power seat track repair
 

Has anyone ever tried to dissasemble and repair a power seat track? The tilt function on mine doesn't work - it sounds like a stripped gear, which I understand is made of plastic. Is it even possible to find plastic or metal replacement gears? I know you can get rebuilt tracks, but thought the question is worth asking.

nobody makes replacement parts for the seat track. you have to swap out the entire unit.

Most of the catalog vendors offer rebuilt tracks (or a rebuild service). They're about $220 with a $150 core charge. You won't be able to find the gear unit alone - at least not one that is guaranteed to work. :)

:iagree: I had a positive excperience with Corvette Central. They would also rebuild the seat track out of my car if I wanted to leave it with them for a few weeks. Good luck!

I am getting ready to tear one down. I got 2 tracks with play on the front riser that makes my seat tilt forward or backward with accel or decel. I see the mesh between the bar and outside gear is fine but it does rotate ever so slightly causing this.Anoying it is. I just got a used one and it has a little less play in it so I am using it and going to tear down my old one just for grins and see if there is a way to fix my newer one with a gear out of it. There must be a way to do this if they keep selling rebuilts someone has the gears. Just wish I knew where to get them. Buying a rebuilt is just another corvette tax. They want your core and probably spend 1 hr to rebuild it. Wish I was making $200 an hour.

I got a rebuilt seat frame from Ecklers. The frame was painted black which was ok, but they painted over the crumbs and spilled milkshake that were all over it. I took off the new parts I needed to rebuild my broken part and then sent their crappy frame and my broken pieces back as the core.


it still works

My sentiments exactly. Let us know how you make out after the tear-down. You never know, it might be less $$ to have a machinist friend make a gear from scratch.

My thoghts exactly:thumbs:

I will be doing it in a week or two and will post back.

Mine does everything but move forward and backward on the track. I'd rather swap in a manual seat track than pay $200 to fix it. :toetap:

Power Seat Track Repair
 

I'm The Guy Whose Taken The Seat Track Transmission Apart. Pretty Easy To Get Apart, Too. What You Probably Discover Inside Is A Really Crappy Design. Good Chance It's Not Gears, Based On My Observation. Gear System Looks Good Enough- It's The Worm Retainers That Suck. There Are 3 Nylon (or Maybe Polypropylene) Retainers, One At Each End Of The Main Worm Drive, And A Large, Complex Piece That Situates The Drive Gear Shafts.

Mine Is A 92, Owned Since New, With 21k Miles. Lots Of Stuff Going Wrong By Now, Mostly Victims Of Age. Anyway, The Nylon Retainers Fracture, Causing Inadequate Meshing Of The Gears. Probably Impossible To Buy Components, So I'm Going To Try Something Experimental And Cheap. 2 Of The 3 Retainers On Mine Are Broken, But Only The Forward/reverse Has Completely Failed. I'm Going To Make A Steel Stiffener To Sandwich The Primary Retainer In Place When I Rivet The Housing Back Together.

The Idea Is To Force The Broken Retainer Pieces Into Position By The Addition Of The Stiffener. Hoping This Works, Since The Alternative Is Rediculous.

Anyone Else Have Thoughts?

Would it be possible for you to provide some pics of the dissassembled unit, showing where the parts are and what they look like?

:lurk:

Same here I wanna see some pics and a step by step disassmebly guide. I doesn't look too hard but I would like to compare notes.

I tore my 93 rack apart. The gears were really not stripped. The housing was broken in two places. I fabricated the pieces that would mend the breaks. I then spaced the worm gears out as much as possible to use the part of the gear that had not been damaged. Anyway, it works just fine. It is for the passenger seat so it does not get much use.
93cruiser

I have done extensive work on the seat tracks. The gears don’t go bad, the end caps and supports do. Glue will not hold up. I did some plastic welding for the passenger side. I did replace the drivers side. :)

Check out this link and the info on post 16 and my pictures and write up on post 19. Its to much to bring over to this page. :ack:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ighlight=sport

