1996 Explorer front pwr seats dead

[Turdle]

When I stuck 97 seats in our 93 I had to change 2 pins with each other, reverse polarity on the switch. So, at some point Ford did switch seat wiring.

 

[tekctrl]

I'm beginning to suspect an open/broken circuit in the car harness. The 8-pin green male connector has no current on any of the pins, regardless of whether the ignition is on or off. In the seat that I took out there's a black female 8-pin connector that I believe it went to. Am I correct that the green 8-pin connector is necessary for proper operation? I Hate Automotive Wiring!

 

[CDW6212R]

The car wiring should be very simple unless they included any of the rare memory seat circuits. There should be just one main power wire, mating large ground wire, a little one for the seat belt chime/sensor, and maybe if it had a side airbag, another tiny wire that goes to for example the yellow thing you pictured on that 2001 seat. In 1999 side airbags became optional, but all seats then had a connection for it no matter what. The seats without it did have a built in resistor, which replicates the air bag if it had one.

The power wire should be constant power, as well the ground is too.

 

[Turdle]

Possible blown fuse from poking around.

 

[tekctrl]

Turdle: Thought of that and checked ALL of the fuses. All fuses good.

 

[tekctrl]

Got it figured out! Turned out that the gray 2-pin connector from the car's harness was the hot and ground leads to the seat. Clipped the mis-matched OEM connectors off and replaced them with a M&F 4-lead trailer connector and it's working again! Thanks to everyone for your assist!

 

[jammor]

Jammor; I'm going to have a pair of leather/suede-covered '96 seats to get rid of shortly if you're in the market. I won't be using them and they'd just take up scarce space in the garage (which is already full of parts that I'll use 'someday').

Thanks man! PM me and will see if we can work out a deal. I have a pull-a-part near my house and it usually has several sec gens in stock so if there is anything simple (that can be mailed) I can go look for you. Jim

 

[tekctrl]

Jammor: I guess that you're in Atlanta? The seats are sitting in my garage about 12 miles E. of the St. Louis arch, so that'd probably be a looong way to go for new seats. Along with some other parts that I need to be rid of, I posted them to Craigslist ( 1996 Ford Explorer power seats - auto parts - by owner - vehicle... ) the other day.