[titi57]

[How to] repair power seat on 2011+

Hi guys

Few months ago, I was searching on the forum about the known issue concerning the 2011+ power seat pb as 2 friends of mine 2011 GT were impacted.
I have seen that all of you have solved the issue with the bumper to bumper Ford legal warranty but here, Ford France is not giving any help as the mustangs are not sold. And I am not sure that the replacing parts are updated, I assume the problem will come back and the part is expensive even without international shipment and customs.

I found the cause and definitively fixed it on both cars (1 with driver seat, 1 with both seats), it take nearly 4-6h for 2 seats and 30-40$.

Are you interested by a [how to] with pictures or is it already existing somewhere and I have not seen it?

 

[dusman59]

Anytime information that can help other Mustang owners are always welcome. So many have taken the time and posted how to solve problems which is always appreciated by myself.

 

[titi57]

First, you have to know that 3 electric motors strictly identical are behind the seat. Each of them is managing 1 way movement on both side. The 3 motors have exactly the same factory problem.
On the first picture (blue circle), you have an idea of where the bloc with the 3 motors is located. You can not remove only 1. They are part of the same bloc and you need to remove the complete bloc, means you need to remove the seat from the car.

Ford dealers are completely removing the seat from the chassis and change it as it an not be disassembled.
You can see on the second picture that the motors bloc is assembled between 2 axles. Red circle on the extremity and on the other side the green one which is going through the plastic. You need to cut the plastic at this area to be able to remove the bloc.
Disconnect the 4 flexible links which transmit the movement of the motors, then you can see on the fourth picture what it looks like when it's removed.

 

[titi57]

The 3 motors are not independent and when you disassemble 1, the 2 others will also have to be disassembled. Easy to do.

 

[titi57]

When done, you can easily see why the motors are not free to move. The rotor can not turn as the 2 magnets are not glued. You need to buy strong two-component glue and put them in place. I recommend that you put some glue on the 2 magnets of each motors, even if they are still in place to strengthen them.

Not you just need to follow the reverse procedure for reassembly.

Test it and enjoy your powered seats.

Hope this will help some of you

 

[dusman59]

So the magnets come down and hit the armature. Nice info.

 

[titi57]

Yes, they are moving with the rotor and avoid him to turn correctly. When they are down, you can see that there is only 2cm² of glue between armature and magnets on the factory assembly. Not enough glue + vibrations and you have the result. As said, I'm pretty sure the replacement parts from Ford are the same and for you in north America, your cars are not under warranty anymore and the best to save money is to open it and fix it yourself. 5h for 2 seats, this is good for a rainy WE happy.gif

 

[moonrakercat]

Good Post !!!!

 

[tntoy]

Thanks, I have manual Recaros myself, but this is excellent tech for everyone with power seats!

 

[Nibis]

Nice find ! My passenger side on my 2011 went out, replaced under warranty. I was hoping not to have any issues with my 2012

 

[eugadude]

how do you reassemble after you cut plastic off

 

[eugadude]

When done, you can easily see why the motors are not free to move. The rotor can not turn as the 2 magnets are not glued. You need to buy strong two-component glue and put them in place. I recommend that you put some glue on the 2 magnets of each motors, even if they are still in place to strengthen them.

Not you just need to follow the reverse procedure for reassembly.

Test it and enjoy your powered seats.

Hope this will help some of you

How do you reassemble after you cut the plastic?

 

[COOL 302 GT]

No offense here, but I have a 2011 with the driver seat failing to move forward or backwards. Is there a CURRENT video to watch? One that completely allows us to SEE proof in action of what it takes exactly. Also we need to see how to disassemble to motors properly. I already know that an epoxy glue for metal-to-metal is best, but I would appreciate a far better video to watch. We also need to see the work being done on an actual 2011 3-motor seat.

On a more important note: I read where somewhere, that we have to carefully disconnect fuses and air bag modules to prevent the bags from exploding and ALSO to make sure they work when re-assembling the seat?

C'Mon Man someone please help us through this...

Thanks in advance for all of us with this problem.

 

[chris yates]

Did anyone discover the answer to how you attach the motor bracket back to the seat frame after you cut it out for removal?

Thank you,
Chris

 

[Don's Stang]

how do you reassemble after you cut plastic off

I am not sure, I have to do my passenger seat soon, Though I would assume you glue the plastic back on

 

[ricorico]

When done, you can easily see why the motors are not free to move. The rotor can not turn as the 2 magnets are not glued. You need to buy strong two-component glue and put them in place. I recommend that you put some glue on the 2 magnets of each motors, even if they are still in place to strengthen them.