OK so I see the broken end cap I assume that may be my proble with the excess movement in the front up and down. With the broken end cap it allows the gear to move forward and back correct? I have another track that does not move forward and back but both forward and rear up/down are tight. I did not see the rear on you pics. Question is do you think it would be possible to take the good end caps/gears ( I assume they do not come apart) out and swap them? Will the rear end cap/gear transfer to the front? I have two working tracks that both have the play in the front up /down

If the plastic can be ID'ed I know where the proper glue can be had there is a company called Weld On that makes all sorts of plastic glues. I used thier #4 on a broken Targa and it was solid as a rock.Problem is we will need to know the plastic composition to select the right glue.

http://www.eplastics.com/Plastic/Adh...FQEGxwodxydm_w

I am wondering if it is ABS plastic I know the quality of what they sell and it is superior.

WOW I found this link and thought I would add it mabey we CAN figure out what plastic it is.

http://www.texloc.com/closet/cl_plasticsid.html

Yes

To take apart, you do have to drill out the aluminum rivets (1/8) and replace them with screw and nut.
Been a while so take my info with a grain of salt. I do believe the end caps do transfer. The biggest problem was the housing that cracked in multiple spots. I epoxyed at first and that did not hold up. Did the job again and welded the pieces together. It works but take it real easy and not much activity in the passenger side. I think it would break again if I got to ambitious.


Man, plastics are not my field, but the idea sounds great. The plastic was very slick and the main structure does take a lot of stress. Bonding needs to be stronger than plastic itself. Kinda like doing PVC.

Thanks for the pics and the detailed explaination. That pretty much settles it for me - I'm going to save the aggravation and just go for a rebuilt unit. Comment though: It seems that the rebuilders would have to replace the plastic housing, which means that they'd have to source them from somewhere. If someone had the means to cast and machine these out of aluminum, it sounds like there would be a fairly big market for them.

BTW, this forum is great, and well moderated! Kudos.

:iagree: Your walking in my shoes from 2 years ago. I am not the first or leader in this effort. But they got to be getting the parts from some where. We all can repair these things if there were parts. To make one out of aluminum is costly start up costs, need lots of volume. I think you would need a computer controlled cutter to make it worth while. Labor and a machinist is to costly (only government work). :)

post a pic of you need made i will let u know if i can make these. i'm a toolroom machinest with 30 yrs.exp. have not found anything i couldn't make for a vette yet.

If you look at the links above you will see the parts in question. You will need the parts in hand. After I take apart the extra one I have and swap a couple of parts out of it I will be more than glad to send the bad stuff to you. I will PM you.

Started the tear down and found the forward gear retainer split just like pcolt94's link showed his was. That is the cause of my "rocking chair" I ordered some "weld on" glue to try and fix it. I will be taking a good gear out of the seat track that the forward and back does not work on to replace this one but will resuse the repaired gear on my passenger side track. Here is a detailed description of the glue I am using on it.
SUBSTRATE RECOMMENDATIONS
WELD-ON 16 is especially formulated to bond acrylic plastic. It can also be used for bonding styrene,
butyrate, PVC and polycarbonate, as well as other plastics and porous surfaces.

BONDING RECOMMENDATIONS
WELD-ON 16 is recommended as an excellent general purpose, high strength acrylic cement. It is especially
useful where fast cure and high strength are desired for applications such as large housings, signs, plastic
letters, industrial fabrications, display items, lenses and models.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
WELD-ON 16 is a very high strength, clear, medium bodied, fast curing, bodied solvent-type acrylic cement.
Applied to cast, molded or extruded acrylics, it will effect initial bonds within minutes and form strong joints
within hours.This product may be thinned with WELD-ON 3 by approximately 10%. Initial bond forms very
quickly so some parts may be handled within a few minutes of application. Bond strength continues to
develop very rapidly reaching a substantial level within hours. Joints are water and weather resistant and will
generally have similar physical and chemical properties to acrylic plastic.

