Growling Power Seat Adjusters

[356to966]

For some time I’ve had a loud growling noise when adjusting my 02 Cab’s power seats fore and aft. This has come up on this forum before and there is a factory service bulletin on the subject. Porsche calls for the seat be removed to start the repair but dealing with all the electrical connectors is kind of daunting as so often they have little tricks that you have to know to disconnect them.

So, instead here’s what’s worked for me:

Run the seat as far forwards and as high as it will go.

Look under from the rear and you’ll see two motors at one side.

The rear motor drives one rail and has a cross shaft to drive the other.

On the side away from the motor, the cross shaft has a plastic bushing hidden under a rubber dust cover.

Pry the dust cover off with a screw driver.

Spray the bushing with WD40.

The groaning is now gone now and if it ever returns, its just a quick squirt to fix.

[JFP in PA]

For some time I’ve had a loud growling noise when adjusting my 02 Cab’s power seats fore and aft. This has come up on this forum before and there is a factory service bulletin on the subject. Porsche calls for the seat be removed to start the repair but dealing with all the electrical connectors is kind of daunting as so often they have little tricks that you have to know to disconnect them.

So, instead here’s what’s worked for me:

Run the seat as far forwards and as high as it will go.

Look under from the rear and you’ll see two motors at one side.

The rear motor drives one rail and has a cross shaft to drive the other.

On the side away from the motor, the cross shaft has a plastic bushing hidden under a rubber dust cover.

Pry the dust cover off with a screw driver.

Spray the bushing with WD40.

The groaning is now gone now and if it ever returns, its just a quick squirt to fix.

 

Rather than spray it with WD 40, which will attract dirt, spray it with DuPont dry Teflon spray which coats it with a Teflon lubricant that remains dry and won't attract any dirt.

 

[WalkerJ68]

That's a good tip, I'll have to give it a shot.

[judgejon]

I read all the posts on this topic via the search engine, and agree that taking out the seat is just too much for me.

 

It seems that the replacement of the Bowden drive tube is a dealer-only function costing big bucks.

 

I've had this problem for some time, with both seats, but never as bad as at the present.  The car sat in hot weather for several days, and I'm wondering if this had anything to do with the problem.

 

Does this lubrication tip really work?  On both driver and passenger seats?

 

Could a picture be posted off the dust cap that needs to come off, and the subject bushing?

 

I've tried unsuccessfully to copy the TSB noted in another post on the topic, using my MacAir, but a "password" I don't have is apparently needed.  I'll try to copy just the illustrations, but I'm not confident that will work.

 

I'm concerned that both seats will just freeze up.  I'd appreciate any additional info on the problem.

 

Regards to OrientExpress, and all old friends on the forum. 

Edited July 23, 2015 by judgejon

[Ahsai]

Contributing members should have access to the TSB on Renntech (I can't see if you are on my smartphone). The TSB is pretty clear.

[JFP in PA]

I read all the posts on this topic via the search engine, and agree that taking out the seat is just too much for me.

 

It seems that the replacement of the Bowden drive tube is a dealer-only function costing big bucks.

 

I've had this problem for some time, with both seats, but never as bad as at the present.  The car sat in hot weather for several days, and I'm wondering if this had anything to do with the problem.

 

Does this lubrication tip really work?  On both driver and passenger seats?

 

Could a picture be posted off the dust cap that needs to come off, and the subject bushing?

 

I've tried unsuccessfully to copy the TSB noted in another post on the topic, using my MacAir, but a "password" I don't have is apparently needed.  I'll try to copy just the illustrations, but I'm not confident that will work.

 

I'm concerned that both seats will just freeze up.  I'd appreciate any additional info on the problem.

 

Regards to OrientExpress, and all old friends on the forum. 

 

The spray will work if all that is needed is lubrication (which is quite often the case); but if there is a mechanical issue it obviously is not the solution.

[judgejon]

Contributing members should have access to the TSB on Renntech (I can't see if you are on my smartphone). The TSB is pretty clear.

 

nope, can't print the TSB.  "Small print" says "read only."  I tried to print it out every way I could think of with no success, until....

I took a screen shot of the illustrations in the TSB and then printed out the screen shot.  

[judgejon]

 

I read all the posts on this topic via the search engine, and agree that taking out the seat is just too much for me.

 

It seems that the replacement of the Bowden drive tube is a dealer-only function costing big bucks.

 

I've had this problem for some time, with both seats, but never as bad as at the present.  The car sat in hot weather for several days, and I'm wondering if this had anything to do with the problem.

 

Does this lubrication tip really work?  On both driver and passenger seats?

 

Could a picture be posted off the dust cap that needs to come off, and the subject bushing?

 

I've tried unsuccessfully to copy the TSB noted in another post on the topic, using my MacAir, but a "password" I don't have is apparently needed.  I'll try to copy just the illustrations, but I'm not confident that will work.

 

I'm concerned that both seats will just freeze up.  I'd appreciate any additional info on the problem.

 

Regards to OrientExpress, and all old friends on the forum. 

 

The spray will work if all that is needed is lubrication (which is quite often the case); but if there is a mechanical issue it obviously is not the solution.

 

I'm going to try the spray approach.  I'll post up with the results.  

Cheers,

[Ahsai]

Oh yeah, you're right. The pdfs are secured and printing is not allowed.

[judgejon]

Well, gentlemen, I'm not as young as I used to be.

