Power Seat Problems - Seat Leans or Wont Move

albertj wrote:

heating the mirror with the auto dim should not be a problem as long as the mirror does not get so hot, no hotter than the ambient conditions expected for the unheated mirrors (30 below to 120 above fahrenheit or some such)...
Albertj

In my Eldorado, I swapped in a heated driver's mirror when I added rear defog, which I did when I was converting it from Landau to slicktop. (Yes, instead of just giving everyone rear defog in '81, the dummies at Cadillac made two different Climate Control heads, and 4 different rear windows...)

I can't be sure that they did it the same way in the Rivi, as they did with the way the Climate Control guts "think", but I do remember that the thermistor that controlled the heating element was rated somewhere between 140 & 149 degrees... and that's a very fast and uneven heat.

Eldo wrote:

Travis, I don't know if his last car was also a Rivi or not, but if he hit the EXIT button, the seat would not have moved towards the steering wheel...

in my car it slides forward... all the way up..

98riviera98 wrote:

in my car it slides forward... all the way up..

That's the opposite of what it should do.
It is designed to let you Exit the car easily by lowering the seat and reversing it.
Personally, I never use it as, I find it more difficult to get out of the car with the seat in the Exit position. I know others who like it a lot and wouldn't think of not using the feature.

You can set the exit position to the settings of your choice by putting the seat in the exit position you want, then pressing the SET and EXIT buttons in sequence as if you were setting a postion setting on one of the numbered buttons. You will get the single/double beeps in response to your memory setting command.

Albertj

albertj wrote:

You can set the exit position to the settings of your choice by putting the seat in the exit position you want, then pressing the SET and EXIT buttons in sequence as if you were setting a postion setting on one of the numbered buttons. You will get the single/double beeps in response to your memory setting command.

Albertj

Well, that changes the whole game. I had absolutely no idea those settings were adjustable. You would think after having the car this long i would have read that somewhere, but NOT.
Now I'll have to go see what i can come up with for a comfortable exit setting.
Thanks for that tip Albert.

albertj wrote:

You can set the exit position to the settings of your choice by putting the seat in the exit position you want, then pressing the SET and EXIT buttons in sequence as if you were setting a postion setting on one of the numbered buttons. You will get the single/double beeps in response to your memory setting command. Albertj

Perhaps that feature was added after they had to redesign the MSM module because of a flaw in the park-assist function...

I just checked my '97, and it doesn't have a programmable EXIT button - you get a single beep and then a time-out beep about 5 seconds later. However, during 1997 they issued module 25682217 to replace the original unit because the mirrors will lock up if you shift in & out of Reverse too quickly. You two have '98s, so your cars must have gotten the new modules at the factory...

Albert, check something else for me will you? See if you can change the down-angle of the passenger mirror while you're in Reverse, and if the memory will then retain the new angle the next time you shift into Reverse. Either just by changing the angle, or by changing it and then trying the SET button...

Eldo, do you think you can put the later model MSM in your car and get the updated features or is there more to it than that.?

98riviera98 wrote:

GMFreak8 wrote:

Eldo wrote:

Just don't walk directly in front of or behind 'her'... On the bright side, you shouldn't need to buy any parts, as they will spontaneously regenerate themselves.

If only that were the case.

My last car earned the nickname after I was crushed against the seat and the steering wheel once. No joke, the car literally had a mind of it's own. I was sitting in it talking on my cell phone, and the next thing I know the door locks start going crazy, and suddenly the seat starts to move up towards the steering wheel. Totally freaked me out. I still don't know what the hell happened. The seat never did it again, but the doors would randomly lock and unlock all the time. It'd turn the heater on at random times too, and would refuse to start one minute and the next it'd turn right over. I swear it was possessed. It made it fun to drive in a way. I guess that's what I get for buying my cars from recently dead people.

you hit the memory (exit) button.. this has happened to me before

Nope, that wasn't possible. The exit function hadn't worked on that car since I had gotten it. Wasn't a big deal considering I don't use the function anyway.

Rickw wrote:

Eldo, do you think you can put the later model MSM in your car and get the updated features or is there more to it than that.?

Yeah, that's why I have the part number memorized. My car has the park-assist flaw, and the new part number is (like so many other things) for '96 and up... I've been trying like hell to find one used because the frickin' list price is $340 - for a seat module!

I don't care about the EXIT, I just use #2 for a customized exit position, but it would a great incentive to drag a battery around a wrecking yard if the new module also had the adjustable park-assist-angle like my brother's '03 pickup...

albertj wrote:

You can set the exit position to the settings of your choice by putting the seat in the exit position you want, then pressing the SET and EXIT buttons in sequence as if you were setting a postion setting on one of the numbered buttons. You will get the single/double beeps in response to your memory setting command.

Albertj

I have been unable to do this on my car.
It will allow me to set driver #1 and driver #2 but not the EXIT position.
When I hit exit, the seat position is not conducive to exiting the car.

