Haunted Headrest - 300E
 

Alright, my passenger side front headrest (power seats) appears to have a mind of its own. It keeps going up on its own.

I usually keep the headrest fully lowered. Every now and again for some reason, it will extend itself upwards a few inches. Sometimes as little as an inch, other times it will extend to its full height. It never lowers itself, only extends itself. There doesn't appear to be any pattern as to when this happens. While it has been quite amusing to watch my various passengers jump out of their seats when the headrest suddenly moves up on them, I am quickly tiring of this little jest on my car's part. ;)

The switch on the door works OK, it will lower it once again after it raises itself up. Once it has been lowered, it will generally stay lowered for a little while until it climbs back up again. (I swear it does this when it thinks I'm not looking...)

Any ideas? G-Benz - could this be that retaining piece you mentioned in a prior post when you replaced yours? Or is it a faulty switch? Thanks!

The fact that the headrest can't be lowered indicates that broken retaining piece I metioned in one of my threads.

As far as the unsolicited raising of the headrests...you need to find an exorcist!!!;)

Seriously, that sounds like a shorted switch or wiring harness near the headrest. Does pressure on the seatback or cushion start the headrest moving? If it does, the culprit is wiring at the headrest mechanism. Otherwise, it's a switch problem.

Hi Zeus I've seen more than a few strange electrical problems over the years caused by shorted and/or worn through wires. Open the R/F door and you'll see a flexible rubber duct between the lower A-pillar and the door skin. All the wires into the door are in here( central locking, alarm, power window, entry lights, seat switch, etc ). If the wire for raising the headrest shorted to another wire this could cause your problem. In the past I've seen alarm problems as well as erratic entry lights caused by this. One way to check without taking anything apart is to swing the door open and closed while watching the headrest. If this is inconclusive at least unclip the wire duct and take a look at the wires before you roll the dice and try a seat switch. My bet is that more than one wire is kinked to the point of splitting the insulation. The wires usually split at the same point so it's easy to see how the short circuit could occur. Good luck

could it be because Halloween is just around the corner?;) :D :p