Please check your front seats!!!

[Andy J]

Hey guys,

A few weeks ago when i bought my 03 navigator, i noticed that the drivers side lumbar support was all the way out and the switch would not bring it back flat. I found that the position on the switch to retract it didnt feel like it had any tension left on it and it felt stuck down. It was making me quite uncomfortable when i was driving, so i took the one from the passenger seat and plugged it in. It retracted so i figured that was all there was to it.

A few days later i got in the truck to go to work and the bolster was all the way out again. I went ahead and retracted it. I noticed that the switch felt like it too had lost its action. I figured it was a coincidence, so i ordered a new switch and installed it.

Today when i was in the drive thru, i leaned over to stick my head out the window, and the bolster started to inflate. It went as far as it would go and stopped. I then started to smell a burning smell coming from the seat so i threw it in park, went to the passenger side and yanked the fuse for the drivers seat.

When i got home, i pulled the cover off the side of the drivers seat. I found that 3 of the wires that go to the switch were chaffed through and touching part of metal on the seat. Theres a small metal hole in the seat base where the wiring was coming though, and it had chaffed the insulstion off and was shorting out. I repaired the wires, rerouted them and put side cover back on the seat. It was pretty scary to have something arcing underneath my seat. Apparently when i leaned over, it made the wires short out.

Im not sure how the wires are supossed to be routed as it is obvious someone has been in there before because they tried to cover up the sharp sides of the hole with duct tape. I also inspected the fuse i removed, and someone had removed the clear plastic cover and used a pair of pliers to squeeze the 2 sides of the fuse together so they would make contact even if the fuse was blown. I guess i was pretty lucky because without a fuse protecting it, it could have easily started a fire.

I had to order a new switch because it nuked the one from the passenger side that i was using to test it. I figure the switch was getting so hot that it was damaging the metal parts inside.

Sorry for the long winded post, but i wanted to mention it, so please check yours.

Hope this helps someone,
Andy

 

[Plati]

Thanks for the tip. This is another example of electrical/electronic add-ons that are'nt required and drive vehicle prices up not to mention make them more unreliable and cost more to maintain. I have a mechanical knob in my 03 XLT that does this function and will never break.

 

[John Christopher]

I have an 03 EB and it has a knob for adjusting the back support. My 13 Navigator is electrical. The more car manufacturers do this the more things that will go wrong.

 

[Flexpedition]

Power seats go back to the 1950s. Electric bolster 1960s. Hardly newfangled mfg technology aimed at driving prices. Sounds like somebody’s shoddy workmanship sometime in the last 15 years is the culprit here unless Ford uses duct tape.

 

[Andy J]

Oh yea, someone has definitely put their half witted touch on it in the past. I have a few other things i still need to fix. It seems like every time i get into it theres a new issue. I still need to fix the rear drivers window as the regulators broken, i need to fix the rear dvd player becauee it wont eject even though i just got done repairing both hinges that were broken and cleaning it out.

The newest issue unfortunately started late last night when i went to the store to grab some milk. I started it up, put it in reverse, and i got the god aweful buzzing sound from the fuse box as it proceeded to stall and not want to restart, lol yayy, looks like its time for a new or rebuilt fuse box.

 

[Andy J]

You guys are correct about the amount of electronics in newer cars lol. I have an 05 super duty 6.0 as my tow pig, and i have never used the adjustible pedals or lumbar support.