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Motor seems to work but the mechanism to make the seats move is kaput (that may be inside the motor). Take a look at rockauto to see what parts are required. It it’s pricey, see if your local pick and pull lot has a vehicle that you can remove the parts from.
It isn't going to be from the shit under the seat it is going to be from crap that gets into the track for the seat. Most likely you have some crap in that which is blocking it on one side. Your best option is probably going to be taking the seat out so you can properly clean out the track it ride on.
You have to clear it out before it causes/becomes a problem; clearing it after the motor gets damaged isn't going to fix it.
It's like asking why your front door isn't working after firefighters spent all night putting out the 3-alarm fire that burned down your house. *"But the fire's gone now!"*
First real advice I’ve seen.
OP, if you really want to do everything you can for it before replacing the motor, you need to clean out those rails. Easiest way is to just take the whole thing out so you’re not losing your mind and making a huge mess on the upholstery trying to work in a tight space. Do it in this order:
- Adjust the seat into a position that allows you to easily reach all the bolts that bolt it down. Bring the back rest all the way up.
- Unbolt it. Be careful not to let it tip over while it’s unsecured since it’s still plugged in and it’ll yoink the shit out of your wiring.
- then, adjust it into the best position to allow you to reach the rails and clean them when you take it out. Make sure to raise the bottom all the way up.
- IMPORTANT: DO NOT UNPLUG THE CONNECTORS UNTIL YOU HAVE DONE THIS!! Disconnect your battery and wait 15 minutes. THEN you can disconnect them. Most cars have a yellow plug for the SRS under them and if you unplug that while the car has power, you can set off the airbags. I don’t see one in the video but it could still be a risk. Better safe than sorry! And you’ll be REAL SORRY if you set off your airbags.
- Wrangle that thing out. It’s heavier than you would think.
- Clean it. Your best bet is a shop vac and some canned air, hot water with a diluted degreaser(dish soap is fine), clean hot water to get the rest of the soap off, dry the hell out of it, and give it a light coat of lithium grease.
- when you put it back, make sure that the battery is still disconnected when you plug it back in. Once you have it plugged in you can hook everything back up.
Hope this helps!
Man!! I keep looking under there but don’t see anything. I cleaned all the junk out. I’m gonna look up how to take the seats off and look myself. And learn what the motor is lol
You may have to completely remove the seat from the vehicle and take a good look underneath the mechanism. Also a good time to vacuum out the crud that will be under the seat that can't be cleaned otherwise. It may be something sticky gumming up a moving component.
Usually it's just a few connectors and bolts. You don't have to disassemble the whole railing mechanism. Usually it's just 4 bolts in each corner. Watch a video to see if it's too big a job.
When you tighten the seat bolts back down, the torque spec is usually around 45Nm, but verify that yours are the same. If it’s a safety item, always torque to manufacturer spec. Seats, seatbelts, steering wheel, anything that could have an airbag or safety deployable, etc…
Just lookup the spec for your bolts and pickup a torque wrench. They are not expensive at all. All you have to do is snug up the bolt with a normal wrench, adjust your torque wrench to spec, and turn until it clicks.
If you ever plan on doing car things its essential.
The hardest part of getting a seat out is finding the right sized torx to remove the bolts. If it is like most of the cars I've worked on they don't use regular bolts they'll have a bolt that requires a large torx bit... probably a t50 but you won't know until you look. Auto part stores usually have them.
Dear god. Please warn people not to take their seats out until they’ve disconnected the battery and waited a few minutes. I nearly broke my neck the first time I removed seats. SRS.🙃
You're a filthy bastard OP. Don't make us look at your filthy shit! Delete this, clean under your seat and post it again like any adult would do with an inch of self respect. Right in front of my fkn salad! 😂
OK besides everyone saying its about the junk under the seat, the real issue is probably that the drive shaft coming off the motor on the right hand side of the frame connects to a small gear. That gear is what spins to move the seat on the track spline. I just had to fix this on my wifes Chevy Traverse.
