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Driver Side Seat Stuck

Discussion in '348/355' started by rumster, Jul 19, 2011.

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  1. rumster

    rumster Rookie

    Feb 5, 2007
    26
    #1 rumster, Jul 19, 2011
    I was lowering the top in my F355 and the driver's seat became stuck in the forward position. Also, the roof would not engage past the "beep" when pushing it back. It will return to the closed position just fine. Also, the passenger seat and windows operate normally. Could this be a bad sensor? As an aside, the car went through an emissions test the day before I attempted to lower the top. Coincidence? Or could something have gotten scrambled in the ECU?

    Any thoughts would be appreciated. For what it's worth, I hope this does not happen to anybody else. I had a terrible time trying to extricate myself from the driver's seat while pinned to the steering wheel!
     
  2. plugzit

    plugzit F1 Veteran
    Silver Subscribed

    Dec 1, 2004
    7,776
    Redondo Beach, CA
    Full Name:
    Bruce Bogart
    #2 plugzit, Jul 19, 2011
    Maybe the typical potentiometer problem?
     
  3. yelcab

    yelcab F1 World Champ
    Consultant

    Nov 29, 2001
    13,556
    San Carlos, CA
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    Mitchell Le
    #3 yelcab, Jul 19, 2011
    You can pull the connector to the motor and apply 12v to the pins to see if the motor works or not. I have a 12V motorcycle battery I drag around for that purpose. If the motor works, and the seat does not respond to the switch action, you pull the switch and test its functionality by itself. If the switch works, then the remaining culprit is the top ECU.

    I don't see how a bad pot would disable the seat from moving, but there are many things in this world I don't know about.
     
  4. X11OUD

    X11OUD Formula Junior

    Mar 22, 2008
    729
    Manchester, England
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    Neil
    #4 X11OUD, Jul 20, 2011
    The System monitors the seat position for the fully forward and fully back values, if it sees the fully back value and your seat is forward, it will not move the seat back.

    Mine has been like this since last summer, I moved the variable resistor off the pot to just under the front of the seat to adjust it myself when required. I will at some point get the time to put in my new pot.
     
  5. rumster

    rumster Rookie

    Feb 5, 2007
    26
    #5 rumster, Jul 20, 2011
    Okay, the motor is working so that is positive. In fact, it seems like the program command wants the seat to continue to move forward--except that it is already all the way forward. I believe that the roof, windows, and seats are all tied together within the system, but maybe there is not recognition of where the driver's seat is within the "top down" process.

    I had a situation a few months back where the driver's window would not operate on my Vantage, but all that took was a Flash Reset on the ECU.
     
  6. roadracer311

    roadracer311 Formula 3

    May 6, 2009
    2,398
    San Francisco
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    Paul
    #6 roadracer311, Jul 20, 2011
  7. yelcab

    yelcab F1 World Champ
    Consultant

    Nov 29, 2001
    13,556
    San Carlos, CA
    Full Name:
    Mitchell Le
    #7 yelcab, Jul 20, 2011
    As Neil pointed out to me above, the seat potentiometer may be a culprit in this instance. And, because the motor works, you can actually remove the seat in order to swap out the seat potentiometer. Good luck.
     
  8. rumster

    rumster Rookie

    Feb 5, 2007
    26
    #8 rumster, Jul 21, 2011
    The prior thread was helpful--going to get the part ordered tomorrow. It's frankly too hot to drive that car with the top down anyway. Into the triple digits here in Chicago!
     
  9. roadracer311

    roadracer311 Formula 3

    May 6, 2009
    2,398
    San Francisco
    Full Name:
    Paul
    #9 roadracer311, Jul 21, 2011
    It's easier to repair the part than replace it. You don't have to completely remove the seat pot to repair it.

    I repaired mine just over a year ago (as shown in that thread) and it's still working perfectly.
     
  10. rumster

    rumster Rookie

    Feb 5, 2007
    26
    #10 rumster, Jul 25, 2011
    I actually called the dealer and they mentioned that as well.
     

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