Runaway Power Seat

[ralendrum]

Funny thing happened yesterday. My 2000 C4 996 had a runaway drivers side seat back. When I sat down the seat back started to move ahead. It trapped me between the seat back and steering wheel. Luckily I was sitting still when this happened and I managed to bail out of the car. After fooling around and resetting the seat to the memory position I noticed that it happens everytime I push down on the seat. I finally reset the power functions back to the memory positions and pulled the E3 fuse to disable the seat.

I know this points to a short in the wiring or switch. I was just wondering if this is fairly common, common or rare. Anybody have any idea what to look for or any tips on hunting the problem down. I imagine I will end up removing the seat.

Thanks for any help

Bob Lendrum

[CosmosC4S]

I'm thinking... the stealer will tell you that you need to replace the seat memory control module.

They will try to charge you over $1000 :huh:

Edited August 6, 2008 by CosmosC4S

[lilredpo]

I'm thinking... the stealer will tell you that you need to replace the seat memory control module.

They will try to charge you over $1000 :huh:

Not to hijack your thread, but I have a similar problem.

I have a runaway drivers seat every time I lock and unlock the car using the key button.

When I unlock, the drivers seat moves all the way forward and up. I assume this was set at one time with the seat/key memory function, but I have tried all steps in OM to reprogram with no luck. If I use the other key, it also goes to another setting, but at least not all the way up.

It's like an olympic sport, every time I unlock the car, I have to quickly reach in and press and hold the seat memory buttion for my stored position, before I get crushed.

Can I just pull a fuse to at least stop the motion?

reminds me of the movie 'Christine'!!

[Loren]

I would start by checking the connection under the seat and at the control module.

Be sure to disconnect the battery or you will trigger an airbag light when you remove the seat.

[ralendrum]

Well I thought I would update / put to rest this thread. I removed the drivers seat from my 2000 C4 (first disconnecting battery) and unhooked the attached wiring harnesses. When I pulled the seat out I could see where the harness went past the cushion and into the switch panel. I removed the 2 screws from the switch panel and could see that the harness was not in the cutout that it is supposed to run through but was "pinched" between the seat frame and cushion. All 5 wires (maybe 6) were rubbed through the insulation and were grounded to the seat frame. Bottom line was I unplugged the harness and pulled it through as far as I could then cut back the tape on the harness. I repaired and taped each wire then retaped the bundle. With all the extra tape the bundle is thick enough that the only place it will go is through the cut out. I reinstalled the seat and had a small problem. It turns out that the harness to the switch panel will plug into the wrong pins. Usually they are set up so you can't plug the harness in the wrong place. I removed the seat anchor bolts and replugged the harness and all works well.

This turned out to be a lot simpler fix than I was expecting. It didn't involve replacing any parts and now I can use all the power seat and memory functions.

Bob