Hello,

The up/down mechanism (rear part of the seat) on my 95 C280 driver's power seat doesn't work. When I push/pull the power seat cushion button, only the front of the cushion move up/down. The rear part of the cushion doesn't move. I can hear the motor click - so I think the motor and the switch are ok. What should I do next? Thanks in advance.

Can anyone please help?

The majority of the problem with power seats is the switch. See if you have power at the motor. If you do,hit it with a hammer while tring to move it. If it goes, you have a bad motor. I bet the switch is bad though

There are 4 fuses in the trunk for the power seats CHECK them FIRST!

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Thanks for all your replies. One thing I don't understand, if I hear clicking from the motor, does that mean the fuse and the switch are both ok?

Please let me know. Thanks.

Maybe yes maybe no. It could be that there is some resistance somewhere so the full voltage is not being applied to the motor. So checking the fuses is not a bad idea, you might find something.

I think that car is different than mine so I cannot advise you on how to get into the seat, maybe someone else can or you can find something with search. You might need to get in there and see what voltage is getting to the motor and then see if there is some mechanical issue.

Also, I know you are new here, but when M.B.DOC says to do something then do it because he is nearly psychic. Do not be surprised if he is exactly correct as he has probably fixed that exact problem 100 times.

Mike

__________________
1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

Thanks. I'll check the fuses out first. I know both M.B. Doc. and Benzmac are excellent. I'm actually not that new here - if you checked my profile, you'll see that I've been a member since April, 1999 (about a month or two after mercedesshop.com was launched).

I was away from the MB family for the past few years and now I'm back!

BTW, is Benzmac still around mercedesshop.com? I haven't seen his posts in the recent past.

I did some further investigations yesterday and found that the motor actually works, but it just keeps spinning when I push/pull the switch. Does this mean there is/are broken gears in the seat's rear up/down mechanism? Can those gears be replaced? How do I take them out to replace them?

Please let me know. Thanks.

Can anyone please help? Thanks.

I don't think yours is probably exactly like mine since yours is 3 years earlier but anyway, if you can get the back off the seat (easy on my car) then you can have a look at what is going on. On my car it there is a mechanism with gears. On some there is a cable arrangement I think.

Mike

__________________
1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

Thanks for your reply. But my problem is with the seat cushion, not the seat back. Is the seat cushion motor(s) also located in the seat back?

I assume you have to pull the seat out to get at that one. I don't have any experience. Maybe you can peek under there with an inspection mirror. Hopefully someone else can chime in.

Mike

__________________
1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

Hey E, I don't have an answer unfortunitally, I was actually looking to see if you got anywhere with this. My (82 300sd) has the same problem.Back of the seat work's but not the cushion. A friend tells me he also had this happen to him once .He says that the cables that run from the motor to the gears were the problem and if tension were put on them(the cables)via pulling on them, they would opperate.Unfortunatelly this didn't work for me but if you allready have the seat out it might be something to try.Please post if you get it worked out.