Fear not the seat pot (potentiometer) How to rebuild one without removing it.

roadracer311 · Jul 26, 2010

ernie said: ↑

Nice thread!
Click to expand...

Thanks Ernie!

mseals · Feb 1, 2011

Just wanted to say, again, that this is an EXCELLENT Thread!

Mike

Monteman · Feb 1, 2011

THANKS!!!!

Awesome write up. Never had the problem but it's just a matter of time before I do.

gus355 · Sep 30, 2011

I just played with the roof and it seems that you can get the roof to work just fine by simply flipping the seatbacks forward - without moving the tracks all the way forward - anyone else find this?

Edit: I mean if you are using the emerg. switch

mpodgor · Sep 30, 2011

I am surprised that with your low miles this thing failed so soon. Do you think oxidation on the potentiometer is the culprit? Like an old stereo with scratchy pots. I'm thinking maybe some good contact cleaner. I use this stuff called "Deoxit" D5. It removes oxidation. You can google it. It is the best stuff period!
I know your car has low miles. I'm thinking maybe by long periods of non-use that the oxidation occurred. Just a theory.
Mike

roadracer311 · Sep 30, 2011

mpodgor said: ↑

I am surprised that with your low miles this thing failed so soon. Do you think oxidation on the potentiometer is the culprit? Like an old stereo with scratchy pots. I'm thinking maybe some good contact cleaner. I use this stuff called "Deoxit" D5. It removes oxidation. You can google it. It is the best stuff period!
I know your car has low miles. I'm thinking maybe by long periods of non-use that the oxidation occurred. Just a theory.
Mike
Click to expand...

Thanks for the recommendation on the Deoxit D5, I'll check it out.

The potentiometer itself was in perfect shape, electrically. It was just the plastic ball joint that drives the potentiometer which failed. I've had several old cars and at about 14 years old, they all seem to start snapping plastic bits here and there.

mpodgor · Oct 2, 2011

It eats plastic for breakfast. The joys of city living. Just a theory.

roadracer311 said: ↑

Thanks for the recommendation on the Deoxit D5, I'll check it out.

The potentiometer itself was in perfect shape, electrically. It was just the plastic ball joint that drives the potentiometer which failed. I've had several old cars and at about 14 years old, they all seem to start snapping plastic bits here and there.
Click to expand...

WATSON · Feb 5, 2016

Some add-on's to a waaaay back thread that is still relevant as i fix my seat pots. .

From aeroengineman in 2007:

This is a series showing the splice of the Ricambi Pot onto the "White Ferrari connector" It also shows the installation of the mounting screw and how you will have to remove the screw with a TORX bit #20 and a 1/4 inch universal joint. I had to spice the White connector from the old Pot onto the new Pot from Ricambi. The new Pot from Ricambi didn't have the same wire color code so I suspect it is a similar spec but it had:

White wire = Brown (Ferrari)
White w/Yellow Stripe = Yellow (Ferrari)
White w/Black Stripe = Pink (Ferrari)

Here are some OHM readings made from my good (Driver's Seat) Pot:

Full forward Position:
Yellow to Brown = 0.51 KOHM
Yellow to Pink = 4.40 KOHM
Brown to Pink = 4.63 KOHM

My driving Position:
Yellow to Brown = 1.78 KOHM
Yellow to Pink = 3.05 KOHM
Brown to Pink = 4.63 KOHM

Full aft Position:
Yellow to Brown = 4.09 KOHM
Yellow to Pink = 0.79 KOHM
Brown to Pink = 4.63 KOHM

Ricambi Part set to roughly the same proportions as the Ferrari Pot

Full aft Position:
Yellow to Brown = 3.90 KOHM
Yellow to Pink = 0.66 KOHM
Brown to Pink = 4.42 KOHM
Click to expand...

WATSON · Feb 5, 2016

roadracer311 said: ↑

I didn't take photos of the next couple steps. Separate the white and black parts by pulling on them gently. De-grease the parts with alcohol and q-tips (will need to strip down the q-tips to fit into the socket). Apply a light coating of contact cement to the ball and the socket, set them aside for a couple minutes while you do the next steps.

With an Ohm meter, measure the resistance between the pink wire and the yellow wire. Now turn the potentiometer until this reads 4.4k Ohms.
Click to expand...

