!550 Seats won't move back!

The 550's notorious electrical system hits again! I'm can't say this will work with certainty, but try resetting the car (there's a thread here somewhere that tells you how... something like disconnect the battery then let the car idle for 10 minutes). You'll have to re-do your clock and pre-sets, but it might work.

Now I need to figure out what's wrong with the alarm on ours...

 

There is a micro contact switch embedded under the leather in the back of the seat to sense the seat has hit the rear shelf and cut off power. Maybe that switch got stuck. Switch is just below the head rest on the back of the seat back. See red arrow pointing to location. Item 6 is blown up picture detail of the micro switch.

Try to located it under the leather cover by feel and maybe press it a few times to see if it will spring open.
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It happen to mine. If you hit the back switch it might move a faction of an inch. I had to do this over 200 times but it got back into position.

Good luck.

 

I'm pretty sure the micro switch to stop the seat when it hits the rear shelf is the reason my seats are behaving the exact same way.

How can I get to the switch, though? I can find no way to get my hands behind the leather.

 

Nicholas- Looks like you have to remove the leather seat back. Different design on the 575M, but same thing, remove leather cover to replace. Not a fun thing to do.

 

Nicholas, in lieu of trying to get to the switch itself, perhaps you can identify which cable it is on the bottom connector and bridge its contacts there?

 

Hi, guys.

I figured out how to unfasten the leather cover at the bottom of the seat back. I got my hand underneath and up to the switch. It was stuck. Popped it out and the seat works again.

NOW!! After driving today, the two battery indicators came on the dash I started smelling the battery before I got home, but made it home. I opened the hood to find the battery bulged on each side, extremely hot to the touch, and smoking from the battery vent. Other odd thing is that once I got home and stopped, the "high water temp" indicator came on as well, yet the water temp seemed fine by the gauge.

Any ideas there? Could this just be a bad battery (it's only one year old... Interstate)? Can alternators overcharge when they go bad (though I had this one rebuilt a couple months ago when I did the service on it). Finally, could the High Water Temp indicator be a fluke considering the charging system is going screwy at the moment?

Boy..... this car!

 

It's possible the battery's charge was way down and/or it has an internal shorted cell (both would cause the battery to have low voltage output) and the alternator simply overcharged it.

Once things cool off, measure the voltage at the terminals of the battery and see what you get. Don't work on it while the battery is hot & bulging - you and the car might experience an exploding battery...... And I wouldn't try to start it again with that battery, nor would I trust that battery in the future - bring it in for a warranty exchange. Interstate are really good about warranty claims.

 

Thanks! I've measured the voltage at the battery terminals and get 12.5v. That seems right, but for it to spit, smoke and smell, I suspect something is wrong with it.

I had the alternator rebuilt because it failed just before I decided to carry out the major service on my car. What's your thoughts on this high water temp indicator that came on in the Multi-function display? As I mentioned, the temp gauge read normal, and during the major, I replaced the temp sending unit as well as both temp sensors that trigger the fans. I'm thinking the temp warning is false and may be a product of the charging system not being healthy at the moment.

Thanks!!

 

Once the battery cooled down, I used it to start the car again, then measured the voltage at idle. I think it's safe to say that 19v is too high!!

Bad rebuild. Think I'm just going to get my money back for the rebuild and buy a new alternator.