Hi, My F355 spider seats are only moving back-wards and not forwards. It is concerning both seats. Does anybody have a clue and is it a common problem? Thanks for the help.
Make sure the top is completely closed or open... if not, the soft top control unit may not allow the seats to be manually moved. Make sure the windows are down too. You may be able to get your seats to move through bypassing the seat potentiometers (these are used to sense the seat position, ie. make sure the seats are forward enough to clear the opening/closing top): Look under the front of the seat, there should be two electrical plugs... remove the WHITE plug which is for the seat potentiometer (the black plug is for power) - this should allow the seats to be moved. It sounds like a problem with either the seat potentiometer(s) (very common), or the top control unit is confused and doesn't sense that the soft top is either completely closed or open (could be bad switch somewhere in the top).
It's likely that your seat potentiometer thinks your seat is all the way back. When the seat pots fail, they no longer turn, and the seat thinks it's in whatever position it was in when it failed. Here's a thread about diagnosing and repairing the seat potentiometer. Cost me $3 and takes maybe 2 hours if you really take your time. Could do it in 30 minutes the second time. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=288373
+1 to fix the problem. If you just need to get the seats moving in the mean time, you can simply unplug the postentiomiters. As I recall, there are two connectors under the seat, a four wire connector for the motor, and a two wire connector for the seat pot. Unplug the two-wire connector and the seats will move back and forward again.
