Power Seat Problem

[redhat]

My driver-side seat on my 96 EB is not working properly. The height adjustment for the front of the seat will not lower – after having been raised to the max height by my son. The electric motor runs and the seat position changes slightly but can’t get the front of the seat all the way down. It seams like it is hitting the limit switch that shuts off the power to the electric motor before the seat goes down very far. Anyone know if there is a manual adjusting screw or some way to bypass the power feature all-together? I’ve looked at it, but without taking the seat out, don’t see an easy fix. Any ideas?

Thanks,

R

 

[jimbo74]

even all the way down the front of the seat is high.... it probably never went down and know that yuor kid played with it you belive it is broken... the seat rakes backwards in an attempt to craddle you..... the seat only move about 3 inches up or down and tilting can mislead your judgement of old seat position

 

[redhat]

No - its not working right.

The passanger seat on the 96 is also power with the exact same adjustments as the driver side. I can make the passanger seat "level" at a much lower overall seat height than on the drivers side. The forward most button will raise and lower the front of the passanger seat about 3 inches - as you stated. The drivers seat used to be the same - now it moves about a quarter of an inch before it stops (hardly at all).

There are no obstructions under the seat - the screw that adjusts the height is simply not moving very far - or not moving as far as it should and used to.

Thanks for the thought.

 

[Robert]

I can tilt the front of my '97 so that it is lower than the back. The seat comes out very easily which is where I would start. It is held on by 4 bolts. Once you remove the bolts you should be able to undo the wire connectors. I can't remember how the seat-belt latch is mounted to it but it shouldn't be hard to figure out. Start there. Once you have the seat out, you will get a much better look underneith to see where it is hanging up.

 

[Kev96V8]

I just replaced the switch in the passenger seat last week. It wouldn't move back at all. The new switch fixed my problem, but I didn't have any response at all when I tried to move the seat back with the old switch. Every other direction worked fine. Sounds like you are getting a response, just not in the magnitude that you used to. Could the adjusting mechanism seize up some how? If so, you could probably burn out your motor pretty quickly by trying to adjust the seat in that direction.

 

[redhat]

Got it down!

I was able to disconnect the worm gear from the seat and turn it by hand. Once I connected it back up to the seat I was able to lower it all the way. I thing the motor is starting to go bad? Anyway, it's where I like it - so no rush to fix at this point.

Thanks for the ideas!

 

[restill]

Originally posted by Kev96V8
I just replaced the switch in the passenger seat last week.

Where did you get the switch? and how much was it? I am having the same problem now.

 

[Kev96V8]

I bought it through a Ford parts guy that I have used many times in the past. Bill Jenkins @ Sentry South in the Boston area. I think the switch was approx. $40, but I don't remember for sure. I still have the receipt at home and can check if you need me to. Any parts dept. should be able to quote you a price, though.

Good luck!

 

[restill]

Is there a good way of testing to make sure that it is the switch? The seat goes forward but not back. Can I assume that the motor is fine b/c it works in one direction? It also won't go down, if that helps.