BOND STRENGTH DATA
The following strength data was obtained with compressive shear loading at 0.05”/min.The materials tested
were ” acrylic lap joints of 1 sq. in. bonding area.

SUBSTRATE MATERIAL 24 HOURS 1 WEEK
Acrylic 1700 PSI 2200 PSI
Polycarbonate 1000 1700
Styrene 900 1700

ADHESIVE PROPERTIES AND CHARACTERISTICS
COLOR: Clear
VISCOSITY: 800 cps
WORKING TIME: 2 – 3 minutes
FIXTURE TIME: 5 – 6 minutes
80% STRENGTH: 16 hours
SPECIFIC GRAVITY: 1.02 ± .040
COVERAGE: 10mil: 28sq. ft./Pint 224 sq. ft./Gallon
20mil: 14sq. ft./Pint 112 sq. ft./Gallon

DIRECTIONS FOR USE
• Parts to be joined should be clean and fit without forcing.
• Apply WELD-ON 16 to one or both surfaces with brush, polyethylene squeeze bottle or gun.
• If cement is applied to one surface, bring the two surfaces in gentle contact for several seconds to
allow the dry surfaces to be softened.
• Assemble with firm pressure while parts are still wet.
• Hold or clamp assembled parts firmly until initial set. Joint strength will increase greatly in 24 hours.
Thereafter, strength will continue to increase gradually for some weeks.

Weld on #16 did not work back to the drawing board. The plastic almost feels like nylon. Wish I had a piece to burn so I could use the link I posted to ID it for sure.

OK did some more testing and a burn and am 90% sure it IS nylon. I burned the tip of a gear retainer and it burned blue no smoke and frothed. Nylon is the only one in the chart that froths but I can't get a smell and did not want to let it burn more and risk destroying the cap. I have found a glue call "Plastic Surgery" that is supposed to glue nylon but to be sure I will try using my micro torch and weld the outside after gluing. I will report back........

Attachment 48163971
Thanks for the link pcolt94.
This is my problem and the fix I am using. As you see from the link the 2 pieces seperate. It is nylon. I bought Sure Hold Plastic Surgery glue at Walgreens and glued it back togther. I then found 2 small brass wood screws nd cut the head off. I took the screw and heated it with my micro torch and imbedded into the side away from the tab while continuing to torch the plastic till it starts to burn. It is very hard to see it burning but you will see it bubble and melt and the screw will sink into the nylon. This is to keep the cap end from seperating again. When I reassemble it I am going to use a ball of plumbers epoxy and tuck it in near the end cap to keep it from being able to move. This step may not be necessary but I don't want to do it again. The plumbers epoxy will stick to steel (I hope)and hopefully fill in the void between the cap and the casing. You must be careful with the torch part as I said you may not see it burning and you will have to blow it out once the screw is in position. The nylon congeals back into the same or at least it looks the same as it was before the screw was imbedded.

I still do not have a fix for the worm gear positioner bracket. I have a small crack in the upper tab that I used glue on mine but the rest is in good shape. This is the part that really controls the front and back movement and positions all the gears. It is molded nylon and the micro torch melting and congealing might work on it but as I said my problem was more with the front gear moving so the seat rocks and the retainer fix I have come up with will solve that.


BEZ71 I have not forgot you and will contact you after I do this fix on my other seat as it has the same issue. My pass side seat has an issue with the front/back movement but the up and down is fine so I will be swaping a retainer cap out of it and send you all the bad stuff in it to look at.

Installed and operational:hurray: No more rocking chair. One down and 1 to go.

Looks like I've been working on the same project. Tore down two units and found the same thing described in this thread. It's the nylon gear support structure and gear shaft end supports that break and cause the gears to go out of alignment. The support structure was broken similarly in both units as are the end caps.

My thought was this; I will glue the nylon pieces of the center support back together so that a complete unit is intact. We should then be able to use it as a template to either machine or cast a new one out of aluminum or bronze. Once a properly working example has been made, it should be possible to have it reproduced in quantity.

Ofcourse it will be interesting to see how much that costs.

