Help - Explorer power seat

[PaxtonShelby]

Hi guys - the power seat in my wife's 2001 Explorer Eddie Bauer keeps blowing fuses. This same fuse also operates the power door locks - so this is a real pain in my a$$.

My wife is 5' nothing, so she keeps the seat up against the steering wheel. Back in the day I could easily squeeze in there...but not so much these days.

I was thinking of a short-term fix...

Wondering if I could put a manual seat track on the driver's seat. Anyone out there know if it'd be an easy bolt-in swap? I need the seat to be at the right height so my wife can see over the dash.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Darren]

try a google search, or just swap the tracks from the passenger side. couldnt hurt to see if they would swap!

[jaa55]

I have two power seat tracks at home, both work.

[Steve-0]

Check out www.explorerforum.com

Excellent source of info, lots of members too.

Before swapping seat tracks I would check some easy stuff first. Sounds like you have a short to ground somewhere. Check the switches on the side of the seat, clean all of the connections etc. Easy place for dirt/grime/food/drinks to go. Then check the wiring in the kick panel on the drivers side. Also, under the carpet on the drivers side going away from the seat to the kick panel. Lots of movement there, and most of the wires for the seat are there, going to the main connection on the door. Hope that helps.

[PaxtonShelby]

Thanks for the info fellas. I know I have some research / homework to do on this to troubleshoot. Still, I'd like to see if a manual seat track would bolt up in the meantime, as this vehicle doesn't sit still very often which doesn't leave me a lot of time to troubleshoot.

Maybe more info would be helpful - sometimes ( not often ) the seat will work fine. Other times, it seems as if the fuse blows only when there is a load on the motor ( like when the car is facing uphill - and I'm sitting in the seat and trying to move the seat forward ). And sometimes the fuse blows even when nobody is sitting in the seat and I try to move it in any direction. I guess the more I think about it, there probably is a bad ground issue. Taking out the seat and/or taking the seat off of the power track might be the first step.

On top of all this, the power locks have been acting up a bit - in particular the driver's door lock. I think it is related to the door handle mechanism wearing out and everything inside the door not lining up properly, causing a binding situation.

I'll probably end up replacing the handle mechanism as well. It just isn't a job I'm too excited about digging into.

[PaxtonShelby]

Well - I spent some time on the Explorer over the last few days. Took out the driver's power seat and ran some power to it while out of the car and everything worked. Noticed some dark marks on the carpet under the seat and realized the problem. The seat was adjusted in its lowest position. Under the center of the seat is a big bulge in the carpet where some wiring/relays are. Turns out the seat was basically bottomed out against the carpet in that area. So moving the seat from the forward position ( wife is 5' ) back to where I need it, or vise versa, would cause the seat to jam against the carpet and blow the fuse. I raised the front and rear of the seat, reinstalled it, and everything was fine. I thought it was odd that the seat adjustments allow it to bottom out in the first place, but oh well. All we have to do is make sure we don't adjust the seat to far downward and it should be fine.

Tearing apart the door I found a bunch of problems. First, both springs on the exterior door handle had broken, so the handle was flopping around. Bought a new handle for $29, primed it, bought an aerosol can of matched paint, sprayed that on, and topped it with a few coats of clear. The color match was pretty darn good.
Second - a spring deep inside the door latch had broken and wedged itself into the latch mechanism, causing a binding situation. After pulling out the latch assembly, I fished out the spring and re-bent it to the proper shape, then reattached it inside the latch. Talk about a huge pain in the rear - it took quite a while to do. It was like playing a miniature version of the game "Operation".
Third, I saw that the exterior handle lock cylinder rod had fallen off, most likely because of the broken latch spring causing the binding I mentioned above. Last, the lock actuator was in bad shape. It worked, but didn't have enough power. So I replaced it. The aftermarket piece has a crappy plastic fitting to which a steel hook attaches. The hook goes into the latch assembly. Well - the plastic was too flimsy and would allow the hook to pop out the first time the lock was used. So I had to rig it a bit with a few zip ties.
But in the end, everything now works and the wife is happy. Now she can adjust her seat, actually lock the car when she goes somewhere, use her keyfob to lock/unlock it, and not blow fuses all the time.

Happy wife = happy me

[gpfarrell]

Hmmm...

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/3304326853.html

This would free up more garage time to take care of the Monster!

[PaxtonShelby]

Haha - thanks Greg! That looks like a pretty nice deal. But the Explorer should be good to go for a few years once I get her some new shoes. Luckily, the Explorer is pretty easy to work on ( so far ). When I told Beth I was finished with the repairs she was surprised how quickly everything was done. I think I'm getting better at this stuff as I get older.