Kevin in Atlanta

And are they repairable?

EDIT: Yes!

I took my switch wiring off my seat off this morning and took it apart. The wear on the copper piece that pivots when you press the seat button was visible. In addition, the cup that holds the ball bearing was wider than the other three. I removed the pivoting piece and compared it to a similar piece off a defunct switch part that controlled the vertical and the difference was apparent.

So, I replaced the worn pivot with the other part and voila, I now have a 100% working switch.

I just saved $140 bucks I can spend to replace my driver-side window motor!

-Kevin

docmirror

Because they are not well designed and people mash on them pretty hard.

Contact Roger at 928sRUS, his price should be somewhat better than $140 per switch.

As far as the swap out, I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to do? These switches come with the wiring attached, and if you want to control different functions, you would just move the pins around in the connector under the seat. Should be no soldering needed, but I'm not sure I understand what you are using, and where you are putting it.

<edit; suggest you get the four way switch, and only use two of the pins for the control you want. The four way switch is also cheaper than the two way. Weird.>

Kevin in Atlanta

I fixed mine this morning! Woohoo!

rexpontius

I fixed mine too a few weeks ago, i love it when these fixes work. Couple of hours fiddling around, and lots of fun when it works.

Putting back the springs and ball bearings in the switch was pretty difficult, but it worked :-)

Kevin in Atlanta

The trick to putting the switch back together is to place some wheel bearing grease on the springs and then place the ball bearings. After that it is just a matter of placing the switch housing into place in a single push.

A most satisfying fix.

Randy V

Search found this thread which is sorta related to my issue.

I have 8-way memory seats. All functions operate normally - except - for the switch that raises/lowers the front seat section of the driver's seat.

Any thoughts on best way to attack this? I've done no troubleshooting as of yet.

davek9

As a reminder when working on the seat switches they are powered even if the ignition is off, so pull the fuse (one for each seat) 30 amperes

docmirror

There are two general failure modes. First is the contacts inside the 4 way switch, which is the topic of this thread. Next is a binding in the motor drive to the worm gear mechanism.

Testing: With the engine off, in a quiet location, open the door, put your head near the front of the seat and move the switch up and down. Listen carefully for any 'bump' sound in both directions. If you have a voltmeter on the batt, also note a quick drop in voltage. If you hear this bump sound, and/or note a quick drop in batt voltage you are getting power to the motor, but there is a bind in the mechanism to the gear/rack.

If you don't hear the bump, and don't note a change in the steady-state of the batt voltage, then you are not getting power to the motor. If the fore-aft to that switch is working, the fuse is good, so next is to remove the switch and disassemble(at your peril). As noted above, there are springs and ball bearings inside the switch which are not captive. It's hard to explain how it works in there, but the contacts often become corroded, or bent so that they do not mate when the button is pressed in the correct direction.

If it fails in both up and down, that's an indication that the wiper of the switch has been dislodged or broken. Better to replace it than try to repair, but if you are game, take the switch apart, note the wiper contacts, and the associated contacts to reverse the motor for up or down. While apart, if you leave the connection made to receptacle under the seat, you can use a jumper to test the motion of the motor by jumping the bridge contacts to 12V and note seat motion. Sometimes you have both failure modes as the mechanism has failed before, and the operator keeps mashing the switch harder, and harder, to try to resolve.

Not knowing what you may find inside, I can't go further than this. Would recommend getting a new switch from Roger, and test your motor motion by jumping in 12V to make it go up and down, and eliminate mech binding.

Wisconsin Joe

Doc Mirror's post about seeing if the motors are drawing power is what I always suggest first.

The switches, however, are the "usual suspect" in this situation.

They are rather "fiddly" though. Small parts, springs and ball bearings. If you choose to do it with the seats in the car, opening the switch up inside a large ziplock bag is strongly suggested.

Removing the seats isn't all that hard of a task, and makes this a lot easier (well worth it IMO).

Thread with a lot of good pics on it here:

https://rennlist.com/forums/964-foru...lace-them.html

dpower$

My 928 (early 86) used the same window motors as in a Saab. Part was cheaper buying it as a saab part. Just my $.02

Randy V

Thanks all, Doc - will troubleshoot then determine my next step.

docmirror

That link Joe provided is pretty sweet. Shows how to pull the switch out, and apart without damage.

martinss

Reassembling the switch can be tricky. I found that wedging metal plates between the circular switch plate and the front housing cover under it, then putting these accross a couple of wooden blocks:



allowed me to push the back housing on easily as I could press the two parts of the switch housing together without pushing or moving the the circular switch plate and the associated springs and *****:

Randy V

OK, so I went to install a new seat switch (from 928 International) but when I went to remove the switch it started working again.

That didn't make sense.

I figured out that the down travel doesn't work while sitting in the seat. Upward travel works regardless.

So, it seems the control motor is binding when moving down with weight on the seat?

Do I need to remove the seat to get a shot of silicone spray in there or can it be done in situ?

Randy V

Bueller?