Passenger seat stuck in the full recline.
 

I just baught a 1987 300E and its my first Mercedes, so I have alot to learn about these vehicles, there are a few things that do not work like the Cruise control,A/C, driver side head rest dont go up or down, just last night I took my son to the store and he was reclining the seat all the way back now it wont go back up. Is there a fuse for the seat or could it be the control?

thanks
flrydr

There are some threads on the mysterious seat ghost - but try this. Open either/both doors and see if the seats operate. If they do you can research that particular thread for repair.

Passenger seat stuck in the full recline
 

TX76513

Thanks for the help I will try the doors and also the other posts that you suggested.

tnx
flrydr

And, yes, there are fuses which, mysteriously, cover different parts of both seats. Reclining to full would very well have put a greater strain on the motor and blown a fuse. You also may have had an underrated fuse in there. Check them all to the diagram to make sure the correct ones are where they should be. On mine, a fuse always blows when the driver's side front seat height is adjusted. Definitely blows the fuse every time it is touched -- so I don't touch it. I have become adept at adjusting the seat without that part moving. Took me a long time to figure it out. When this fuse goes ("E" I think), several other things do not work: driver's side front height adjust, both headrests, passenger seat back and height adjust (both front and rear), and steering wheel telescope.

I had a fully reclined seat stuck in my '86 300E. I yanked and pulled that seat for 20 minutes or so (don't use excessive force!) and finally it 'caught on' and has worked perfectly ever since.

And no. I will not go into any details about why i had that seat fully reclined.. :D

Freestyler

I had this problem before with my 87 190E 16v. The problem was simply that there was too much corrosion built up inside of the switch box.

If you pull off all of the switches and remove the little plastic C-shaped clip around the post coming out of the center then you can remove the entire switch box from the door. Its only held in by two screws. Once the box is out you can open it CAREFULLY. There is a bunch of small metal balls and springs inside. Take out all of the pieces being careful to remember where everything came from. Use some metal cleaner on all of the metal "tracks" inside the box, including the metal balls, to get all the corrosion off. Now you just need to carefully reassemble the entire switch box. Use some electrical grease on all of the points where the metal balls contact. Shake the switch box after you put the box back together to make sure all of the pieces inside are in place. If you hear anything shaking around inside you will need to take it apart and try again.

My guess would be that this would fix the problem you are having if you are able to move the seat in all directions except the incline. There is a lot of pieces to keep track of inside the switch box but the good part is that there isn't any electrical boards inside to worry about. If you put it back together and one of the previously working seat movements doesn't work anymore then you just have to take it apart and try again. Its a really easy procedure. I have done this to the switch boxes in the front driver and passenger door of my car and they both work much better than they did when I bought the car. Hope this helps.

Thanks all, for your info. I pulled the swiitch apart and it was corroded so I cleaned it up and put it back together and no rattle
and the seat is working =) now on to the next thing, maybe I will take a shot at the cruise control.


thanks
flrydr

I'm glad I could help!