Hello, everyone. This is my first post on the forum, and I don't mean to revive an old thread, but, I noticed, as I was reading through it that some were asking for a "Manual Conversion" for this assembly.
I have a simple manual conversion mod, and I figured it might be useful to someone else who doesn't want to spend the $225 - $300 for the replacement part.
As you can see in the picture, I cut off the mount for the gear box, and removed (with some brute force) the gearbox itself from the assembly. (Basically, I used a reciprocating saw to make slices throughout the plastic gearbox and then busted it out with a screwdriver and hammer.) This leaves about 2 inches of shaft open for us to work with.
Then, I used a spare 1/4" drive socket and drilled holes through it. (I don't remember the exact size of the socket that I used) Then I drilled a hole through the end of the shaft, and fastened the socket over the shaft with a cotter pin.
Now, I just use a 3/8" drive speeder handle, with a 3/8" - 1/4" reducer to spin the shaft and raise and lower the seat. ($6 at harbor freight) I can actually raise and lower the seat about the same speed as the original motor does it. And, there is no need for any locking mechanism to keep the seat up or down. It stays in place with friction, just like it does with the motor attached.
I know this isn't a step by step guide on how to do this, but the fix is simple enough that you really shouldn't need one. If you have any specific questions on any of it, feel free to ask. You still have to take the entire seat apart to do this mod. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to maneuver the drill in the right spot to drill the hole through the shaft.
Anyway, I didn't see anyone else provide a permanent manual solution, so I figured I would share what I did. I could make a video of the functionality if anyone is interested. I found this thread by googling a fix for the seat not moving, so hopefully someone else will find this useful.