BEZ71 are you up to making a pilot piece? I'm just north of you in Grayslake, IL. and could bring you the parts.

Here's what we're dealing with:
http://home.comcast.net/~hans.meyer54/1d580e00.jpg
Hans
:cheers:

Seat Track Transmission
 

Actually Keen Parts does and has for awhile. I spoke to Tom at Corvettes of Carlisle this year. See my posts on this thread:
<http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=2092729&highlight=track +seat>

Mail from Tom today indicates he is working on a plan to offer rebulit transmissions . . . . :yesnod:

Tom from Keen Parts post is here:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...post1566943543

i didn't even know a manual track was offered for corvettes? if so, what model years had them and what is the interchangeability of these manual rails?

My power equipment is also giving up, and my thought was to find the needed parts from an RC car vendor (hi-dollar RC stuff), for gears/bearings, etc

Sorry won't work look at the above links and pics. The gears are probably OK it is the molded pieces that break. No bearings to speak of just nylon.

Do they do a core exchange or ?? Do you recall what a repaired track costs ?

Yes, we do a core exchange. A repaired seat track is $220. You can call me for more details at 800-757-5336. :thumbs:

Kevin
www.KeenParts.com
800-757-5336

I agree with you. Someone is making parts for these. The core charge is $25 and you get that back when you send yours in. The problem with that is it cost $8 to send it back in. My son is a machinist and I am going to take one apart and give him the gears to make out of aluminum. Hey maybe a new business here. If so it won't gouge anybody.

Rocking Seat
 

I too have a 1992 Vert with rocking seats. I would love to see the pictures of your effort and if an aluminum part gets fabricated, I am a buyer. Thanks

If anything have your son charge double the cost of what it takes to make them & have "us" pay for shipping which should be included in the price.It will be alot cheaper than the alternative($220).I know everyone has to make a living but people are broke.I never seen so many people broke in my life being a Auto tech.Its scary:eek:

So, Has anyone made the parts we need for the seat transmission yet? Or, can we buy a rebuilt transmission yet? From what I read in here, glueing and monkeying around with these cheap plastic pieces is not working.

You can buy just the seat transmission from us if you do not want an entire track. The pin on the end of the gear needs to be measured, so we can get you the correct transmission. There were two different sizes used. Feel free to call us if you would like to order one or have questions.

Thanks!

Kevin
www.KeenParts.com
800-757-5336
Keen Parts Blog

Seat Transmission Repair
 

Here is the deal on these seat transmissions. All the corvette places that are selling rebuilt units are using the same person to rebuild them. They are all sent out. One guy bought the rights from GM and probably owns the molds used to make the plastic part. He refuses to sell the part himself. I refuse to pay $200 just so my seat can go up or down however, it does bother me that something doesn't work on my car so one way or another I will fix it.

BEZ71 PLS let me know if you guys get something done on this. TIA

The parts so far look like they could be made out of delrin so far and would put a bronze bushing in for the shafts to eliminate any precision bores to be machined. Browning and a bunch of other companies make stock gear sets and it seems like a source gm might have used for those parts, it might be worth a look there. I have a very annoying rocking chair seat too so will be interested and have a spare seat track too.

That is what I did. I paid $20 for a passenger side maunal seat track and installed it on the drivers side. It works great!

Oh and I have the old seat track if anybody wants it for a core for free. Just pay for shipping. I live in N Cal. :D

power seats
 

I tried to sell one on ebay for $10 plus shipping. No takers!!
I thought it would be worth that much as a core for somebody.

When it stopped working I replaced it with a manual track. Best solution IMHO.
Maybe I'll cut the plug off and figure some electrical component to run off of the seat switch!!
:cheers:

power seat track wiring
 

A very reasonable solution, but some of us O.C. types want things working the way they were new. I just picked up a couple of '96 power seat frames and need the wiring diagram for the connector. Anyone have one or the schematic?

The only thought that crosses my mind is why the **** did you capitalize the first letter of every single word????