 

Not wanting to take out the seats, having done that swapping over the seats in my 911sc, I decided to attempt the "easier" fix of popping off the dust covers and hitting the bushing opening with WD-40.  I thought the WD-40 might have a better penetrating action than the Dupont Teflon spray.

 

I managed to get it done, but there were some interesting and uncomfortable body-twisting contortions involved.

 

Once I figured out the best way to reach the dust cover on the passenger side, I got it off and got the WD-40 in there.

 

It was modestly easier to get to the dust cover on the drivers seat, and I got it off and hit the opening in the bushing with WD-40.

 

Ran the seats back and forth, and HOO-RAH it worked.

 

Thanks to all y'all for posting up on this one.

 

Right, you too Loren.  Best,  

[Silver_TT]

FYI You don't need to take the seat out to do this.  I have replaced the seat motor and drive cable and I recall the OEM manual saying to start by taking the seat out but I found after doing it that it was completely unnecessary.  I just unscrewed the seat from the car and used a box to tilt the whole seat up while I swapped out the motor and cable.  It just took a few minutes -- very, very easy.  You need an inverse torx if I recall....  I also would be careful with WD40 under there because there's a lot of dirt and that's a likely culprit to cause your seat motor to start to act up in the first place...... the cable I have found is often the culprit as well.  if you do it smart the whole job should only take 10 minutes or so.  good luck.

[JFP in PA]

Well, gentlemen, I'm not as young as I used to be.

 

 

 

And who is?  Just remember, youth and skill are no match for old age and treachery................. ^_^

[Silver_TT]

well said :)

[JFP in PA]

Well, gentlemen, I'm not as young as I used to be.

 

Not wanting to take out the seats, having done that swapping over the seats in my 911sc, I decided to attempt the "easier" fix of popping off the dust covers and hitting the bushing opening with WD-40.  I thought the WD-40 might have a better penetrating action than the Dupont Teflon spray.

 

I managed to get it done, but there were some interesting and uncomfortable body-twisting contortions involved.

 

Once I figured out the best way to reach the dust cover on the passenger side, I got it off and got the WD-40 in there.

 

It was modestly easier to get to the dust cover on the drivers seat, and I got it off and hit the opening in the bushing with WD-40.

 

Ran the seats back and forth, and HOO-RAH it worked.

 

Thanks to all y'all for posting up on this one.

 

Right, you too Loren.  Best,  

 

For future reference, the DuPont spray will penetrate (the Teflon is suspended in a thin solvent), and gets you away from future dirt pickup problems.

[judgejon]

 

Well, gentlemen, I'm not as young as I used to be.

 

Not wanting to take out the seats, having done that swapping over the seats in my 911sc, I decided to attempt the "easier" fix of popping off the dust covers and hitting the bushing opening with WD-40.  I thought the WD-40 might have a better penetrating action than the Dupont Teflon spray.

 

I managed to get it done, but there were some interesting and uncomfortable body-twisting contortions involved.

 

Once I figured out the best way to reach the dust cover on the passenger side, I got it off and got the WD-40 in there.

 

It was modestly easier to get to the dust cover on the drivers seat, and I got it off and hit the opening in the bushing with WD-40.

 

Ran the seats back and forth, and HOO-RAH it worked.

 

Thanks to all y'all for posting up on this one.

 

Right, you too Loren.  Best,  

 

For future reference, the DuPont spray will penetrate (the Teflon is suspended in a thin solvent), and gets you away from future dirt pickup problems.

 

Thanks for the info.  I'll get some and keep it on hand.  Probably smells better than the WD-40 as well.  Cheers, 

[JFP in PA]

 

 

Well, gentlemen, I'm not as young as I used to be.

 

Not wanting to take out the seats, having done that swapping over the seats in my 911sc, I decided to attempt the "easier" fix of popping off the dust covers and hitting the bushing opening with WD-40.  I thought the WD-40 might have a better penetrating action than the Dupont Teflon spray.

 

I managed to get it done, but there were some interesting and uncomfortable body-twisting contortions involved.

 

Once I figured out the best way to reach the dust cover on the passenger side, I got it off and got the WD-40 in there.

 

It was modestly easier to get to the dust cover on the drivers seat, and I got it off and hit the opening in the bushing with WD-40.

 

Ran the seats back and forth, and HOO-RAH it worked.

 

Thanks to all y'all for posting up on this one.

 

Right, you too Loren.  Best,  

 

For future reference, the DuPont spray will penetrate (the Teflon is suspended in a thin solvent), and gets you away from future dirt pickup problems.

 

Thanks for the info.  I'll get some and keep it on hand.  Probably smells better than the WD-40 as well.  Cheers, 

 

 

You can usually find it at Lowes or online.  Has a lot of uses.

[swynn97]

This is a great fix. I had noisy seats in my 2004 C2 Cab ever since I bought the car in 2007. It was 'on my list' to remove the seats - ugghh. I gave this fix a go using the Teflon spray (from Amazon.com), and it worked perfectly. 5 minute fix.

 

I've attached a couple of photos showing the bushing cover, both on and off. It's more like hard plastic than rubber, and to remove it I found pushing with your thumb on the side facing you as you grab it from behind the seat the seems to work. 

 

Simon

[judgejon]

Nice pics.  Thanks for posting those up.

 

ps:  the lable on the DuPont spray has changed, but it does seems pretty good.