Riviera63 Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 The power seat on my 1963 Riviera just quit working. The power seat has always worked fine. I had just adjusted it back and forth several times a few days ago when doing some interior work , vacuuming, etc.. This morning we went to pick the car up at the shop where we had some minor work done. My wife was going to drive the car home and when she went to adjust the seat nothing happened. There is no movement in any direction. When the switch is moved there is no noise of any kind. No clicks, no motor noise, nothing. I would appreciate any guidance with what the problem might be or a place to start with troubleshooting. Thanks. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seafoam65 Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 You need to buy a test light and check for power in and out of the power seat switch,and if that checks out, check for power and ground at the motor. If you have no power anywhere, you've gota fuse/circuit breaker problem most likely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alini Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 First check power to the switch. If you have power windows and they work it's something in the wire from behind the left kick panel to the switch or the switch itself. If you have power going thru the switch. ..... It's the motor. Not a lot to the system Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 The same circuit breaker is used for the seats as the windows. There's also a ground wire that goes from the seat motor to the seat frame. Make sure that it's making good contact. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riviera63 Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 Thanks for the replies. The electric windows work. There is no power at the switch. Will check other places as suggested. Best to remove seat to check these? Seems to be a tight fit to reach under and disconnect anything. Thanks. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alini Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 Power for the windows and seat go thru a fusible link located behind the left kick panel. The wire runs down the front of the door jamb along the carpet to under the seat. If you don't have power there but the windows work that wire must have broken somehow. It's a thick 12 gauge wire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riviera63 Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 I found the problem. The connector supplying power to the seat had separated slightly. It was not apparent as someone had taped over it in the past. I believe they had taped it to stay connected when the seat was all the way back. I think this was happening as the wires were tangled up underneath the seat and did not give enough play for seat travel. I removed the seat from the seat base to do some clean up. There was no ground wire. The diagram I have shows the ground wire running from the bottom of the actual seat frame to the base that bolts into the floor. I did find a hole on the seat base which accepts a screw. Ed had mentioned that the ground wire goes from the motor to the base. Where would it connect on the motor? Also I noticed the wire bundle that goes to the seat switch has a metal sleeve taped to it that has a tab and a hole that that looks as if it had a screw going through it to attach somewhere. The diagram shows this attaching somewhere on the seat bottom. I can't find an area that has a slot and hole that lines up with the tab and holes on the sleeve. Is it held on by a screw or is it a nut and bolt? Is it even worth worrying about? Suggestions? Thanks. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1965rivgs Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 I found the problem. The connector supplying power to the seat had separated slightly. It was not apparent as someone had taped over it in the past. I believe they had taped it to stay connected when the seat was all the way back. I think this was happening as the wires were tangled up underneath the seat and did not give enough play for seat travel. I removed the seat from the seat base to do some clean up. There was no ground wire. The diagram I have shows the ground wire running from the bottom of the actual seat frame to the base that bolts into the floor. I did find a hole on the seat base which accepts a screw. Ed had mentioned that the ground wire goes from the motor to the base. Where would it connect on the motor? Also I noticed the wire bundle that goes to the seat switch has a metal sleeve taped to it that has a tab and a hole that that looks as if it had a screw going through it to attach somewhere. The diagram shows this attaching somewhere on the seat bottom. I can't find an area that has a slot and hole that lines up with the tab and holes on the sleeve. Is it held on by a screw or is it a nut and bolt? Is it even worth worrying about? Suggestions? Thanks. BillBill, The ground wire goes from the seat frame to the mounting bolt. Tom Mooney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riviera63 Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 I did put the ground wire from the seat frame to the mounting bolt. The seat is back in, grounded and the switch is back in right side up as it had been in upside down. Everything works as it should. Happy to have that one done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cannon Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 For trouble-free future operation, you should clean and grease the seat tracks and the gears on the side of the track that the cable drives. It you can, I'd also recommend you take the 2 solenoids and gear sets apart, clean and lube them. Instructions and a blow up diagram are in the shop manual. The grease on these seat parts gets hard with age and jams them up. A good clean and re-grease job will keep it moving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riviera63 Posted June 5, 2015 Author Share Posted June 5, 2015 Thanks Jim, I will keep that in mind. That sounds like a great project for this coming winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1965rivgs Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 I second Jim`s suggestion to disassemble the power seat "transmission" to clean and lube everything (if it hasnt been done already?). This is the most common problem I have found on the power seat assembly. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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