My wife's 1997 Volvo 960 driver's seat will not move back and forth. All of the other seat functions will work. I think the motor is burned out and would like to know everyone else's opinion. Also, I would like to know a online parts store that might have a seat motor in stock.

Thanks,


KillerBox@aol.com

I haven't read all these posts, but the same thing happened to my 965's passenger seat. I removed the cover, drilled a small hole in the offending switch and shot some tuner cleaner from Radio Shack in the hole. Success!

Don't loose the small springs and pins under the seat switch contols.
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Warren Bain - '99 V70GLT G-Valve > 70K mi, '96 965 >110Kmi Wifemobile near Manassas Va.. Check the 700/900 FAQ via the 'features' pull down menu.

The sheath on the cable to the center motor needs to be shortened. It is slipping because of a manufacturing problem. Volvo has had this same problem since they began making power seats on the 760's. The cable has slipped causing the seat to be out of time with the motor. It is now jambed. You will have to retime the seat as well when shorting the sheath, you can do this by measuring the seat track on each side. Once you have the cable loose you can operate the switch and one side of the seat will move. Adjust seat untill it has equal measurement on both sides. The metal end on the sheath can be removed with a small ( VERY SMALL)torch, just heat the meatal end enough so that the sheath slides out of the metal end. Then cut off approx. 1\4 inch of the sheath heat the metal end and slide the sheath back in. All this can be done with out removing the metal end from the motor. Just dont over heat the metal end or you will need a new cable.

P.S. If you purchase a new cable, it will still have the same problem and will need the same modification done to it.

I'm trying to get fast advice, I have taken my four bolts out, but the seat is stubborn. Any tips?
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89 244 (130K); 97 964 (95k)

Thanks everyone for your quick response!

The reason I think it is the motor because it used to be slow going back and forth. Then it would not go at all if you did not help it with your feet and push the button at the same time. Now it will not go at all even if you do help it.

When it used to move, both sides moved freely though. I would appreciate anyones help on this problem.

Thanks,

KillerBox@aol.com

Given your further description of the problem, my first line of attack would still be to clean the switch. It's easy to do, and it's free -- you have nothing to lose!

If the switch is getting bad contact, then it may supply less current to the motor, so the motor operates more slowly. Additionally, if the switch is bad, but the motor is good, then Dawgvolvo's method of feeling the motor will give you a false positive on diagnosing that the motor is bad.

Just my 2-cents.

Jeff Pierce
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'92 Mercedes 190E (my daily driver), '93 945 Turbo (a kickass family car), '53 Willys-Overland Pickup (my snow-plow truck/conversation piece)

locate the middle motor under the seat(there are 3 motors under the seat)...that is the motor that moves the seat forward/backward. place your hand on one of the two cable coming out from either end of the motor. you should be able to feel the cable spinning. if not, the motor is not working as opposed to my problem where I can feel the cable spinning. that will rule out motor versus cable. I would then check the switch and connections. as I have learned restoring my old corvette...rule out the easiest and least expensive possibilities first. I found it easiest to pull the seat completely out of the car...just 4 bolts holding it in place. if you do decide to pull the seat, disconnect the negative battery cable in order to shut off the airbag sensor under the seat. then you can visualize the motors and what it will take to replace the motor if necessary.

Jim

Does the seat move just a little but only on one side of the track? If the seat moves at all then the switch is fine. If not, look into cleaning or replacing the switch. But if only one side moves a little then it is the inner part of the cable has rounded off and no longer is driving the little gear box on the that side. If this is the problem, get back to us as there diffent ways to correct this.

94 964 230,000 miles
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DanR

Can you please elaborate on the ways to repair this. I too am having the same problem. I pulled the seat completely out of the car, so I know it is not the motor. I can feel the cable turning but don't know if it is the cable or gearbox that has failed. One side of the seat moves while the other side will sometimes move backwards but mostly it does not move at all. I tried to pull the cable out of the gearbox, but it would not come out, and I did not want to pull to hard and cause more damage.

Jim

I have taken my four bolts out, but the seat is stubborn. Any tips
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89 244 (130K); 97 964 (95k)

This is a response I wrote on July 1st last month.
Someone else had a slighly different twist to it last week.

"I had this very problem. It turned out that there is one motor that has a cable coming off of each end, they inturn serve each side of the seat track. What happened on my seat was that the inner cable's end had rounded out on one side. The cables are round except for the last few inches where they are square. The square ends fit into the motor shaft and then to the gear on the track gear box. I think the seats were designed by NASA. The are very heavy and complicated. It seemed that the inner cable should have been longer than it was as just the last 1/8 inch was making it into the gear housing on the track. Here on the board most have repaired this by making the outer sheathing shorter to get more of the inner cable to seat into the gear housing. I didn't see any way of getting the metal end off the cable without destroying the metal end. So I left it alone, all I did was insert 1/4 inch piece of round steel in the inside of the motor shaft, the cable seems to go into the shaft way to far anyway and this made the other end too short and barely able to be inserted into the gear housing. By inserting the metal into the motor shaft it allowed the other end to travel further into the gear housing. I hope this makes sense, if not write with questions for clarification.

I also disconneted the negative battery terminal, I did not want to take any chances with the SRS system. I think there is a sensor under the seat."

Hope this helps.

94 964 230,000 miles

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DanR

Dan,

I think I understand what you did...you pushed the inner cable forward into the gearbox via the round steel piece inserted at the motor side of the cable. Great problem solving skills. I tried to pull the cable out of the motor to no avail. How do you get the steel piece into the motor shaft?

Jim

You will have to get the cable off the motor. If I remember correctly there is a flat metal clip that goes around the metal tip of the cable. Once you remove the screw that holds the clip in place the cable pulls out.

94 964 230,000 miles
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DanR

I've had problems with the switch for the forward/backward control. All the others worked fine. The switch needed to be disassembled and the contacts cleaned.

Jeff Pierce
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'92 Mercedes 190E (my daily driver), '93 945 Turbo (a kickass family car), '53 Willys-Overland Pickup (my snow-plow truck/conversation piece)