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driver's side power seats not working!!!

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Old Apr 2, 2008 | 08:51 PM
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Question driver's side power seats not working!!!

Can anyone help me out on this one???? My driver's side power seats are barely functioning, and I had a mechanic saying that I need a new motor? anyone know if that sounds right? and if so how much do the motors run, and where can I get one other than the dealership????
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Old Apr 2, 2008 | 08:57 PM
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What is "barely functioning"?
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Old Apr 2, 2008 | 10:04 PM
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sometimes it will work, and sometimes it won't. It seems to be getting worse. I can get the seat and the back and decline, but not go forward....if that makes sense.
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Old Apr 2, 2008 | 10:14 PM
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I had the same problem, brought it to the nissan dealership and they replaced the bad motor under my extended warranty. Only took about 1 hour.
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Old Apr 2, 2008 | 10:15 PM
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Just noticed your from Sea-town, I brought my to Burien Nissan if that is any help.
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Old Apr 2, 2008 | 10:38 PM
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just play with the wires, it seems to be a loose connection. I've had it happen to me too. Almost as bad as windows not working but it's not so bad once you get used to it lol.
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Old Apr 2, 2008 | 11:23 PM
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koo thanx....my Z may still be under warranty, so we'll see what happens. Yup rep that 206 Scharky!
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Old Apr 3, 2008 | 05:34 PM
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OMG! to replace the motor for the damn driver's seat it's like 280 for just the motor. I would rather have manual seats than spend over 300 dollars to replace a motor....KRAZY!!!!!!!!!
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Old Apr 3, 2008 | 09:25 PM
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might be a bad ground. That can cause a lot of the voltage that the motor needs to go to a resistance point before or after the motor. Dirt / corrosion is a cause of this.

Check Available voltage and resistance.
If its all good, its a bad motor.
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Old Apr 27, 2008 | 02:40 PM
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Originally Posted by scharky
I had the same problem, brought it to the nissan dealership and they replaced the bad motor under my extended warranty. Only took about 1 hour.
Really?! Courtesy Nissan here in Tampa told me the motor could not be replaced as it is part of the cushion (assembly), and said I have to buy both cushions to fix. They quoted me ~$1,300.
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Old Apr 30, 2008 | 10:47 PM
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I have the same problem on the Passenger side of my 03 (well, it goes forward and not back). There is a connector right before the motor and I unplugged it and put a volt meter up to it and toggled the switch forward and back. I get 12.3 volts, then -12.4 volts. Switch is bad I think. I ran straight 12V to the motor and I can make the seat move forward and back. So at least I don't have to spend a ton on a motor. Now I have to call Nissan tomorrow and find a switch. There's an Infiniti dealer down the street, but they might be twice as much LOL. Anyone know the part number for the Passenger Seat switch? I have Nissan Fast but I can't get it to work. Thanks!
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Old May 1, 2008 | 09:09 AM
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The Part Number is 87016-CD011 and of course no dealer within 500 miles has it and its 4 days away. List is $75.15
Good Times.
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Old May 1, 2008 | 09:33 AM
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I have been through this with both my driver and passenger
seat. The dealership is LYING to you about BAD motors. This
is fraud. The culprit (imo and experience) are poorly manufatured
and expensive plastic switches on the sides of the chairs. The switching
mechanism's tensioner/spring and contacts seem to fail slowly,
and then become useless. Replacing these switches (about $90
apiece from the dealer) requires removal of seat and a screwdriver.
Replacement of these swicthes in my 55K m z corrected all issues,
and now they move front to back effortlessly (and lean, like a cholo).
I swear to god these dealership operators are STEALING money.
You burned out your motor! HA!

and,,,, the bad motor excuse is a way to create billing under
warranty repair, which, over time results in higher costs for you
and I. I would challenge the dealership to produce the broken
motor. ALL LIES LIES LIES. Don't believe their BS.

Last edited by lgear080; May 1, 2008 at 09:38 AM.
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Old May 1, 2008 | 10:20 AM
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Originally Posted by nautox
I have the same problem on the Passenger side of my 03 (well, it goes forward and not back). There is a connector right before the motor and I unplugged it and put a volt meter up to it and toggled the switch forward and back. I get 12.3 volts, then -12.4 volts. Switch is bad I think. I ran straight 12V to the motor and I can make the seat move forward and back. So at least I don't have to spend a ton on a motor. Now I have to call Nissan tomorrow and find a switch. There's an Infiniti dealer down the street, but they might be twice as much LOL. Anyone know the part number for the Passenger Seat switch? I have Nissan Fast but I can't get it to work. Thanks!
I think you can find the part number here at Courtesy Nissan of Texas's beta catalog.

For my 2003 driver's side seat (LH LEATHER POWER W/SIDE AIR BAG) I think the part number is 87016NA (SWITCH ASSY-FRONT SEAT) $47.33.

