Power seat issue, switch or motor?

[Ronniedasaint]

Thanks for the info. I'll definitely check the site out and see if they have anything I can use for this situation.

Tommorrow I'm going to a salvage yard and am going to see if I can find the a working seat for my 850. I am thinking I'll buy the seat and either install it straight up (if I can find a color match) or transfer the motor/cable to my current seat. Whatever's most cost effective. If that doesn't work I am thinking about buying a seat motor and replacing the old one. Anyone have any info on how to remove the leather covering from the driver side seat?

BTW there was time when I would not have hesitated to roll out to Ganstars Paradise, not so much now though.

[MadeInJapan]

Take some digitals of your seats in your car before going to the bone yard, especially the bottom of it- the rail, connectors, etc....there were changes from year to year. What you don't want to do is to get seats home and they not fit at all.

[Ronniedasaint]

What do you mean? You mean look for and take down serial numbers, or actually run some diagnostics to see what's wrong with the seat? Actually, do you mean pictures with me? I will be driving my Volvo and rocking the gangster lean. LOL

Also, does anyone have any idea how to dismantle the seat back? I'm starting to wonder if it wouldn't just be easier to order the cable for 50 bucks and then do my project. 50 bucks and some elbow grease doesn't seem like such a raw deal. Anyhow, if anyone has some advice, or a diagram, on how to take the seat back apart and change the cable I'd appreciate it very much.

BTW, big ups to this site as it has answered ALOT of questions for me and saved me some big loot.

[Ronniedasaint]

MiJ,

I just won a seat motor on ebay, however, it's from a 98 Volvo S70. Do you think the parts are interchangeable? Will the motor fit in place of the original one? I'm guessing the cable should be switchable but if it really is a motor issue I'd like to just switch the motors. If that doesn't work I can order a new cable, and finally just buy a seat and have it installed.

[MadeInJapan]

There are 3 motors in your seat...do you know which one it is?
1. Forward backwards
2. Height...rear edge
3. Height...front edge
Also, the last two motors are different if they have or don't have memory. All '94's have memory seats if they are electrical, but not all '98's do.

Edit: Just looked it up and motors for '94 are the same part numbers for '98 as long as the '98 has "memory" seats. If you need the actual part numbers let me know. What you really need to make sure of is that the motor you get is from a car with memory seats.

For added clarifications...the motor at the very rear of the seat is for height at the rear edge, the center motor is for forward-backward and the front is for height, front edge....hope all of this helped.

[JRL]

MiJ,

I just won a seat motor on ebay, however, it's from a 98 Volvo S70. Do you think the parts are interchangeable? Will the motor fit in place of the original one? I'm guessing the cable should be switchable but if it really is a motor issue I'd like to just switch the motors. If that doesn't work I can order a new cable, and finally just buy a seat and have it installed.

NO
Will NOT fit. Why did you do that?

[MadeInJapan]

Jim, I looked up the part numbers....some of them are interchangeable, but not all. First of all, he had to get the correct functioning motor, then next he had to get the the motor off of a '98 that has memory seats. I'd say he has about a 25-30% chance of getting the right one...we'll see.

[Ronniedasaint]

I actually need the motor for the seat back (recline up/down) because my seat is stuck reclined all the way down. The three motors under my seat (front/back, front up/down, back up/down) work fine. I need the fourth motor the one that is located in the seat back. And yes, I'd appreciate the part number for this motor very much. Thanks.

As to the why of my reasoning there are several explanations:

1) I thought that since the cables or gears are usually the culprit in a seat seat going bad(and I could hear the motor working when I pressed the button), I thought I'd replace the cable first since this would be easy and cheap. As I looked on ebay over the weekend I found a seat back motor and I made a VERY low bid and won. Anyhow, I just figured I'd switch the cable (but not the motor)and see it that's what was causing the malfunction. My feeling was that this would be an easy fix with minimal invasion.

2)If the cable switch didn't get my seat back working then that's when I was thinking about replacing the motor altogether. I didn't even think about memory (which my car has) I was just thinking about size. Now I'm realizing that this may not be an option. This option is more invasive and now I hesitate to do it because of time involved and the low probability of success.

3) My third option would be to order a seat from a reputable salvage yard and just swap it straight out.

FYI, I am rookie when it comes to repairs so I anticipate making a lot of mistakes. However, this forum has made some things very clear and my life easier. I would NEVER even have cosidered fixing my car if it weren't for the people here, so thanks for everything.

[Ronniedasaint]

MiJ, I just went back and looked at the ebay listing for the motor. As it turns out the seat motor is from a 1998 S70 GLT Turbo. So if I had to guess I'd say it very likely does have memory as the GLT package tends to be a nice one.

Also, I emailed the seller asking for the part #, and he says it's part #9121622. Based on your information are the motors interchangeable?

[MadeInJapan]

searched my part numbers and that number doesn't come up for S70's or 850's of any year. The part number I believe you need is 9467556. Hard to tell if the one you're getting will fit...a lot of Volvo numbers have changed over the years.