memory seat

Heya..
i was wondering how the memory's on the drivers seat work?
how to i save the setings? how can i change it?
how many memorys it as?
i see that even mirrors have memorys.

i know they may be just silly questions but i have no idea...got the car whitout user manual or anything like that.

would be nice to find it out.

thanks

to use the memory put the seat at a desired position and hold the 1 or 2 button for like 5 seconds until you hear a beep sound. and then you can move the chare to another position and hold a different number to save that position. i usually save my position so i can sleep and one so i can drive. i think it only has 2 choices for memory. and it does save mirror positions but im not sure how.

Al you have to do is put the mirror in the position you want first.

ON THE RIVIERA you are supposed to push the "SET" button then the number of the memory you want to store the settings in, until you hear the BEEP BEEP. On later GM cars, you just have to hold the button down until you hear the BEEP BEEP.

There is a way to have up to 4 key fob remotes with four different driver settings but I am not at all sure how that works.

SO - from the beginning:

1) move the seats, the mirrors and the radio to the settings you want.
2) push SET
3) push the buttton for the memory (1 or 2) you want to set, and hold it until you heard the BEEP BEEP.

Repeat for the other memory setting if you want.

Albertj

The above explains it better than the manual, but just in case you need a manual:
http://gmprotectionplanwarranty.com/owners-manual/buick/

ohhh thank you very much for the online manual!

Nice thing is, you can even cut and paste from it! There's still a few mistakes in it but not bad.

What set button are we talking about here?

This would be a nice feature as the Riviera is my G/F's but I obviously was driving it a bit to learn/fix the mechanics of it.

The SET button is just below or above (can't remember this moment) the rocker switch that is marked 1 & 2 on the drivers door. Near your window and mirror switches.
Also, if you leave your mirror switch in the Right position then it will disable the parallel park feature of the right mirror.
I personally don't like it most of the time.
Read the owners manual posted in the Link above it may explain it better than I can before a cup of coffee.

just below.

I think some early (95-6) did not have the feature. Not sure.

Albertj

parallel park feature?

IF you have memory seats/mirrors and IF programmed at the factory or by someone with a Tech II, and IF the mirror control switch is off (not set to control the passenger-side mirror), the passenger side mirror will tilt down when you park so that you can see the curb and other obstacles close by the car's passenger side.

Albertj

ah, sweet. didn't know this

thanks

My mirror doesn't tilt down like that. I knew Caddys did it but not our cars. Damn, what other luxury features are broke on my car!

Shintsu, the back-up-tilt-down feature is not necessarily broken. It simply may be inactivated.

When your car is serviced, if the battery is disconnected long enough, or if the MALL or seat/mirror computer has to be relpaced for some reason, the feature will stop working. Happened to me once. It's no big deal, although it may cost you something to get it to work. IF you have 'memory seats' just go to the dealer (make a service appointment) to ask them to reactivate the right mirror tilt-down-in-reverse feature. They may charge you, but no more than an hour diagnostic time to get it back on, provided your power window/mirror computer is OK, which it probably is. If your car has teh right boxes it it, it's a few minute job with the Tech II. Be sure to bring all your key fobs in to be recalibrated, while you are at it. and hey, if you know someone with a Tech II scanner you can turn it on and recalibrate your key fobs yourself.

It is not a big deal.

And I suspect (don't really know though) it could be turned on if you could find the right combo of buttons to push. There are instructions on the web for turning it on in Australian fords, for instance, using the driver's control buttons. Our buttons are a little different. Anyway... point is I bet if you search (Clusty? Google?) you'll find instructions if it can be done w/o the Tech II. I don't know, would not be surprised though. And if you do let us know, in case we replace our battery or whatever and have to get it working again. Saves everybody hassle, unless it's a lsow day dealers probably don't want to mess with it anyway, kind of like turning on the radios that lock up due to Theftlock because of a battery swap that takes too long.

Albertj

battery issue is prob why mine isn't working. Had the battery disconnected for a couple hours while installing my amp

That will do it. Also check where your ouside mirror switch is. If the paddle is to the right (to use the arrow buttons to control the right mirror) the feature will not work. If it is working it works most of the time. I forget the protocol but I think it's in the FSM.

Albertj

Ah, it's not really that big a deal. In reality, I almost never parallel park so it'd be excess wear on the mirror motor for nothing. Still neat to know it's an option. I guess if I ever have to take the car up there for anything I'll ask them about it. Thanks for the info!

Albert why should we "recalibrate your key fobs"?

On Rivs with the memory mirrors/seats the key fobs can communicate "personal choice" settings to the remote receiver (uner the rear shelf) which in turn get passed to the mirror/seat computer (under drivers' seat).

If you don't recalibrate the key fobs, you could inadvertently re-set the seats (to some weird settings) each time you press the Unlock button after the car is parked for a while. You know this is a problem if you ask yourself "how come I have to readjust the seats every time I get in this car?" After awhile, I noticed that if you change teh seat adjustment a few times running, 'personal choice' will quit working.

