Only one side of my power seats move

1990_740Turbo · Post by **1990_740Turbo** » 03 Aug 2007, 15:28

I just picked up a sweet 1995 960, 2 owner, all records.
Needs a few things..most importantly- the power seats are messed up. Neither front power seat will slide forward or backward because the right side of both seats are "stuck", it won't move with the left side, thus the seat twists somewhat when trying to slide it forward/back.

Any idea what I can do to at least get the driver's seat forward a little bit?

CarVolvo · Post by **CarVolvo** » 03 Aug 2007, 17:03

sounds like something is jamming up the tracks which are under the seat.

Why not loosten the bolts at the bottom and see if you can find out whats holding it down (dont remove the electric cables yet).

1990_740Turbo · Post by **1990_740Turbo** » 07 Aug 2007, 19:03

Thanks for the reply. There is nothing visibly stuck in the tracks on the seat. The bad part is, the way the seats are positioned, I have no access to any of the mounting bolts.

danr960 · Post by **danr960** » 09 Aug 2007, 09:37

I had a similar problem about 8 years ago. After reading about this problem on the web, figuring it was the cable, took the seat out and sure enough it was the cable, they are square ended, and fit into at one end the drive motor, which by the way, is one motor for movement fore and aft, each track side is driven by a separate cable one on each end of the motor shaft. Well, the cable is too short for the sheath, over time the end going into the gear that drives the track rounds off. While I had it apart, did a little measuring and found there was still plenty of square end to go but since there was so much room left in the motor shaft, the cable would migrate away for the gear on the track. I found that by measurement, inserting a piece of hard wire, I used a piece of coat hanger, inserting it into the motor shaft kept the cable from pulling away from the track drive gear. Just make sure before measuring, that the track end is fully positioned into the gear, rotating while pushing you will feel it when it is properly seated (no pun intended).That was 8 years ago, still works like a charm. Another fix is to shorten the sheath, but at the time getting the silver metal end of the sheath presented to me at least a more complicated fix.

Hope this helps.

DanR '94 964 332,000 miles (98,000 on the new engine)

bright · Post by **bright** » 15 Nov 2009, 02:28

I have the same problem with the bolts being obscured by the seat itself. How did you get around this? I mentioned on another thread that Saab 900s included a special little tool within their tool bag (OEM) that would allow you to *painfully* move the seats a millimeter per turn. It was agony!

Any tips?

breid95 · Post by **breid95** » 16 Nov 2009, 09:11

Take DanR recommendation. I had both seats. and 2 more from a parts yard. all 4 had same issue.
add 10cm -12 cmof a coat hanger wire with small tweezers, to the motor side.
of course take your seat bottom out.
Trust us this is the answer. stupid Volvo made the cables about 15 cm too short.
Good Luck.

bright · Post by **bright** » 16 Nov 2009, 12:17

I plan to take his advice. However I cannot remove the seat because the tracks are all the way back and cover the rear seat bolts. If I cannot move the tracks forward then I cannot access them and then I cannot take the seats out.

How can you remove the seat if the bolts are covered by the rails of the seats?

Thanks,
bright

940anders · Post by **940anders** » 23 Nov 2009, 09:48

I had the same problem with my 93 940 wagon. I found that by pressing on the cable under the seat while pushing the forward/back switch i was able to move the seat. This might help you get the seat far enough forward to remove it for repair. To make it easier, raise the seat as much as possible before attempting this. And be careful with your hand under the seat while the seat is moving.

breid95 · Post by **breid95** » 29 Dec 2010, 15:04

Bright did you ever get your seats cables to work? I had same issue on both seats take DanR's advise.
YOU don't need to remove the seats just the bottom cushion clips on the back side around the leather watch the front however
because it can be tricky. take your time really don't need the front of seat cushion removed once you get the back up and free of the seat back. good luck

7226 · Post by **7226** » 13 Mar 2023, 07:35

Same problem moving the driver seat fwd or reverse. Only on the left side is going. I though I could update this old post with my week-end findings.