Aftermarket Supplier had on Ebay It Took Some Trial & Error To Sync Everything So it Did Not Bind Up. I Removed Seat From Track & Worked on Bench For Repair & Then Could Go To Truck With The Bare Track & Test Until I Got Everything To Work Together. It Was a Challenge But I Did Not Want To Spend The Big Bucks on a Good used One or Give Up & Put a Manual Seat Track in!
I Can Only Guess But I Would Lean Towards a Broken gear Vs a Bad Motor. It Would Need To Be Tore Down & Inspected to verify. Some Times Motors Can Have Bad Contact on The Armature & Brushes and a Cleaning Can get Those Going Again as Well. Also There Are Cables Like The Old Speedometer Cables Which Can Get Twisted Up.
If You Have Somebody Local That Restores Older Cars They Are More Likely Able To Repair Track Vs a Dealer Who Will Most Times Just Replace Entire Failed Unit. Actually The One on Ebay looks To Be a Pretty Good Deal Except I Don't Know What the Costs Will Be After The Ebay International Shipping Setup Gets ahold of it. They Are Pretty Heavy & Bulky.
Be Thankful They are Still Making The Seat Tracks as a Lot of S-197 Stuff Has Gone Obsolete!
Okay, as I said, I have an appointment at a Ford workshop on June 2nd. The good thing is, the mechanic knows the Ford Mustang pretty well, especially the 2011 model, so the fifth generation.He is also very experienced with US cars in general.The mechanic mentioned that he will take a look at the seat rail and the gears.It's very difficult here in Germany to find a workshop that repairs US cars. Many workshops say: "No, we don't do that, we have no experience with US cars."In addition, you really have to be careful. There are some charlatans among the mechanics who know German cars well, but not American cars at all.They'll tell you something like: "No problem, bring your car over, I'll fix it for you," and in the worst case, they've destroyed and worsened even more and still want money from you. You really have to be very careful which workshop you go to. As I said, I will wait and see what the cause will be, what the mechanic will say. Until then, I will take another look myself to see if I can find the fault.
I Know what You Mean About The We Can Fix Anything Answer!
Hopefully I Have Given you Some Info You Can Use On Your Diagnostic Hunt. I Had Never Done a Track Before The Dodge & Just Dove in and Figured it Out. Sometimes That Works & Sometimes it Does Not. We Will Be Here if You Dig in and Find Something.
I Know what You Mean About The We Can Fix Anything Answer!
Hopefully I Have Given you Some Info You Can Use On Your Diagnostic Hunt. I Had Never Done a Track Before The Dodge & Just Dove in and Figured it Out. Sometimes That Works & Sometimes it Does Not. We Will Be Here if You Dig in and Find Something.
Best of Luck!
KC
I try to see if I can fix it myself again. In any case, I will let you know what the error was and how the whole story turned out. I think it's important that I share and pass on my experience, if someone should ever have the same problem in the future.
