Electric drivers seat motor broken....Problem!

G

gingergladiator

Member
Can I move my seat forwards & backwards without the electrics?

Soon after buying my Z I realized that the drivers seat won't move forwards or backwards. This wasn't a huge problem as I'm very tall & the seat was as far back as it could have been when I bought it. Yes, foolish me for not checking :(
Anyway this weekend I'm attempting to remove the roof and change the hydraulic motor as it kicked the bucket due to water damage late last year.
I discovered after reading Shipkiller's excellent how to guide that I would need to move my seat forward to get access to the wiring and mounting bolts :o
This doesn't appear to be a problem (fingers crossed) as I can gain limited access by tilting the seat forward.

Anyway I have read (also on Shipkiller's seat removal guide) that you need to move the seat as far forward as it will go to gain access to the bolts to remove it, but it seems the motor has gone & moving the seat isn't an option.
There MUST be a manual override to move the seat, surely?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

GG
 
Once you get the seat moved it is very easy job to get at the motors.
I don't think there is a manual override (stand to be corrected, I will have further look tomorrow).

The motors drive on a gear onto a toothed track. You may be able to turn the motor by hand or by a flexible drive from a drill?

Can you adapt a tool to remove the seat bolts with the seat in its present position?
 
From memory, the TIS directs you to disconnect the motor, then rotate the drive shaft by hand. I imagine the motor has a screw drive that prevents it from turning manually, otherwise the seat could move unintentionally. They make it sound simple, but actually doing this task looks to be anything but simple. :cry:
 
The motors have a square drive (female) to turn the motormanually.
The motor to move the seat forward/bacward is unfortunately one of the hardest to access and drives the long shaft that sits across the base between the runners. Th mototor is positioned nearest the floor closest to the back of the car.

The gearing is such that you need an awful lot of turns to move the gears on the seat rail :(

I suggest that you rig up a flexible drive with a drill and try that. The bit that fitted was a 2.5mm square bit. Good luck :thumbsup:

SSL29140_zps5d2bf9de.jpg
 
:D Brilliant posts, thanks so much for the prompt replies.
I took my roof off today to replace the hydraulic motor, which was a bit of a ball ache.
My hands are smashed to pieces now so i might wait a couple of weekends before I attempt to do anything with the seat.

Shipkillers how to was amazing, but I did find that the new motor is reversed, that's both the hydraulic lines and the electrics. If anyone is attempting this just go by the units markings itself and everything works out of the box. The switching was a little confusing at first and look me a lot of head scratching before I had the courage to put the roof back on, but once it was all linked up everything worked first time.
I discovered that the vinyl by the seals had split so I spent a good while hot gluing layers of fabric and gaffer tape to repair it. Seems to have done the job nicely.

I'll keep you up to date when I get round to sorted out the seat.

Thanks again ;)
 
So I never got round to doing this until I had my MOT last week and found out that as of last year it an MOT failure to not be able to move your seat horizontally. Brilliant.
I bought a flexible drill extension & disconnected the yellow block at the front of the seat (which seemed to turn off all power to the seat & tried manually driving the motor but the b4$%4£d wouldn't budge. All I've managed to do is cut my arm.....a lot.
There must be a manual override? Surely.

HELP! :(
 
I'm guessing with the position that it's in you can't undo the four bolts that fix it to the floor?
 
I meant the bolts that fix the whole seat to the floor.

Am I right in saying you can lift the seat up and down?

If so, I'd say you could get the seat all the way up.. then undo the four 13mm (iirc) bolts and remove the seat. From there you should be able to sort it out.
 
The seat won't move & is all the way back, so its covering the rear bolts that fix it to the floor, which means I have absolutely no access to them.
 
I have read somewhere that if you turn the key to the first position, then press the switch to move the seat & physically force the seat it will drive the motor manually.
Does anyone know if this will work or am I in danger of destroying the gearing? I really need a solution that will keep the seat functioning to get it through the MOT.
 
Hmmm, well second hand seats aren't expensive (as long as they're non //M), I'd say risk it.
 
I don't think it will do any harm, putting power to it probably releases a Motor brake and then you're driving the motor mechanically, I'd say try it too !
 
I have a few motors spare from my E46 if you need one check the part number give me a PM, just sort out postage and its yours, Ed
 
If it all goes tits up I have a Sapir set of seats I am planing on playing with. If you need any bits let me know happy to help a new member out especially a hands on one :thumbsup:
 
You guys are amazing. I really appreciate the help. The part number is 52107112654. I'm hoping I can get it sorted tomorrow as the MOT runs out then & I'd love to get the retest done on Monday, but hey we will see how it goes.
 
Well no joy with manually moving the motor. Seems like its just jammed. I'm going to double check the fuses but I'm sure if all the other adjustments work its unlikely it will be that.
 
I agree, there is only one power feed for all the motors so its either the switch or the motor.
 
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