docmirror

Do you have a 4 way seat that will not articulate in one or more positions? The 4 way switch is a common failure item. My 86 had two faulty ones. The price of the correct switch and harness was both cha and ching. So, being the cheap bastard that I am, I looked at a way to save some money.

The cheapest 4 way asm is 928-613-201-00 which is ~$45 from 928sRUS. The correct 4 way asm was $255! Gulp. So, I look it over and realize the actuator of the switch is exactly the same, but the harness is different.

Have soldering gun will swap. I buy the $45 asm and proceed as follows.

1 Remove the seat from car they are tri-square 8 size, set on the ground with the switches facing up.

2 Remove four screws holding cover on, remove two screws holding bezel housing to seat, pry bezel and switches away from seat.

3 Locate the wiring bundle for the offending switch by prying the square switch housing out of the bezel insert with two small screwdrivers, one per side. The switch will lever up and come out of the bezel.

4 Cut the tie wraps under the seat, and remove the wiring bundle from the electrics panel. There will be two, or even three different connectors under that, you'll have to make notes about where they come off. The main harness connector can be pried apart, and the pins pushed out of the connector. There is also likely a motor drive wires that will come from one of the motor connectors, usually red and black wires.

5 Guide the wire bundles out of the switch bezel by pulling up, and out of the seat asm. The switch and harness should all come out as an asm, don't cut anything yet, or desolder.

6 Make a note of the colors of the wires on the back of the switch, write them down on a scrap of paper. You will use this as a guide to replace them in the correct spot. Mine are: 1 BRN, 2 RED, 3, BLK/PUR, 4 BLK, 5 BLK/GRN, 6 GRY. YMMV depending on location and application. The pins are numbered on the bottom of the switch plastic.

7 Desolder all the wires from the old switch. Desolder all the pins from the new replacement switch harness. While desoldering the new switch, clear the pin holes of solder for the wires.

8 Take the old harness, and following the guide in step 6, resolder the wires from the OLD harness to the NEW switch. Discard the old switch and new harness, or keep the harness for later.

9 Route the harness back in the seat. You'll need to push from the top, while moving the seat foam from the bottom. It's a tight fit but it'll go back in.

10 Reconnect the wires to the connectors noted from step 4.

11 Snap the new switch into the bezel. Press the bezel back into the seat cutout, and screw the asm back down.

12 Set the seat back in the car without bolts. Connect the main harness to the seat. Test the switch in all directions.

13 Bolt the seat back in and enjoy!

Cost savings about $200. Time to refurb about 2 hours, so $100/hour.

ZEUS+

+1 Glad you brought this to everybodys attention Doc ! Over the winter my switch broke during a weekly check. That's all I can do when the snow arrives. Bought a used one on ebay, received the wrong switch. Different # on switch, wire color and orientation different also. Desoldered the old one, soldered in the new one. Back in business, without seat removal.

docmirror

I was going to try the desolder and resolder with the wires in situ, but there was very little slack. I could barely see the pins, so I opted to pull the switch and do a decent job of it. If you can get to the wires well with the switch still hanging in the side of the car, that'll save some time.

ZEUS+

I have a nice little blue-point butane soldering iron kit with a pinpoint tip, had plenty of slack.

linderpat

Keeper - thanks Doc!

SeanR

This thread needs to be added to the "must have to survive" advice.

We pulled the seat out of Doc new '86.5 and pulled the switch.....none in stock but got to looking at the other switchtes...........3 extra wires on that harness will cost an extra $200.00.......screw that.

Soldering it was easy (Doc makes things look that way)

Tom in Austin

I'm going to put in a new switch for my lumbar. It doesn't work at all in the up/down direction, and the motor for in/out sounds like it has gravel in it ... I bet both problems will be fixed with a new switch.

bd0nalds0n

FWIW, I think the gravelly sound in the lumbar transmission is pretty common. Mine makes that noise, and I think Sterling has commented on this as well.

JHowell37

Been there, done that. Thanks for posting it. I think it's ridiculous that there's such a huge difference in price between the two, especially as I sit here typing this while looking down at the very complicated memory seat computer sitting on the floor next to me.