Broken driver seat

paco161

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I tried searching but came up with nothing related, so here goes with another thread...
I've got an 04 with the heated and cooled seats, tan leather (just in case anyone might happen to have another one for sale). The problem I'm having is that the right side of the seat back does not stay in place. It first started a month or so ago when I was sitting down in the car. I pushed up against the seat to adjust where I was sitting and something in the ride side popped. As a result, pretty much the whole right side of the driver seat came loose. I can get it to wedge itself still if I'm lucky, which is how I'm still using the same seat after all this time, but it comes loose more often now. I can even feel it moving under moderate acceleration, which hopefully might give you an idea of how loose it is.
My best idea as to the problem is that the gears on the right side motor (assuming there are any, I have no idea though) are physically broken as the seat has a hard time leaning up and down on that side. You can also pull on it and notice that there is a lot of movement from the right side of the seat while the left side stays still. I pulled the back of the seat off along with all the HVAC stuff in the back and could not get to anything that might be the problem. There was no luck pulling the seat out and looking from the bottom either, so I'm completely stumped as to what's wrong and what to do about it. I've also had no luck finding another seat. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
Well, the service manual is not encouraging about your situation.

"Power Seat Recliner

The power recliner tilts the seat backrest rearward or forward and is controlled by the seat control switch.

The power recliner cannot be repaired separately. If the power recliner needs to be repaired, a new front seat backrest frame must be installed. "
 
I'm fairly certain that's the part that's broken and I'm not really surprised that I'm stuck until I can get a new seat....bummer.
Thanks for the quick response!
 
Paco, Did you ever end up fixing this? I'm having the same problem on my 2000 and its just getting worse.
 
I had that happen on my 02...I tried to weld it multiple times, the only solution was a new seat from the Junkyard. Get rid of the instant ghetto lean quick! I had mine ghetto leaning for about 6 mos while i waited to find a new seat!
 
It gets scary when it insta-ghetto-leans on the highway...

at one point, I had found the perfect spot where it was the strongest, then my fiance took the car to the store one day, and I havent been able to find that perfect spot again :(
 
Yeah for a while mine would catch in a spot and be good for a day or 2. But after a week or so of that it was leaning all the time!
 
Funny how all these LS's have the SAME problems... my seat is doing this as well, I too found a "sweet-spot" where it was good for a while until I went to get my wallet out the other day and it popped. Now I'm ghetto leanin'....

Time to hunt for a seat I guess.
 
Im going to tear the seat apart this weekend and see what can be done.

Its tough finding grey 1st gen seats in good condition in Cleveland.
 
I had a Mark VIII with a broken seat frame. Probably similar to the LS seat. I took the seat apart and welded a piece if flat steel inside the frame. Worked fine. Never broke again. Love my LS but I sure miss the Mark!
 
Bumping this thread with the hopes that someone can help me out with something similar. I am the only person that drives my car so I never adjust it, I have it where I like it so no need to. Well this past weekend I went to the Drive-ins so I wanted to lay my seat back so I could relax and watch the movie. Well that didn't go well because only the right hand side would move, the left side stayed in place so my seat started to twist so I evened it back out and left it. Anyone have any idea how one side is adjusting but the other is staying in place? I can adjust the bottom of the seat forward, backward, up, and down, only the reclining portion is the issue.
 
I will have 2 2002 fan leather seats up for sale once I hear back from a buddy, if anyone is interested I want about 200 for the pair, no tears general wear, and all electronics work (no heat or cooled seats in mine) pm me for info
 
My problem appeared to be that the teeth on the adjustment gear on the right side of the seat were worn away.

So only my left side would adjust, unless there was no weight on the seat.

New seat fixed my problem.

Ended up just buying a tan seat and pulling the leather cover, and replacing it with mine.
 
My problem appeared to be that the teeth on the adjustment gear on the right side of the seat were worn away.

So only my left side would adjust, unless there was no weight on the seat.

New seat fixed my problem.

Ended up just buying a tan seat and pulling the leather cover, and replacing it with mine.

Thanks, I will have to take my seat out at some point and investigate.
 

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