Raffi Kurby

Good Afternoon MB World guys,
Another issue with my s560 (as always).
So about a month ago, my dad spilled a whole gallon of dawn dish soap in the car. I thought it would be a great idea to try to dilute it out using a pressure washer and a wet vac. I got the carpet back to its white color, but now the passenger seat power motors will not move.
The seat retains the heated features, and the "hugging when turning left and right". Also has the seatbelt working / weight sensor works, but the motors do not move up and down on the rails, and the seat does not move up and down.
Anyone got any good ideas on where I should start to fix this guy? fuses look good, but I can be wrong. Any advice welcome.

SW20S

You pressure washed the carpet inside the car?



All that wiring needs to be replaced, possibly the entire seat mechanism.

Raffi Kurby

Its a long story, but my dad let the soap stay for little over 2 weeks, so the dawn dish soap's color bled into the the carpet. It was blue-blue. Like really bad.
Hose did NOT work, and a carpet cleaner was not making any impact. I had to take desperate measures

I didnt let the water get too high, as I had the wet vac suck up the water all the time, I am just looking for like a "start here".
I assume the fuses arent ****ed since the rest of the seat functions work.

MBS63AMG

Have you dried it thoroughly with fans to allow the moisture to evaporate? Is the carpet soggy?

Raffi Kurby

Its dry, It was wet about a month ago, I didnt notice the damage until this weekend, when I took out the car for a ride down the town.
Carpet is dry. I was going to start taking the power seated module out to maybe swap it to see if I didnt just kill that thing.

I checked the fuses this weekend, the 30 amp and the 7.5 amp are both fine.
The buttons on the door work but the controller underneath the seat isnt communicating with the buttons.
Its going to be my first place to check, but the seat wont move forward anymore :haha:. Gotta find a mechanic to help me move things around, I found whole working modules for 150 on ebay. itll be a good start, because the modules chill underneath the seat, where the water and the soap could have gotten.

SW20S

That was a crazy thing to do. You should have taken it to a professional detailer who could have removed the carpeting and done the job right. You also are going to have to deal with mold etc underneath the carpet. The true cost of this is going to be way more than just having it done right in the first place.

Raffi Kurby

all of this could have easily been avoided if he didnt buy a "third" gallon of soap. I already took the mold into consideration when the soap was all over the carpet.

SW20S

What did you do to take the mold into consideration? If you didnt remove the carpeting then there is mold underneath it I promise you.

To do this right the carpeting needs to come out of the car and the padding and sound deadening underneath it likely needs to be replaced.

Nice Ride

Do you have the option to move the passenger seat from the Drivers location? Do the other features adjust from the command console like Lumbar etc? Make a clear note of all non working functions. Another small but start here, disconnect battery for 15 min, then try...

teksurv

You pressure washed your interior? Well since it's done, I would remove the carpeting, replace the foam/padding as recommended above and then apply electrical contact cleaner and then grease to every component you gave a bath to. Just as in a flood car, there is significant risk of corrosion.

SW20S

Essentially, it is a flood car. Thats a great comparison.

MBS63AMG

Somebody is going to be paying the stupid tax this year. That whole project will probably cost $5K labor and all, maybe more when the electronics are factored in for replacement.

Raffi Kurby

We already paid the stupid tax when my dad brought home a gallon of dawn dish soap when we had two gallons under the sink to begin with.

Thank you for the idea, but all I washed was the foot section of the seat. Yes there were wires but no devices, I was thinking maybe the water crept with the foam padding.

Lots of work, worst part is I cant move the seat forward/backward to lift the chair out and get to the under devices.

SO funny thing, The massage units still work, The lumbar is NOT adjustable, but it inflates/deflates with the massage units. The heat does not work, the fan does not work, the seat does not move, but the "hugging" features when you turn left and right works.

I already took that into consideration, its as good as ****ed. so Ignore the mold, He already devalued the car when he started using it as his daily driver.
Youre absolutely right Ill check out who can do that kind of labor, but I want to make sure the seat function is restored before I go to MBZ and order a new interior padding.

Raffi Kurby

I disconnected battery and waited about 10 minutes, The computers reset, but the chair continues to act the same.
all COMMAND functions work fine (lumbar moves, massage ***** kick in, heated ***** etc work), but the manual controls on the side do not work.

SW20S

Don't ignore the mold! Mold makes you very sick. Its more important that you deal with the mold than any of the electronics.

BenzV12

I have heard that first gen Land Rover Defenders could be able to withstand pressure washers but those were as simple cars as a screwdriver hence you would not screw the car if you ever washed its inside . I have seen some detailers pressure wash the engine bay but I would not do it at all .I hope OP get its resolved without damaging his wallet

Raffi Kurby

Updates:

this guy shows serious corrosion damage. Replaced him and I got MOST of my seat functions back (front back headrest up down), but the chest piece isnt moving around. Im going to assume the plug has some corrosion and needs to be cleaned. The fans work, and heating unit activates.
250 price tag

will_atl

@Raffi Kurby I’m glad to see that you are making some progress, well done!

if you are so inclined, you may want to take a look at this video ( ), it’s Legit Street Cars, and the efforts to revive the computers in a water damaged Alpina B7.

Raffi Kurby

Little bit of an update to the chaos.
I purchased a part that someone claimed would fit.
Installed it, Front back and headrest movement returned, but back piece would no longer move.

Purchased the "RIGHT" Part from MBZ for 200 bucks, and all features returned. all motion/mobility.
I am currently getting an error that is screaming at me to "get the part repaired" but ill just assume its an error flag that needs to be reset @ a dealership or dealership computer.
Ill keep you all updated on my journey.

Raffi Kurby

I took the car to a third party and they could not reset the computer.
The dash says "Right Passenger seat malfunction"
Anyone got any quick hotfixes to reset that?

Thanks in advance