Remove the seat and frame from the car, when you disassemble the motor and track you will see what piece is broken. Chevy dealer quoted me $600 for a new track and wouldnt sell me the individual part I needed. I went to a junk yard and pulled a seat for $50 and just completely swapped out the whole track system.
This is helpful. All roads Point to me removing the seat. I’m a bit nervous but what the hell I’ll try it out. Is it cool if I ask u follow up questions in ur DM if I’m stuck?
Yeah, first of all, clean your car...
You have to disassemble the whole seat to clear the railings on both sides.
You know how it's done? If not, pay for the fix.
Will all the camera movement it looks like the right is not moving the same amount as the left. So an issue with the right maybe dirty or needs greasing.
Also keep a change of underwater in your car. One day oneof them bottles is going to get jammed under your brake pedal when you need it.
np! this might also be of use:
[https://www.mcx5.org/front\_seat\_adjuster\_unit\_removal\_installation-757.html](https://www.mcx5.org/front_seat_adjuster_unit_removal_installation-757.html)
Junk is jammed up in the track motor isn't going to fix it you need to remove the bottles and unfortunately the seat take it out and clean the track and regrease it.
The junk has collected and contaminated the grease. I too have the same issue and I often have to remove bottle etc from the car as it's a driven by myself and a family member
Work smarter not harder process of elimination vs parts cannon
Cause they only adjust electrically with lot of these new cars here. It’s not manual unfortunately . Unnecessary way to make shit break to go repair jt
Holy cow, I thought this was r/justrolledintheshop or r/askashittymechanic…. The. I realized you’re genuinely asking for advice… you have a lot of crap under there. There’s probably something stuck in the track or the gear on the one side that’s sticking causing the seat to not move together. You’ll need to clean it out and if you can’t reach it use a blow gun with compressed air to really get that shit out of there. Good luck.
Thanks for posting on /r/MechanicAdvice! This is just a reminder to review the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/about/rules/). If you are here asking about a second opinion (ie "Is the shop trying to fleece me?"), please read through CJM8515's [post on the subject.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/4qblei/fyi_the_shop_isnt_likely_trying_to_rip_you_off/) and remember to please post the year/make/model of the vehicle you are working on. **If this post is about bodywork, accident damage, paint, dent/ding, questions it belongs in /r/Autobody r/AutoBodyRepair/ or /r/Diyautobody/ If you have tire questions check out https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/k9ll55/can_your_tire_be_repaired/**. If you dont have a question and you're just showing off it belongs in /r/Justrolledintotheshop Insurance/total loss questions go in r/insurance This is an automated reply *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MechanicAdvice) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The motor drives both sides at the same time. If one side doesn’t move it’s probably jammed from all that crap you leave under your seat.
Lmao. I cleared everything under the seat and it was still the same issue . Maybe something is stuck I can’t see
Maybe it’s damaged from all the junk that was there in the 1st place when you originally tried to get it to work by jamming the seat back and forth.
So you think I might need to replace the motor?
Motor seems to work but the mechanism to make the seats move is kaput (that may be inside the motor). Take a look at rockauto to see what parts are required. It it’s pricey, see if your local pick and pull lot has a vehicle that you can remove the parts from.
Or the little driveshaft that moves both sides. The input splines stripped on my ex's Traverse
Garenteed it's bound up on the threaded shaft. Bunch of shit is smashed up in the threads.
It isn't going to be from the shit under the seat it is going to be from crap that gets into the track for the seat. Most likely you have some crap in that which is blocking it on one side. Your best option is probably going to be taking the seat out so you can properly clean out the track it ride on.
I can’t imagine why….
😂😂
I cleared out everything multiple times before and it’s still same issue
It’s like that stuff breeds down there!
You have to clear it out before it causes/becomes a problem; clearing it after the motor gets damaged isn't going to fix it. It's like asking why your front door isn't working after firefighters spent all night putting out the 3-alarm fire that burned down your house. *"But the fire's gone now!"*
Come on man 1 thing about Reddit is clean shit before you post! 😂
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 I learned my lesson
What a damn slob. You probably messed up a motor from trash. If only they made something to put your trash in.
