Power locks & Power Seat problems

[Free2Explore]

I am having some electrical problems, I hope you can help me with....

My daughter just bought a 95 Explorer Limited. The power door locks and the power seats are not working. All make noises when you attempt to operate them, but nothing actually moves. I have checked fuses and relays and all appear to be fine. Since I am hearing sound as if they are trying to operate, I assume the motors are working fine.

Also, the interior lights that come on when the door is opened, sometimes it takes 15 minutes or so before they go off, but not always... sometimes they go off normally... a minute or two after closing the doors. I don't know if this could be related to the door lock/ seat problems.

Oh, and the keyless entry keypad will not operate the door locks either... the only way is to manually lock and unlock all of the doors. If I understand correctly, the doors are supposed to lock automatically when driving the vehicle, but don't.

Could these problems be related somehow, a bad ground or something?

I am not very car savvy, and I don't understand these power options making sounds as if they are trying to work... but can't.

Again, I am very illiterate about cars and if someone could help me by using "Explorer for Dummies " language, I'd be most appreciative.

Thanks a bunch.

 

[budwich]

Lots of posts on power door locks. If they are making a sound when you hit the lock / unlock, then it is likely mechanical as in linkages. At 95, your are probably taking a good "swig" of lubricant at all door positions. This is also somewhat related to your light on as there is a switch in each door to tell the GEM to turn on / turn off lights..... more lub. As for the seats, again if you hear noise, then it is likely mechanical... more lub or there is a possibility that the track is binding on carpets / mats.... there has been posts about that. Do the seats move if you "help" them? As far as the auto lock, its the same locking mechanics, so if they aren't working via the button, they aren't going to work via the RAP module which causes the auto lock function.... assuming you hear a noise of them trying. If they aren't trying to lock, then it might be electrical (look for PK/Y continuity at the lock relays in the rear cargo compartment access panel area)..... or perhaps the option is disabled, there is a sequence for disabling / enabling it.

 

[Free2Explore]

budwich,

Hi, and thanks for your reply!

I will try the lube on the doors and see if that helps. I have replaced the relays in the rear compartment with no benefit. Yes, I do hear sounds as if the doors are trying to lock, but they do not move at all.

The seats.... well, I just looked at them again, and they are not acting the same.

The driver side, I hear a motor sound when attempting to adjust the lumbar support. However, when trying the other controls, seat forward/back front up/down and rear up/down.... there is no motor sounds, just a clicking noise.

On the passenger seat, the lumbar support control acts as the driver side.... I hear a motor sound. However, the other controls do absolutely nothing at all, not even the clicking I hear on the driver side.

I have looked beneath the seat on the driver side, and all appears fine.... on track with nothing binding, but I cannot get it to budge at all...

I'm sorry to bring the same topics up again, I did a search on the problems I'm having, but most answers were either too technical for me to understand, or the symptoms did not appear to be the same.

Thanks again for your help!


Eidted to add:

OK, I have removed the driver seat completely so that I could see if there was anything caught up in the tracks, loose connections, etc.... everything looks ok there.

She is about 8 inches from reaching the pedals..... since I cannot get the power to operate, do you know if there is any way to manually move the seat up on the track before I replace it? That way, she could at least drive it until she can afford to have a professional look at it.

 

[budwich]

thanks for the additional info. as you have found, the relays aren't the issue for the locks, it is mechanical. If you search herein, I think in most cases, people have had to mostly lub things although I think they may have also found the odd plastic part / holder broken causing a stuck lock but usually on one door not all doors....

As for the seats, my 96 drawings show the power feed for the lumbar and the rest of the seat is the same feed.... since it is working for one thing, it appears to be there. However, it is two different connectors so I would check that you are getting voltage into the switch on the BK/W. This voltage is switched to three motors to cause the movement so you should see coming out on various pins toward the motors. Basically, the switches put voltage and ground across the motors and also reverse the two to reverse the motors.... pretty straight forward to look at with a meter... but probably not very easy to get at physically.... good luck. Same for the passenger side... not sure about the "clicking" difference as I don't see any relay in the circuit. As for moving a seat, I don't know of an easy way to move the track manually.

