While repairing the A/C, the mechanic broke the power seat switch bracket. The seat moves well in all directions except front and back. Sitting in the car, the seat moves slowly back, but will not move forward. Kneeling outside the car, the seat will move slowly back and intermitently creep forward an inch or so.

It worked fine before the switch pod was broken, but the mechanic says that its failing to work now was coincidental and not caused by his breaking the bracket. He wants to replace the two gear boxes--parts and labor about $1000.00 This is outrageous to me.

I read the answer to this problem posted by DanR regarding the rounding of the cables. Could my problem be cable related? The mechanic says the plastic gears are probably broken. I question this in that the seat will move backward slowly and creep forward intermitently. Also, it didn't slowly fail; it worked fine the day before. Could dirty switch terminals be the cause?

What can I do to diagnose this problem? Should the mechanic be held responsible for the repair?

If I attempt to fix it myself, do I need to remove the seat? Is there a diagram of what needs to be done?
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BR