Driver Side Power Seat Failure

[Bub]

Okay, so last night the ol' lady was DD and drove us all home from the bar, which was fine today I get in the car to drive to work and the seat is stuck on the track in it's current position, (perfect for her, suffocating me) It's an 05 Trailblazer LS just the drivers power seat, I have all other functions (ass part up and down and angle and recliner) However I do not hear the motor engage to bring the seat back or forward, anyone have any ideas? I haven't dove into it yet I will be when I get home from work in the morning. I already made sure all my cd cases, floor mats, empty pop bottles and old french fries were out from under there and it made no difference. Thanks in advance

 

[6716]

Might be the motor. I've seen seat motors for sale on the interwebs.

There is a chapter on the power seats in the downloadable manuals on this site.

 

[The_Roadie]

If you don't hear the motor, do the lights dim a bit when you try to run it? If so, then the motor is working, but could be mechanically jammed. A few members here and on the OS posted about finding a way to use a flat screwdriver to unjam the slider in the track. If there's no light dimming like it's jammed, it could be the motor or the switch or the wiring among them.

If you have the memory seat module, it may be involved, but I don't have access to my schematics at the moment.

 

[Bub]

No light dimming nothing audible when the switch is activeated. I saw the screwdriver method. Ill try it in the a.m. I just find it wierd that forward backward are the only functions not working. And no memory seat

 

[Bub]

If you don't hear the motor, do the lights dim a bit when you try to run it? If so, then the motor is working, but could be mechanically jammed. A few members here and on the OS posted about finding a way to use a flat screwdriver to unjam the slider in the track. If there's no light dimming like it's jammed, it could be the motor or the switch or the wiring among them.

If you have the memory seat module, it may be involved, but I don't have access to my schematics at the moment.

I don't know if its a cog driven system but the screw driver trick didn't work unplugging it didn't work i hit the motor hard as hell and now it works. So maybe a flat spot? who knows

I know we but heads but i appreciate your help and your non-dickness this time.

Thank you

 

[Iahawkeye]

If you don't hear the motor, do the lights dim a bit when you try to run it? If so, then the motor is working, but could be mechanically jammed. A few members here and on the OS posted about finding a way to use a flat screwdriver to unjam the slider in the track. If there's no light dimming like it's jammed, it could be the motor or the switch or the wiring among them.

If you have the memory seat module, it may be involved, but I don't have access to my schematics at the moment.

I seem to be experiencing the same sort of issue except it is the front of the power seat wont move. I can move the entire seat forward and back, and the back of the seat will move up and down. Thankfully for my wife the seat is in the up position but for me I cant turn the wheel without hitting my knees. HELP

I tried your light dimming method and the lights do slightly dim when moving the switch up and down. It must be mechanically jammed correct? I just noticed the problem tonight and have not had much time to look underneath, but where might it be jammed and how might i go about un-jamming it? Thanks for any help.

 

[Iahawkeye]

Okay, I figured it out. There is a 10mm nut at the end of the cranking shaft. I tried to take it off to try and get the shaft to move without the stress or weight of the seat. As I tried to loose the shaft the motor and gearing in the motor felt like it broke free. Sure enough, the seat was unstuck and now mobs freely.

I tried to upload a pic take from my iPad, we'll see if it worked.

The nut is hiding at the top center part of the pic. It looked like it holds the plastic part that moves up and down. Anyways, thanks for the info.

 

[filthyfingers]

I had the same problem. The seat function was all good except the "back and forth" it would not work at all. Mysteriously this happened just after the battery went dead (always dies if not moved in 3 days). A day later all is well. ????

 

[yorel13]

Why not try- gm parts direct - on line for this part ?
Yorel13

 

[dla442]

Okay, I figured it out. There is a 10mm nut at the end of the cranking shaft. I tried to take it off to try and get the shaft to move without the stress or weight of the seat. As I tried to loose the shaft the motor and gearing in the motor felt like it broke free. Sure enough, the seat was unstuck and now mobs freely.

I tried to upload a pic take from my iPad, we'll see if it worked.

The nut is hiding at the top center part of the pic. It looked like it holds the plastic part that moves up and down. Anyways, thanks for the info.

I just had the same problem again, once under warranty and just tonight. Put a screw driver in the track by center console it it broke free and moving again. Sprayed some wd-40 in the track. maybe it was one of the kids cherrios? FYI the motor was working and dimmed the lights and could see it attempting to turn the cables tot he tracks. 5 minute fix

 

[@Bravada]

I have read through all the posts related to driver seat problems. My symptoms are different from all the rest...

It only works sometimes, early in the morning when the temperature is low. Moves back and forth and then after a few minutes it stops and then doesn't work the rest of the day. Up/Down and recline works all the time. The back and forth has been giving problems for a while now.

The problem started a few years back when it seemed like the back/forth movements wouldn't work when the seat was all the way down, so raising it up would allow you to adjust the seat position horizontally. But slowly this stopped and then I figured out that by wiggling the motor connector would make it work, but that too stopped working.

Read a post where "The Roadie" suggested checking the lights dimming when the switch was operated. The lights dim for all switches except for the one that moves the seats back and forth. So I inferred the motor was faulty. Bought a new one from amazon, installed it, but the problem is still there. You do hear some relay click when the switch is operated but the motor doesn't move.

It was only yesterday morning at around 6:30 AM, I went out and moved the seat to the desired position and after about 10 seconds of movement the seat stopped responding. As said above, it moves up/down and recline but not back and forth.

All the good helpful people out there... Any ideas? Thanks

 

[The_Roadie]

If you hear a click, then the switch command is being received by the seat memory module, where the relays are. If the relay is clicking, then its command side coil is being energized. If other seat movement motors work, then there's good power getting to the memory module.

So all there is could be the relay output contacts are flaky, or the wiring from the memory module to the motor. Temperature sensitivity could be in the relay, connector at the memory module or motor, or inside the motor itself. A voltmeter could track this down in a few minutes.