W126 Orthopedic Seat Installation Phase II

[Solid Snake]

Hey guys,

It's been a while since I've last posted about my orthopedic seat installation, as a lot has come up and ripping the interior out of my car wasn't exactly the first thing on my mind

I've gone a veeeery minimally invasive route for the install, and am pleased with my progress thus far.

Okay, so, There are 4 major components to the system:

-Orthopedic Vacuum pump: Central locking pump in non-ortho equipped cars will not work, as the ortho pump has two outlets. Harness stays the same, save for a third pin for the socket

-Vacuum Reservoir: Exactly what it says, a double ball shaped reservoir utilized by the system to keep pressure. I was missing this earlier and by the grace of Karl Benz' spirit, ElRojo was able to acquire one for me

-Seat bladders: The horsehair pads are the same, save for a small cut out to allow the tubes for the air bladders to exit the seat.

-Seat adjustment controller: This little box is purely mechanical, adjusting flow via a dial and a knob. I tested the white sections with a flashlight to see if they are able to be illuminated, and they are, but I have no documentation stating or showing any form of fiber optic or bulb in these controllers... Might retrofit at some point.

Okay, besides those components, you need maybe 30 feet of vacuum tubing and rubber connectors.


Here's what I've done thusfar:

-Installed seat bladders into existing seats. Just pop off the clipped on leather skins and work the back pad off the springs.

-Run vacuum tubing through the passenger compartment passthrough. Basically follow the lines already running into the car from the pump, and it comes out at the top of the back seat behind the backrests (I took out the rear seat bottoms for this), snake it down (passenger side of car by the way) and go left towards the center console. [As far as I've gotten with this]

Installed orthopedic pump. Just "remove, replace." as the FSM would state. It functions as a regular pump without the third power lead.


I'll post pics tomorrow, tell me exactly what you guys wanna see and I'll snap it up. I forgot to take them as I went, and I have to rip it open again to connect power and finish up the tubing anyways.

(Also, looked through posting rules, but whats the jurisdiction about posting pictures from the service manual? I can do em up in MS paint if I can't post them, I just would prefer not to have to draw a vacuum and circuit diagram.)

Cheers,

Carlen