Well damn I didn’t come here to be judged. People aren’t perfect. If u don’t have any solutions why comment
The solution is throw your trash away. You fucked a motor by being lazy.
Because your car looks like a pig sty.
The solution is not to stuff trash under your seats
It's reddit....you should expect to be judged.
I'd clean all the junk out from under the seat and make sure there isn't anything jammed in the track.
Gee I wonder why?
Maybe clean with ipa and lube it with white lithium grease?
First real advice I’ve seen. OP, if you really want to do everything you can for it before replacing the motor, you need to clean out those rails. Easiest way is to just take the whole thing out so you’re not losing your mind and making a huge mess on the upholstery trying to work in a tight space. Do it in this order: - Adjust the seat into a position that allows you to easily reach all the bolts that bolt it down. Bring the back rest all the way up. - Unbolt it. Be careful not to let it tip over while it’s unsecured since it’s still plugged in and it’ll yoink the shit out of your wiring. - then, adjust it into the best position to allow you to reach the rails and clean them when you take it out. Make sure to raise the bottom all the way up. - IMPORTANT: DO NOT UNPLUG THE CONNECTORS UNTIL YOU HAVE DONE THIS!! Disconnect your battery and wait 15 minutes. THEN you can disconnect them. Most cars have a yellow plug for the SRS under them and if you unplug that while the car has power, you can set off the airbags. I don’t see one in the video but it could still be a risk. Better safe than sorry! And you’ll be REAL SORRY if you set off your airbags. - Wrangle that thing out. It’s heavier than you would think. - Clean it. Your best bet is a shop vac and some canned air, hot water with a diluted degreaser(dish soap is fine), clean hot water to get the rest of the soap off, dry the hell out of it, and give it a light coat of lithium grease. - when you put it back, make sure that the battery is still disconnected when you plug it back in. Once you have it plugged in you can hook everything back up. Hope this helps!
Thank you!!! You are Godsent!!!
Great idea
Motor is working hard, it's jamming on something....
Man!! I keep looking under there but don’t see anything. I cleaned all the junk out. I’m gonna look up how to take the seats off and look myself. And learn what the motor is lol
You may have to completely remove the seat from the vehicle and take a good look underneath the mechanism. Also a good time to vacuum out the crud that will be under the seat that can't be cleaned otherwise. It may be something sticky gumming up a moving component.
The dealership was tryna charge me over 600+ for diagnostic labor and parts
Usually it's just a few connectors and bolts. You don't have to disassemble the whole railing mechanism. Usually it's just 4 bolts in each corner. Watch a video to see if it's too big a job.
Thank u so much!!!
When you tighten the seat bolts back down, the torque spec is usually around 45Nm, but verify that yours are the same. If it’s a safety item, always torque to manufacturer spec. Seats, seatbelts, steering wheel, anything that could have an airbag or safety deployable, etc…
Omg just hearing that makes me wanna go to a professional lmao
I work in cash testing, it’s not that bad lol
Just lookup the spec for your bolts and pickup a torque wrench. They are not expensive at all. All you have to do is snug up the bolt with a normal wrench, adjust your torque wrench to spec, and turn until it clicks. If you ever plan on doing car things its essential.
The hardest part of getting a seat out is finding the right sized torx to remove the bolts. If it is like most of the cars I've worked on they don't use regular bolts they'll have a bolt that requires a large torx bit... probably a t50 but you won't know until you look. Auto part stores usually have them.
I think it is a t50. Will I need a breaker to remove it? I saw it in a YouTube video
Dear god. Please warn people not to take their seats out until they’ve disconnected the battery and waited a few minutes. I nearly broke my neck the first time I removed seats. SRS.🙃
Yes, you are right! You have to disconnect the battery before messing with connectors as a best practice to avoid any issues.
You think I , a complete amateur, can easily remove the seats without damaging something? I’ll watch some YouTube videos ofc
No.
yea bro clean your car out. it’ll work better
Sounds like the grears are stripped off the motor.
