3rd row seat motors burned out and can't access spare tire

[boberv]

Long story short, roof leak down 3rd row seatbelt burnt out lift motor and now I can't access the spare tire with seats in fold down position. 2 grand to replace and repair. Anyway to manually fold seats to get access to spare tire? Local Ford and Ford India no help, expired warranty "sorry, too bad" explantion. Thanks in advance, Bob

 

[613GT500]

That's some bad luck.
Brute force?

 

[peterk9]

There have been a few that had issues with the folding function and the issue was that something had come out of place. I forget exactly what it was but I had the same issue when something got caught in the seat when it started to unfold. I was able to access the arm/lever from under the front of the seat cushion part and pop it back into place. I don't know if releasing that item will free up the seat or not. Are you sure it is the motor? Many have had a similar leak without having it affect the 3rd row seat motor. In fact I'm not even sure where the motor is located. There are two items listed in the engine bay fuse box. A 3rd row release relay and a 3rd row seat module. Not sure if those may have anything to do with the issue. Good luck.

Peter

 

[boberv]

Ford mechanic said it was both motors, they were rusted and most likely from the rear hatch leak that Ford knows about. Water runs down the seatbelt right to the location of the lift motors. I took a picture where the default is. This is something else I'll have to fix.

 

[peterk9]

Ford mechanic said it was both motors, they were rusted and most likely from the rear hatch leak that Ford knows about. Water runs down the seatbelt right to the location of the lift motors. I took a picture where the default is. This is something else I'll have to fix.

There is a long thread on that issue. Water Leak If it has been going on a long time, I wonder what the spare tire well looks like?

Peter

 

[boberv]

Thanks for the link Peter, I definitely have that leak problem. Hard to believe that wasn't a recall issue. I don't think I have any recourse other than shelling out the cost of the repair for the leak fix and the 2 grand to replace the lift motors that were damaged as a result from the leak. Not too happy!