SSE Seats are half dead-help!

[galaxieman]

Hello,
My daughter's car is a 1991 Bonneville SSE. Nice car. But not all of the seats 9 position adjusters are working. Front to back,base tilt and up and down are ok. Rest are shot. Seats are in permanent recline. Motors make noise, but dont bring the seat back up. Happens on both seats. Other positions seem to be run by air bladder. They make noise but do not adjust headrest,lumbar,etc, either.
Thanks in advance,
galaxieman

[Ekoastn]

Originally Posted by galaxieman

Hello,
My daughter's car is a 1991 Bonneville SSE. Nice car. But not all of the seats 9 position adjusters are working. Front to back,base tilt and up and down are ok. Rest are shot. Seats are in permanent recline. Motors make noise, but dont bring the seat back up. Happens on both seats. Other positions seem to be run by air bladder. They make noise but do not adjust headrest,lumbar,etc, either.
Thanks in advance,
galaxieman

I just bought the exact same car off my neighbor and it has the exact same problem with the same switches. He told me his wife once spilled a drink on the center switches and it might have shorted out. That would be the most likely scenario. I'm going to pull the switches and see if the contacts can be cleaned. If not, I will try to replace the switch cluster from a salvage yard. A cluster that big from the dealer would be a pretty penny. I'll keep you posted.

[Ekoastn]

Originally Posted by Ekoastn

I just bought the exact same car off my neighbor and it has the exact same problem with the same switches. He told me his wife once spilled a drink on the center switches and it might have shorted out. That would be the most likely scenario. I'm going to pull the switches and see if the contacts can be cleaned. If not, I will try to replace the switch cluster from a salvage yard. A cluster that big from the dealer would be a pretty penny. I'll keep you posted.

Well, it's apparently not the switch as I got another switch from a salvage yard today and it does the exact same thing. I'm at a loss, anyone else have suggestions?

ttt

[RAYVEN2929]

Originally Posted by Ekoastn

Well, it's apparently not the switch as I got another switch from a salvage yard today and it does the exact same thing. I'm at a loss, anyone else have suggestions?

ttt

hello

i did have this problem with my bonneville 89 sse and turn off to be
the wire under the passager side ..... i take the seat out of the car and redone the loose wire . and work perfect since , anyway hope that gone help you good luck

[Ekoastn]

Thanks! I'll give it a shot

[Ekoastn]

I have definatively found the problem to the recline issue on the bonneville seats. If the seats budge slightly when pushing the recline button, but don't move here's the issue. I pulled the seats out and tested all electrical ciruits, connections, switches and they were all ok. I traced the problem to the jack screw that is on the recline arm at the base of each seat. The problem is that over time, dirt gets caught in the grease on the jack screw and crystalizes the grease in the threads.

The seats must be pulled out and the black cable detached from the jack screw gear at the base of the seat (not from the motor). To access the jack screw, you have to detach three "hog rings" (Metal rings resembling small key chain rings) on the side of the seat that faces the door. These rings hold the seat fabric to the side of the chair. The area you need to access is at the end of seat (elbow of the seat) where the back rest meets it. Remove the trianular gear mounting plate with the hex screw in the middle by taking out the screw (bolt) and using pliers to bend the three metal tabs that hold it in place.

Once the screw is exposed, spray it liberally with PB blaseter or WD40 and use a wire brush to dislodge the old caked on grease and dirt. clean the entire area and grooves in the screw. Also very important is to spray the receiving end where you just took out the cable and use a #3 square bit on the end of a ratchet to lossen up the gear. Keep spraying pb blaster or equivalent and turning the gear until it loosens and frees up. When you are turning the gear with a ratchet, it will not look like the gear is turning, but it is, it's just geared very high.


Reinstall the cable and test by using a 12 volt supply patched into the harness to see if the cable now turns freely.

When it is free, reapply grease to the screw and close up the fabric with the hog rings and reinstall the seat.

Repeat for the other seat if necessary.

Yes it's a lot of work, but if I took it to the dealer, they would have charged me for an hours of "diagnosis" and probably replaced the entire reclining mechanism or worse.

If you have the tools and the time, it's worth it. Both of my seats now recline up and down perfectly and I ahve a big smile on my face that I was able to avoid the dealer.

Let me know if you have questions, I would be happy to answer them.

[jkinney]

Great job EKOASTN, and excellant instructions.