Not you just need to follow the reverse procedure for reassembly.

Test it and enjoy your powered seats.

Hope this will help some of you

I just went through this process myself with my 2011 5.0 and after calling Ford that quoted me over $1300 for the assembly, I figured I would try to fix this myself. I stumbled on titi57's very useful post, and I figured I would add to the post with my experience. Overall, taking apart the assembly from the seat took me about 1 hour, and I took the time to label/photo what I was doing to be sure I'm able to put it back.

I was about to cut the plastic bits as mentioned, but instead I realized there are plastic spacers that can be removed by hand (see titi57's 2nd picture with the green highlighted section). Once the flexible links are pulled off, the motor block can slide from side to side, allowing some access to the motor holding clips. With the right tools, you can un-clip them (total of 12 clips - 2 top, 2 bottom for each motor). Once unclipped, the motor ends come apart. This avoids the need to cut any plastic (to then figure out how to glue it back).

As mentioned in this post, the problem is with the magnets that becomes unglued from the motor housing. All 3 of my motor magnets were unglued. The magnets all had the glue/epoxy still on them and I wasn't sure how to remove it without potentially damaging the magnets. Someone told me to use a dremel tool or sand it off, but I wasn't sure, so I took the seat assembly to a local motor repair shop. He was able to remove the old glue/epoxy, clean everything, glue/epoxy the magnets back on, make sure the brushes are ok, lube what needed to be lubed and voila! All 3 motors are fully functional. All for under $80!!

Important Note:
Before removing the motors, make sure you label the direction and orientation of the magnets beforehand. I used nail polish to identify this for each magnet. If the magnets are put back incorrectly, the direction of the motor may be reversed and you'll only find out once you put the seat back in the car, to then have to take it apart again.

Not sure what causes(d) the glue/epoxy to unstick. Maybe a bad batch? Regardless, I'm thinking it's a manufacturer defect. Not sure if considered a safety feature, unless you accidentally move your seat to a position that is not your usual one (secondary driver, etc) and the motors stop working and you now have to drive in an unsafe fashion. I will be calling that parts guy at Ford and tell him how I fixed it for a fraction and that Ford should take care of this. Doubt anything will come from it, but I'll feel better venting a little.

I hope this helps someone else out there.

 

[ddtmoto]

Thats wonderful that you were brave enough to dig into the motors and learn of this Ford made in Mexico faulty epoxy defect. My '11 has the same issue, exactly. Rear lift motor went dead years ago. Shopped and shopped for an affordable fix. Finally found deal at tear-apart for a '12 seat from a roll-over total. About the only part left of the crashed car in usable shape was this lower part of the seat. I replaced the faulty mechanism in mine and now I have a seat that is once again six-way. So, with the encouragement from this post I dug out my original power unit, deep in my shed, to see if I could make it functional as a 'spare'. I have two of the three motors out and the magnets, all four, are lose, stuck to the armature. Epoxy of course failed. How in the world did you get the drive cables out of the motors to the 90 angle drive.? I had to take the angle drives apart on the two motors. The last one, probably the front one, the angle doesn't un-bolt and come apart. I don't get enough movement side to side to get either of the drive cables out of either of the angle units.. thanks again.

 

[ricorico]

Getting the drive cables out was easy. The outer plastic on the drive cables is flexible enough that you can pull on the cable, one end out at a time. It feels like you'll break or snap something (you won't), but it does come out. The bit/piece on either end is about 1/2 inch inside on the motor and the track assembly mechanism ends. Try the longer drive cable first so you get the feel on how much force you need to pull them out. The others are done the same way.

I went through the same search as you did (junk yards, craigslist, etc) to try to find a replacement part but I only found half working ones or rusted. I figured I'd give it a shot to fix on my own. It worked for me. Patience and the right tools, you should be good to go.

 

[GLOCKer]

titi57, do you happen to know Manuel Hirt over there in the Saint-Tropez area?

 

[05yellergt]

Another possibility if your power seat quits working is the plastic gears losing teeth. That happened to me. I'd recommend testing the motors before disassembling to do the above motor repair. I hooked up a cordless drill to teh drive cables and found teh gears were locked up. Opened up teh gear case and found two teeth broken off. Replaced with "Kit - Fixing Parts" Part number er3z78617d66a from Varsity Ford. Cost about $30 shipped. Most other Ford parts places showed it out of stock/discontinued, so if you need these might be good to hurry.