As for the other seats stuff... hmmm.... assuming it the same as 96, which shows that the lumbar is air driven which means the motor drives a small air pump to inflate a bladder. I don't have the option but there appears to be a "vent" position valve to release air... maybe its blocked open or broken open and of course you need to be sure that the air lines and bladder are holding their air.

Probably not much more help but maybe something will point to something else for you.

 

[Free2Explore]

My daughter took the truck to Ford to have it checked out.

They told her the seat track was bad and needed to be replaced.

$560 for the track + another $180 to install it. ... so, they want $740 just to fix the driver seat. Does this sound right? She has to have the seat fixed, she can't drive it as is.

On the doors, they checked out mechanically fine, nothing broken/missing/disconnected inside, so the problem, according to Ford is in the wiring somewhere. They want another $200 just to search for the wire/harness with the problem. (no telling how much it will cost to fix the actual problem if it costs $200 just to search it out)

When you press the door lock buttons, you can hear the relays clicking in the back of the truck, as well as a clicking sound from within the doors themselves. I don't understand how that could be a wiring problem within the truck somewhere..... I mean, if everything within the doors checks out fine (according to Ford, it does) and this is a wiring problem from so deep in the truck that they would have to spend hours tracking it down.... how are they getting power and attempting to work? I just don't understand that..... can anyone here tell me if this sounds correct or if Ford is trying to pull one over on my Daughter.

 

[Majisto]

Ford is trying to pull one over on her probably. My driver door does not always lock or unlock properly. I'm sure it's the actuator or something more mundane like a connector. $750 for a seat track is highway robbery though! People sell seats on here for a lot less than that, and it can't be that hard to pull a power seat out...

 

[budwich]

It appears that the track assembly doesn't "disassemble" meaning you have to buy the whole things... probably 400-500 new. However, 180 for install sounds high.... probably 30 minutes out / 30 minutes in... maybe an hour total @ rate ~$60-70 / hr.... looks like they expect about 3 hours.... I doubt it would take more than 1.5 hours but that's probably their "book time". If you can get at the connector on the motor assembly of the track and have access to a voltmeter, you can disconnect the wiring there (easy on connectors... they break easy with age) and try check for voltage at the various pins when you move the switches.... you should see 12volts or there abouts showing up on the pins. You should also check the grd on the assembly to ensure that it is well grounded to the body. Although it doesn't take much, you do have to do some basic things otherwise you are left to the "vultures"... oops auto dealers.

On the door side of things, I agree with you that if you are hear sounds, it doesn't sound like a wiring issue. Question: do any of the door lock or unlock from any electrical capability... ie. via switch on the doors, or remote? IF not, do hear "action" in each door (check all of them) when you try unlocking or locking?... make sure you clearly hear something at each one..... have someone press the door lock / unlock in the cargo area (well away from the doors) and have some one with their ear up against each door (one at at time of course.... otherwise you need a big ear... ). My concern is that you are perhaps hearing the click of the unlock/lock switch and NOT the actuator.... this would mean a wiring problem.
Finally, if you use the manual door lock "pin" (ie. lock knob at the top of each door), do you feel resistance in either the "lock" or "unlock" direction?

 

[caveman1]

I just did my seats with the same problem.The switch is bad.If you pull the switch out and replace it with a borrowed one it will all probably work.I fixed my switch by opening it up and cleaning all the contacts.Be careful becouse the switch is really complicated.You could buy a switch from a junkyard and try that.Should only be about 15 bucks.If you need to get a seat assembly form the junkyard as well just make sure the motors work before you buy it.Good luck with the doors i did those last month.very big pain in the butt.
Pull the actuators in the doors and try to operate them with out being conected to the linkage.You will need to remove the inner door skin.Good luck with that.Thats just to check the actuators.If they work you can adjust the linkage to operate the door locks.The linkage for some reason beyond me tends to get out of shape.I think it's becouse of people hitting them with thier elbow when the lock tips are going up and down.Good luck.