Driver's side seat won't move backwards?

[Matthewr]

Hey there. I have a 94 Explorer with hydraulic controls on the driver's side seat to move it up/down/back/forwards, but alas, it looks like the rear button on the controls has ceased working, meaning that I can move the seat forward but not backwards. Luckily, I'm the only one who drives it, so it's not a big deal, but I'd still like to find a workaround.

The passenger's side seat here has a manual lever for adjustments, but I haven't been able to find anything like that on the driver's side. When I took it to my mechanic for service a while back, though, they had managed to move the seat all the way back (the button still didn't work), so I'm guessing there must be some way to do it manually.

I'm about the most clueless person in the world when it comes to cars, so any tips would be appreciated. I dug around underneath the seat to see if there might be some kind of manual switch for the sliders, but didn't have any luck.

 

[little x]

If you don't want to dig through all the wiring to find the short you could easily swap in a manual track (like your pass side) from a junk yard X.

 

[Matthewr]

That might be easy for some people, but I doubt I'd know how to do it, unfortunately. Or know where to find the lever or how to attach it...if there's no easy fix I suppose I can just take it in. But thanks for the suggestion.

 

[kentpublic]

I had the same exact problem. Seat would move forward, but it would not move backward. When I took it to the dealership (this was a few years ago), they said that the parts were no longer available to repair the seat. Not helpful at all.

In passing, I mentioned the problem to my mechanic who told me to get some sandpaper and sand the electrical contacts INSIDE the control switch on the side of the seat. This involved loosening a few screws and unsnapping the plastic cover that holds all the buttons to the control switch. Once you do this, you will see that underneath the plastic buttons is a bunch of metal contacts that make contact with one another to actuate the seat motors. It was these metal contacts that I used a piece of sandpaper to remove the layer of corrosion that had built up over the years. The corrosion was acting as an insulator, so when the metal contacts touched one another, the corrosion prevented the electrical circuit from being completed. Just a few rubs of sandpaper and my problem was solved! I couldn't believe it! I had been living with this problem for years.

 

[awood]

My experience with my 94 is the same, except the problem wasn't electrical. The seat belt was binding and not allowing the seat to move back, only forward. Have someone get behind the seat and hold the right hand side seat belt (short harness) out of the way as the you apply the switch. (I think you can do this yourself, just reach around and apply the switch). I used a ty-wrap to hold the seat belt out of the way, and it works just fine.

The short seat belt is held erect by a hard plastic cover. This cover had failed to do it's job and was causing binding on the seat rail.