pax seat adjuster not adjusting

the right seat on my 92 RMW won't move laterally (forward/back).

It is getting power, because the motor "jumps" when you hit the switch.
That doesn't mean the motor is "good," just that it gets power, and isn't totally dead.

It could be the motor, or the jack-screws that move the mechanism or the sliding parts could be stuck.

I spent last evening pulling the seat out.
The P/O had the same problem.  I know that because the heads were stripped on two of the screws holding the plastic covers over the mounting bolts (which I'll blame for taking me the better part of the evening to remove the seat), and, of the 4 motors under the seat, three are AC Delco, the one I'm looking at is Korean.

I stared at the mechanism for a while last night, trying to intuit how it works and how I might trouble-shoot.

 Then it got dark.

Anyone been through this willing to offer guidance?

I'll take some pics next time I get to work on it in the daylight (mebee not 'till this weekend).

Still learning about posting pics, my apologies for the false starts and mediocre results.

Swapped motors around tonight. Negative results. The motor must be good.

Either the jack-screw mechanism is faulty, or the seat is stuck.

I'm losing the light for tonight.

I can't see where it flexes. Must be under the skin on the back.
Any guidance?

802 wrote:

Any guidance?

I think I would replace the rail. Four bolts and off if comes. The going price is usually around $20. I see that you may be going to the "BADASS" gathering, if you let it be know you're looking for one, I'm sure someone will have one.

Tom

Not sure exactly what the "rail" consists of, or that I've narrowed it down to that.
When I do, there are a couple of cars in a local JY, and Fred has offered, so I won't be missing the opportunity this weekend if I haven't solved it yet.

Not sure why those jack screws won't turn, but if by rail you mean the part that slides, I suspect that isn't the culprit, since the screws don't move with the seat unbolted from the car. I'm not explaining this well, because I haven't solved the puzzle of what pushes what. I have only had time to test the motors. But the screws are connected to the seat, and there must be a joint on the seat that pushes against the rails. I'm narrowing it down.
I like the puzzle, but don't really have time for it right now.

I'm interpreting that you won't be around this weekend? If not I'll look forward to making your acquaintance at some future date.
Thanks for responding.

The rails are the frame that the seat sits on and bolts to the floor. It has all the motors and mechanisms attached. Four bolts and its off, 4 bolts and a new one is one.

I would like to go, not sure if I can make it as I have 2 trips, Monday and Wednesday.

Tom

RESET --

I stopped by the JY this morning. Both wagons in the yard have different controls than mine. Caused me to re-evaluate.

What is stuck on mine is a power recline, which the ones in the yard. and my driver seat, do not have.

That explains why suggestions to fix/replace the rails weren't working out: the recline is not in the rack.

It still isn't fixed, but I'm closer to solving the puzzle.
Or I could just grab a rack with a manual recline, swap them out and be done with it (but what fun would that be: Half the joy of a Buick are the unnecessary accessories).

802 wrote:

the right seat on my 92 RMW won't move laterally (forward/back).

802 wrote:

What is stuck on mine is a power recline, which the ones in the yard. and my driver seat, do not have.

So your first post said it won't move laterally and now the power recline is not working?

Your driver side does not have power recline? I think someone has changed the seats and the wiring, that's probably why it doesn't work. You need to sort that out.

Tom

It was my error, thinking that the back and forth movement was impaired. I was wrong, it is only the power recline, which operates independently.
Figuring out my error helped simplify the puzzle.

It is curious that, of the three Roadies I looked at, '91, my '92, and a '95, my right seat is the only one with a power recline.
Modification doesn't make sense with the known history of this car -- but who knows.
Irrelevant to the task at hand, the wiring looks original, but more important: is getting power.

I have narrowed it down to a malfunctioning gearbox on one side of the seat (stuck jack-screw), or the flex point on the seat itself is stuck.

I do love a puzzle.

The rain just stopped; I'm going back to it.

Figured I'd wrap this up.
My mistake confusing the mechanisms.  When I figured out the malfunction was in the power recline, and the power recline was in the seat itself, not in the rails, it was solvable.

The power recline is operated by two jack-screws on either side of the seat frame.
The gearboxes on the jack-screws were stuck:  dry grease and/or dirt or 20 years of dust bunnies stuck in the grease.

Lots of WD 40 and patience, jogging the mechanism with one side attached at a time.  The motor would heat up and stop, so I jogged it until it stopped, went and did something else for a while and came back to it.

Eventually the side most stuck moved just a bit, so I knew I was on the right track.

Came back to it a few days later and it moved more easily.  Good ol' WD had done it's job on the gearbox, so I used picks and Q-tips and degreaser to clean the threads on the screws.

While the seat was out I did some cleaning on the underside, sanded the surface rust and carpet fuzz off the attachment "feet," and applied a couple of coats of rust reformer to them.

You can see what I'm talking about in the pictures above, if you can see the pictures.  I can see them when accessing the Forum with Google Chrome, but not Explorer.  I don't understand that, but I'd rather spend my limited grey matter understanding my car than understanding the Internet.

BTW, Thanks to Tom, Fred, and Indy for the suggestions and the counseling along the way.  Sometimes just having someone to talk it through can be helpful.