Lexus Owners Club 220218 malfunctioning seat forward-back

[coppens1]

• 
• Regular Member
•  0
• 18 posts
• First Name:Jim
• Lexus Model: ES300
• Year: 1998
• Location: Flori

Lexus Owners Club 080218 malfunctioning seat forward-back adjustment

Dear fellow Lexus owners, my 2001 ES300 drivers seat forward-back adjustment stopped working.  Now I can't move the seat forward so my short wife can drive the car.  I can tell it is not the motor, as the seat tilt, and up-down works, and there is a click when I try to move the seat forward or back.  There is no obstruction I could see under the seat to prevent movement.

Has anyone had this problem?  How do I fix it?  JC

[gbhrps]

coppens,

 

Four bolts hold the seat to the floor pan. Takes 8 minutes to remove them, then tilt the seat towards the trunk, look under the front and disconnect the wiring harnesses. There will be four.

Lift the seat out of the car, and now you can get at the motors, harnesses and switches to check things out.

If you hear a click when the switch is pushed, then the switch most likely works and the motor for that function (there is a different motor for each function) has stopped working. One motor does forward and backwards, one for up and down, and one for the back rest tilt and so on. Check to see if the forward/backward travel channels have a coin or something jammed in them, or if some ball bearings are rolling free. If the track is free and looks good, the motor may be the culprit. Find the correct motor and its wires, there should be just two wires, perhaps three.

Basically a motor turns one direction when hooked up to a power source of 12 volts. Reverse the two wires and the motor turns  the other way. Use a battery and some wiring to power the correct motor to see if you can get it to move. If not, find a Camry or another Lexus from the same generation in a wrecking yard and swap out the motor.

Do Google search for "1998 ES300 seat motor pictures" and you'll see what I mean. Once you get under the seat when its out of the car, you should be able to fix what needs fixing.

If not, because you aren't a DIYer, then swap out the seat frame, motors and all, from another wrecked Camry or ES300. Good Luck!

 

[coppens1]

Dear GBHRPS, Thank you for your great, detailed reply.  I will try it.  JC

[coppens1]

Dear GBHRPS, I am still working this problem. Is the front left seat motor system the same on Lexus and Camry?  If I buy a camry motor, will it work?