I own a 1986 300E. The driver's seat will not move forward, nor will tilt up and foward. All other functions work fine, even the headrest.
I did a search and many have solved their power seat problems by cleaning the switch. I have also been advised by Forum members Dakota, Sbourg, and Donbryce to check, clean, and replace the switch.
I took out the switch (I didn't disassemble it) and sprayed it with contact solution from radio shack. Problem still existed.
To double check if the switch was the culprit, I put the suspected faulty driver side switch on the passenger door and it worked fine. That means the switch is good.
I put the good switch from the passenger door on the driver side and get the same sypmtoms...I hear a single click under the driver seat, but nothing happpens.
Since the switch proved to be good, it must be something involving the motor or the cable.
Sbourg, you mentioned that if the reverse works, then it probably isn't the motor. Do you know if the motor moving the seat back also moves the seat forward? If so, then I suspect it's the cable (I don't know if that's good news or bad news).
Do I now remove the driver's seat to find out what's wrong or can I still trouble shoot this problem without removing the seat? If I have to remove the seat, which (and how many) bolts will I have to remove?
...can anyone advise me on my next steps?
Thanks in advance for any help/opinions.
jrmd01@yahoo.com