I did tonight:
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WATSON · Feb 5, 2016

We having fun yet?
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drbob101 · Feb 6, 2016

Did you fix it?

emac · Feb 6, 2016

This thread is so good I saved it twice. I must have read it a long time ago when I was learning about the 355, and thought it was worth bookmarking. Tried to bookmark it again last night!

cf355 · Feb 6, 2016

excellent thread

if this thread has not been added to the "348/355 - Master Sticky Thread Index" yet it should be now.

WATSON · Feb 6, 2016

drbob101 said: ↑

Did you fix it?
Click to expand...

They are dry and look good. But not installed yet. That will be a few weeks out as the seat belts are out for a cleaning and new webbing.

The pots track the KOHM pretty close so they should be fine.

I will post my results, but it will be a few weeks.

johnk... · Feb 6, 2016

Nice thread. Has anyone though of using Super Glue for this?

Enzojr · Feb 6, 2016

I wish someone would fix mine
So I would have a spare, my wallet still hurts from buying a new one.
I don't even have the skill set to see what broke on mine.
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WATSON · Feb 6, 2016

Ha. I think that's salvageable. PM if you want me to stitch that up.

Enzojr · Feb 6, 2016

Something in this area, I seem to be missing a part ?
If someone has the parts to repair this .... and the skill set
I would gladly pay you next Tuesday
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Enzojr · Feb 6, 2016

WATSON said: ↑

Ha. I think that's salvageable. PM if you want me to stitch that up.
Click to expand...

Sent you a PM

WATSON · Feb 6, 2016

From a different thread:

AFASTA1 said: ↑

I've come up with a few more "pearls of wisdom" since originally starting this thread. here goes:

1. "Epoxy" is not as permanent as i thought. after a year or so, the grease in the seat pot denatured the epoxy to the point where something that was once rock hard was now like silly putty. that is to say, the seat pot failed again after a year. when i re-did the repair this time, i used hot glue, which afte researching it a bit, seems to be impervious to all kinds of petroleum based lubricants. so far so good after about 6 months.

2. you don't need a multimeter to measure the resistance of the seat pot in various positions. it turns out to be even simpler than that. look at the attached photos to see the relative position of the very center slot of the seat pot. if you plan to re-install the seat in the full forward position, the center slot needs to point from 8 o'clock to 2 o'clock when you put it all back together. if you plan to re-install the seat in the full back position, the center slot needs to point fromm 10 o'clock to 4 o'clock. these positions correspond to the correct ohm readings i cited in my original post. just put mit back together as described and no need to get a multimeter or have the Ferrari tech put an SD computer on it.

hope this helps. good luck.
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lola t70 · Oct 19, 2016

High,

many thanks for your great post - as it is (sometimes) raining in germany!

Kind regards

Rolf

sl55 · May 11, 2017

Guys- I am just done performing this fix on my 95's driver seat.

I would like to add that we set it at 4.4 and it didn't work. We then checked and matched the passenger's seat forward value which was between 5-5.4 and it worked.

So I would say to anyone trying this procedure with at least one good seat go based off of the others seat value VS 4.4

Thank you again for this great post

drbob101 · May 11, 2017

sl55 said: ↑

Guys- I am just done performing this fix on my 95's driver seat.

I would like to add that we set it at 4.4 and it didn't work. We then checked and matched the passenger's seat forward value which was between 5-5.4 and it worked.

So I would say to anyone trying this procedure with at least one good seat go based off of the others seat value VS 4.4

Thank you again for this great post
Click to expand...

Great work! Good for you diving into that and fixing it so soon into your ownership.

Rifledriver · May 11, 2017

sl55 said: ↑

Guys- I am just done performing this fix on my 95's driver seat.

I would like to add that we set it at 4.4 and it didn't work. We then checked and matched the passenger's seat forward value which was between 5-5.4 and it worked.

So I would say to anyone trying this procedure with at least one good seat go based off of the others seat value VS 4.4

Thank you again for this great post
Click to expand...

The seats are often different from each other. The computer has no need for them to be matched so they often are not particularly if one has been previously repaired. There is a program just to teach it where they are now and operate off of that information.

emac · May 12, 2017

I have not done this....yet. But couldnt you put the seat all the way forward or back and then just mark it when you take it apart. Then put it back exactly how it was oriented?

I assume that is what Watson was suggesting in his post above.

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