hogan

Passenger seat will go forward and back; can not raise or lower it, currently in down position. What could be the cause of this? Checked owner's manual - passenger seat and driver are on same fuse (expected would not be a fuse issue - troubleshooting 101 - try the obvious before digging deeper). What drives the raising and lowering: pneumatic, cables, hydraulic? Curious enough, and very very odd, as I had the door open and tried to move the seat up/down, began to smell a gas fume (chalked it up to first bad weather in Chicago and had gunned it a bit to get up a driveway...hopefully not related).

Where can I find information on the mechanics of the seat? Saw one post where their problem was a twisted cable. Assumed that was for moving forward and backward. I did not dismiss cables could also for raising and lowering. Attempting to DIY.

Just purchased the car Tuesday, 12/7/10. 114k miles, excellent condition and below $9k. Still learning it's personality/quirks before taking it to an Indy or MB dealership for repairs.

S_Taylor

There's a switch on the door where the seat controls are. My guess (thru experience with a 94 Cab that had a passenger seat go at at 110k miles) is that you'll need to get a new switch. Should be waayyy less than $100 bones.

Of course, check it first!

S_Taylor

And, congratulations!

rivcal4life

The switches are easily repaired. If that is your problem, and it probably is, there is a writeup somewhere on these boards. Basically, the metal contacts within the switch get dirty/corroded and won't allow a full circut. Just remove, disassemble, clean/sand the contacts and there you go!

zach1328

Definately do the repair on your own.
I had a problem with the passenger seat in my 300E, it wouldn't go up or down, but other than that it was fully functional. It wasn't a big deal since it could still go forward and backwards.

About 6 months after that, i was cleaning my car so i put the driver seat down (the backrest) and it got stuck. It would go backwards but not forwards, so i thought it was stuck or something.
I put the backrest back some more, into a position that would be impossible to drive from.

I took it to the shop that always works on my car..........AND got both the passenger and driver side fixed.
Damage was....$450.

And it was only the little switch.
I have the record from the fix, but no time to pull it out right now, but i believe it was like $50 in parts and something like $400 labor.
Idk for sure, but it was something ridiculous.

Anyways, point im trying to make, DIY!!!

hogan

Thanks everyone, great advice...DIY it will be. What I didn't share, it was my wife's maiden voyage, so to speak in my new 'older' car. And, guess who found it wasn't working? Right. 30 minutes between destinations was too long. After the switch is repaired, I'm considering an ejector button for the passenger seat...just in case future issues arise.

hogan

Found previous posting on removing the switch. Removed it, unforutanely, the backrest knob was stubborn and as gingerly as I tried to pry it off, the post to the switch snapped. Not a big issue, still works, but will require another switch. Since this happened, chose to investigate how this device works, looking for all the contact points w/o breaking it further before the replacement part arrives. Ok, final verdict, front part of seat now rises, but back part does not. Stopped with that success and have no idea why it started to work...did not do much cleaning of the switch connectors to warrant it. Could simply have been the reseating of the connectors/cables. Thanks again for everyone's assistance. I wouldn't have embarked on this venture without your input...simply would have said, "dealer, I have a problem, please fix it", that will only happen when major issues arise, if they do.

Thank you.

pifcat2

If you have a Pick N Pull or any dismantling yard get a used switch or two from a '91+, they are the same. Swap it in and if it doesn't work, return it for another. It takes 5 minutes to swap and remember to remove the plastic round clip on the backrest pivot post. You can also swap faces as these posts break. The internal individual switches are more difficult to disassemble so I just swap the whole switch assembly.

Hanno

You may try spraying a small amount of contact cleaner (make sure its "plastic safe") into the switch around the posts. I just restored function to one doing that and its slightly quicker to remove just the knobs rather than the whole switch. Spray it in, exercise the ports and with luck it functions again.

hogan

Excellent idea - thx. Also decided to purchase another switch, found one on ebay for $50 delivered. Arrives tomorrow, it was tested (so they said), pulled from a 1995 e320. I'll still try the spray.

hogan

Finally received the new 'used' switch - that was the issue that is no longer an issue. Thank you.

rivcal4life

Glad to hear we got it right for once!