Rickw wrote:

albertj wrote:

You can set the exit position to the settings of your choice by putting the seat in the exit position you want, then pressing the SET and EXIT buttons in sequence as if you were setting a postion setting on one of the numbered buttons. You will get the single/double beeps in response to your memory setting command.

Albertj

I have been unable to do this on my car.
It will allow me to set driver #1 and driver #2 but not the EXIT position.
When I hit exit, the seat position is not conducive to exiting the car.

You first have to put the seat in the exit position you want, then you hit SET, then the EXIT button in order to reset the Exit setting.

You tried exactly this?


Albertj

Before I answer YES, I will try it again.
Thanks for the procedure reminder.

rick wrote: Before I answer YES, I will try it again.

R,youre a riot!

Rickw wrote:

Before I answer YES, I will try it again.
Thanks for the procedure reminder.

I get it.

Hey, instead of doing what I outlined, next time you take the car to dealer for some service, just tell them it quit working correctly and would they please reset it with the Tech II or whatever. If they balk tell 'em the truth - you don't know why it quit, although you were thinking of making up a funny story like for instance you got bored waiting for your spouse/SO/hampster or whatever and you were sort of playing with the buttons.

There may have been a glitch or such that disabled the feature in the BCM. Similar thing happened to me with the park-down feature for the pass side mirror in reverse, it quit for no apparent reason. I told dealer next time car was in for service and they restored it for no charge. What I learned in that episode is that a random voltage spike or accidental sequencing of the control buttons will do it. Also a mechanic while servicing other things can change the settings accidentally while flipping thru the menus on the Tech II trying to get out of some multilayer menu or another. There is a remote chance you need a new BCM.

Albertj

I'll try to program it myself, but if it doesn't react then it will wait until I find myself at a dealership again out of necessity. Otherwise I can live without the function.
There is a TSB on the clock in our car's radio that runs too fast and can be corrected by the Tech2 as well.
My car could use that correction also, but again, unless I find myself in the dealership for a necessary repair that only they can do, I'll live with it.

As I said on page 2, these modules had a flaw and a redesign in the middle of our cars' production. I know my '97 will not allow Exit reprogramming, and for that matter, even the owner's manual for a '99 doesn't say that it is programmable... it just says "push EXIT and the seat will go all the way down and back."

As far as Rick's car, without pulling the seat there's no way to really be sure if he has the newer module or not.

Also, as far as I know, the MSM is totally independent, with its own diagnostics - the BCM has nothing to do with it.

My seat reacts when i hit the Exit button, just not the way i would expect to exit the car.
It's quite awkward.

It's supposed to go all the way down, and all the way back... What does yours do?

It goes down and halfway forward.

I've got a local guy that's healthy and interested in the riv, enough to offer to install a complete sound system (remove the interior) and do a complete detailing on the exterior paint as well.
Hopefully soon if the weather cooperates.
With that said, if the front seats are removed what P/N's am I looking for as far as the seat modules to determine if it is programmable and defective or not programmable and up shit's creek.?

A- Sounds like you have a horizontal position sensor issue... The first thing I'd do is get a real good flashlight so you can see the release tabs, and disconnect the module for a couple hours to see if clears its head. 2nd, I'd go thru the MSM diagnostics in the FSM...

B- If your only symptom is a non-programmable Exit button that the manual doesn't even claim to be programmable, I wouldn't deem it defective... The updated module is #25682217.

Eldo wrote:

A- Sounds like you have a horizontal position sensor issue... The first thing I'd do is get a real good flashlight so you can see the release tabs, and disconnect the module for a couple hours to see if clears its head. 2nd, I'd go thru the MSM diagnostics in the FSM...

B- If your only symptom is a non-programmable Exit button that the manual doesn't even claim to be programmable, I wouldn't deem it defective... The updated module is #25682217.

Thanks very much for the info but what is MSM = ????
Memory Seat Module.!!!
Do I get a Gold Star on my forehead or not.?

Eldo wrote:

A- Sounds like you have a horizontal position sensor issue

How could you possibly know unless you are afflicted with the same problem/syndrome.?

Rickw wrote:

Eldo wrote:

A- Sounds like you have a horizontal position sensor issue... The first thing I'd do is get a real good flashlight so you can see the release tabs, and disconnect the module for a couple hours to see if clears its head. 2nd, I'd go thru the MSM diagnostics in the FSM...

B- If your only symptom is a non-programmable Exit button that the manual doesn't even claim to be programmable, I wouldn't deem it defective... The updated module is #25682217.

Thanks very much for the info but what is MSM = ????
Memory Seat Module.!!!
Do I get a Gold Star on my forehead or not.?

Close but no cigar (or star)...

M emory
S eat &
M irror
module

Eldo, which one is the MSM?...

(thanks turtleman for the pic )