Anyway... the recalibration is easy. Ask the service technician to put a paper tag on each fob saying which number (1 or 2) it is calibrated to. So you know which settings correspond to the numbered presets on the buttons in the drivers' door of the car.

Supposedly you can have up to 4 fobs with different 'personal choice' settings for each. I do not know anyone who has four fobs, let alone set up that way. A tech told me once that very few people set up 'personal choice' in their cars so equipped because it was tough to do (no feedback except in your butt - obviously done for engineers by engineers and blessed by the bean counters). On our Buick Rendezvous the driver info readout (fluorescent dispay on the bottom of the tach) tells you which key-and-fob is which each and every time you start the car.

You can recalibrate the fobs yourself following instructions in the FSM but it is loads easier/quicker for a tech to do with a Tech II and (in my opinion) should not even add one cent to the price you'll pay for the service appointment to reactivate the right-mirror-down-in-reverse function. If your 'personal choice' is active but not yet set, you can activate it following the instructions in the owners' manual - thinking about this, that's what you ought to try first.

Albertj

So, when I was off picking some stuff up today my friend said something to me about my mirror moving as I backed up. LOL. After noticing this, I guess my tilt feature for parking still works.

Yep.

With a Tech II you can re-set how far it dips (if wanted).

Albertj

albertj wrote:

Shintsu, the back-up-tilt-down feature is not necessarily broken. It simply may be inactivated.

When your car is serviced, if the battery is disconnected long enough, or if the MALL or seat/mirror computer has to be relpaced for some reason, the feature will stop working. Happened to me once. It's no big deal, although it may cost you something to get it to work. IF you have 'memory seats' just go to the dealer (make a service appointment) to ask them to reactivate the right mirror tilt-down-in-reverse feature. They may charge you, but no more than an hour diagnostic time to get it back on, provided your power window/mirror computer is OK, which it probably is. If your car has teh right boxes it it, it's a few minute job with the Tech II. Be sure to bring all your key fobs in to be recalibrated, while you are at it. and hey, if you know someone with a Tech II scanner you can turn it on and recalibrate your key fobs yourself.

It is not a big deal.

And I suspect (don't really know though) it could be turned on if you could find the right combo of buttons to push. There are instructions on the web for turning it on in Australian fords, for instance, using the driver's control buttons. Our buttons are a little different. Anyway... point is I bet if you search (Clusty? Google?) you'll find instructions if it can be done w/o the Tech II. I don't know, would not be surprised though. And if you do let us know, in case we replace our battery or whatever and have to get it working again. Saves everybody hassle, unless it's a lsow day dealers probably don't want to mess with it anyway, kind of like turning on the radios that lock up due to Theftlock because of a battery swap that takes too long.

Albertj

Anyone, figure out how to do this without going to a dealer? It seems that I lost the park tilt feature while my battery was out of the car.

As I've told BMD in a PM, I couldn't find any way to deactivate the PP-feature, except by leaving the selector-switch in the RH position...

I have looked at Albert's post, yet in the "admittedly-not-perfect-FSM", I've found no provision for activating/deactivating/adjusting the PP-function (at least not until much later years.) The only solutions I see listed by the factory are to either replace the park/neutral-switch, or replace the Memory Seat & Mirror module.

Now, based on:

-My own experience
-The TSB about flaws in the original MSM module, and
-The fact that Albert has a '98, while I have a '97 and BMD has a '96,

I'm inclined to blame the MSM module...

Eldo wrote:

As I've told BMD in a PM, I couldn't find any way to deactivate the PP-feature, except by leaving the selector-switch in the RH position...

I have looked at Albert's post, yet in the "admittedly-not-perfect-FSM", I've found no provision for activating/deactivating/adjusting the PP-function (at least not until much later years.) The only solutions I see listed by the factory are to either replace the park/neutral-switch, or replace the Memory Seat & Mirror module.

Now, based on:

-My own experience
-The TSB about flaws in the original MSM module, and
-The fact that Albert has a '98, while I have a '97 and BMD has a '96,

I'm inclined to blame the MSM module...

In the '98 it's a user preference, right in the owners manual. I'll try to look for it (but I haven't been in my Riv in a few weeks, we'll see).

deekster_caddy wrote:

In the '98 it's a user preference, right in the owners manual. I'll try to look for it (but I haven't been in my Riv in a few weeks, we'll see).

I'm very curious. When I looked in the FSM, I looked in a PDF 1999 manual as well, and the only thing it had to say about it was:

Parallel Park Assist Mirror (Option)
The passenger’s outside rearview mirror also includes a
tilt-down feature that operates when the shift lever is in
REVERSE (R). This feature assists the driver with
improved rear obstacle detection.
To enable this feature, move the power remote mirror
switch to the left (L) or center position. Move the switch
to the right (R) to turn this feature off.