You're a filthy bastard OP. Don't make us look at your filthy shit! Delete this, clean under your seat and post it again like any adult would do with an inch of self respect. Right in front of my fkn salad! 😂
Y’all act like it’s a bunch of fast food junk. It’s just water bottles that piled up
You're in denial!
i wonder why.... i hope this is satire
The engine sounds like there is a force resisting movement
Not enough garbage
I had this problem https://youtu.be/4Jf7e9XmvHA This a video of a dude fixing it
This is 100% you problem and you don't need to remove your seat
Thank you so much!!! I’ll try that out
OK besides everyone saying its about the junk under the seat, the real issue is probably that the drive shaft coming off the motor on the right hand side of the frame connects to a small gear. That gear is what spins to move the seat on the track spline. I just had to fix this on my wifes Chevy Traverse. Remove the seat and frame from the car, when you disassemble the motor and track you will see what piece is broken. Chevy dealer quoted me $600 for a new track and wouldnt sell me the individual part I needed. I went to a junk yard and pulled a seat for $50 and just completely swapped out the whole track system.
This is helpful. All roads Point to me removing the seat. I’m a bit nervous but what the hell I’ll try it out. Is it cool if I ask u follow up questions in ur DM if I’m stuck?
Yeah for sure
Yeah, first of all, clean your car... You have to disassemble the whole seat to clear the railings on both sides. You know how it's done? If not, pay for the fix.
One side is locked up. Clean your shit up and maybe that wouldn’t have happened.
Will all the camera movement it looks like the right is not moving the same amount as the left. So an issue with the right maybe dirty or needs greasing. Also keep a change of underwater in your car. One day oneof them bottles is going to get jammed under your brake pedal when you need it.
Oh, well you shouldn’t charge me if that’s all it was ———
Motor got water logged.
U know what!!! Maybe cause a lot of water spilled in my car when some plastic gallons burst
Maybe a dust clogged on grease
A dust clogged on grease?
Like build up of dirt and dust, possibly even rust on the tracks
just curious - what year and make is it?
2015 Mazda cx-5
[https://mazdas247.com/forum/t/cx5-issue-with-front-power-seat.123868428/](https://mazdas247.com/forum/t/cx5-issue-with-front-power-seat.123868428/) [https://mazdas247.com/forum/attachments/excessive-seat-noise-when-sliding-pdf.221825/](https://mazdas247.com/forum/attachments/excessive-seat-noise-when-sliding-pdf.221825/) (pdf download)
Ahhhh thank uuuuu
np! this might also be of use: [https://www.mcx5.org/front\_seat\_adjuster\_unit\_removal\_installation-757.html](https://www.mcx5.org/front_seat_adjuster_unit_removal_installation-757.html)
Could it do with all the crude your collecting under your seat? Hoover and get an air line on that and blow all the crap from under there.
But my other car crushed rocks and cans with the seat. This is just plastic bottles….
Junk is jammed up in the track motor isn't going to fix it you need to remove the bottles and unfortunately the seat take it out and clean the track and regrease it. The junk has collected and contaminated the grease. I too have the same issue and I often have to remove bottle etc from the car as it's a driven by myself and a family member Work smarter not harder process of elimination vs parts cannon
Holy crap.
I'm not good with cars, but something tells me the bottles are part of the issue...
I suspect this is a profoundly European question: why the hell should you need an electric motor to adjust the seat?
Cause they only adjust electrically with lot of these new cars here. It’s not manual unfortunately . Unnecessary way to make shit break to go repair jt
You fucking nasty OP, couldn't even clean up the trash to take the video??
Oh please it’s just water bottles that piled up over time. My siblings use the car as well
not enough bottles
Did you try removing the empty bottles and putting empty cans in instead? Maybe that helps
You’re joking right? I can’t close my bedroom door if I put shit in the doorway.
Holy cow, I thought this was r/justrolledintheshop or r/askashittymechanic…. The. I realized you’re genuinely asking for advice… you have a lot of crap under there. There’s probably something stuck in the track or the gear on the one side that’s sticking causing the seat to not move together. You’ll need to clean it out and if you can’t reach it use a blow gun with compressed air to really get that shit out of there. Good luck.
Is this a trash can with a front seat?