Last edited by FastEddie73; May 1, 2008 at 10:32 AM.
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Old May 1, 2008 | 03:53 PM
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I have been through this with both my driver and passenger
seat. The dealership is LYING to you about BAD motors. This
is fraud. The culprit (imo and experience) are poorly manufatured
and expensive plastic switches on the sides of the chairs. The switching
mechanism's tensioner/spring and contacts seem to fail slowly,
and then become useless. Replacing these switches (about $90
apiece from the dealer) requires removal of seat and a screwdriver.
Replacement of these swicthes in my 55K m z corrected all issues,
and now they move front to back effortlessly (and lean, like a cholo).
I swear to god these dealership operators are STEALING money.
You burned out your motor! HA!

and,,,, the bad motor excuse is a way to create billing under
warranty repair, which, over time results in higher costs for you
and I. I would challenge the dealership to produce the broken
motor. ALL LIES LIES LIES. Don't believe their BS.


I work at a dealership so I know all about the "cover your butt" diagnosis.
I heard of one guy with the problem that was quoted $1200 for a new
seat bottom. "because the motor doesn't come seperate." Well I'm sure
it comes with a brand new switch with that seat piece too so they think
they are properly diagnosing it because "that's what fixed the last car we did." I bet the repair manual says: PROBLEM - Seat Does Not Move Properly. FIX - Bend The Customer Over and Sell Them Parts They Don't Need And
Don't Forget to Charge Them The $100.00 Diagnosis Fee. LOL
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Old May 6, 2008 | 04:29 PM
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update...I got the passenger seat switch yesterday. And now the seat goes back and forth no problem.
Took the 4 bolts out that hold the seat down. Tipped it forward to unplug the 2 wire harness connectors. Yanked it out and set it on its side (headrest resting on the rocker panel so it didn't get dirrrty. Used a screwdriver to press the tabs on the old switch to get it out. The tricky part was getting the harness past the seat frame, barely enough room to get it through, hint: have the tab piece that sticks out pointing up to snake it through the less than an inch gap. Then reverse the process and your done. I heard these switches are junk, but luckily under $100.00 and 20 minutes labor on this one.
Good Times.
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Old May 26, 2008 | 07:29 PM
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These switches are junk. Just spent the better half of three hours taking this whole assembly apart. Took me a while to get the seat out (passenger) because the seat only slid forward and not back. Couldn't get a ratchet in there to get one of the front bolts out. Only enough room to go 1/8 of a turn each time to get the last bolt out.

Took entire switch apart, ball bearing, connected to a spring, pushing the rocker arm to and fro. Another spring to push it back. Before I put it all back together, I tested it, worked great. Putting it back together was a b*t*h, 2 tiny ball bearings, four springs, two rockers, the swithes themselves needed to be held in place just to put the cover back on. I thought I was going to give up many, many times...

So, like I said, switch works great, figured one of the bearning moved outta place, causing it to not make contact for reverse, good to go. Put all back together, get the seat in, start the first bolt and said to myself, wait, not good test case to only test once. Tried the switch, nothing. Great. Took it all apart again, tested, nothing. Noticed the black switch part itself wasn't allowing full motion of the switch, so I take that apart, great, another ball bearing/spring assembly.

Long story short, I sanded the sides of the black switch down and it still doesn't work right. Take the black switch off and work the sliders manually, works great. This is a piece of engineering crap. I'm very disappointed in Nissan with this. Gave up for the night, may crack open the switch assembly again tomorrow and lubricate it to see if it glides better. If not, I may stop at radio shack to see if I can rig something else up. I don't feel like paying those ******* at nissan any money for their crappy engineering.

I'll see if I can get some pictures up here tomorrow...
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Old Jun 22, 2011 | 12:14 AM
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Originally Posted by nautox
update...I got the passenger seat switch yesterday. And now the seat goes back and forth no problem.
Took the 4 bolts out that hold the seat down. Tipped it forward to unplug the 2 wire harness connectors. Yanked it out and set it on its side (headrest resting on the rocker panel so it didn't get dirrrty. Used a screwdriver to press the tabs on the old switch to get it out. The tricky part was getting the harness past the seat frame, barely enough room to get it through, hint: have the tab piece that sticks out pointing up to snake it through the less than an inch gap. Then reverse the process and your done. I heard these switches are junk, but luckily under $100.00 and 20 minutes labor on this one.
Good Times.
Does anyone else have experience removing the old switch? The switch itself is just screwed on but once that's off, the wire and the connector have to come up through/between the cushion and metal frame.

Mine is stuck - see picture. I can cut the wires on the old broken switch but I'm worried that I won't be able to put the new one.

Do I need to take apart the seat and cushion to do this?

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Old Jun 22, 2011 | 11:24 PM
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Ok, Nevermind. I figured it out.

I'm writing up a DIY with more details steps for others to follow. Hopefully it'll help many others who have the same problem.
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