2003 G35 Sedan

Here is the situation. The switch to move the seat forward and backward is faulty (or the motor is faulty). The switch will move the seat backward, but not forward, which means by accidentally hitting the switch back, the seat is in an uncomfortably far position back without a means of moving it forward. This creates a bit of a catch-22 in that the rail now covers one of the bolts on the back that needs to be removed in order to take the seat out to diagnose the electronics, etc.

Basically at this point my question is, can the seat be moved forward manually without the electric motor? Is there a way to disengage or bypass the motor to adjust the seat forward?

 

I'm in the same boat as you. The switch engages the motor and the seat wants to move but doesn't.

 

I don't think there's a way to get our seats to manually move. You might want to disconnect the battery, spray the switch liberally with contact cleaner, and move the switch back and forth. Do this a few times then hook the battery up and try it. My passenger seat was doing the same thing and that worked for me, must have gotten something down there that gummed it up. Also a gooseneck wrench might fit over the bolt you need to take out.

Moradar does your seat work one way and not the other or not at all? If you can hear the power to it but it doesn't move anywhere you might have broken the little plastic gear that moves the seat. Replacements can be purchased at odometergears.com and it's a fairly easy procedure to fix.

 

If the motor works one way but not the other it is the switch. DC motor just switches polarity to run forward and back.

 

I appreciate the feedback, everyone. Blue Dream, I tried your suggestion of soaking with electrical cleaner (with battery disconnected) and that didn't help any. I'll explain why here in a bit. I wanted to post my solution in case it may help someone else down the road.

Basically I took off the console cover that surrounds the gear shift and the arm rest and the console below it. I removed the two front bolts holding the seat down. Then I adjusted the seat's height control all the way up. At this point, I could tilt the seat back far enough (it didn't take much) where I could reach the two screws that hold on the switch unit.

I took the switch unit off and removed the part with the forward/backward switch and discovered my problem. One of the tiny arms that sticks down from the forward/backward switch was broken off. There are four arms that stick down and my broken one obviously controls the forward movement.

I couldn't think of a way to rig a solution so this is my fix until I can find and order that part: With the switch unit still apart where I could control the switch, I moved the seat fully forward, started the car and saved that position in the number 1 seat memory slot. Now if the seat gets moved backward, we can hit 1 and return it to the fully forward position.

Thanks again for all the replies and I hope this info helps someone out.