OK, I lent my dad my car yesterday cuz he was going to a meeting and didnt want to take his ***-ugly buick rendezvous. Low-and-behold, I get in the car today and the lumbar seems to be broken (He says he didnt do it, however it was working fine 2 days earlier?). It makes a clicking sound. I think the physical mechanism is alright, it sounds like something came unclipped maybe. Does anyone know if I can just pull the seat apart and fix it or is this something I probably have to go to the dealer for (Im pretty sure im out of warranty coverage).

 

it wouldn't hurt to try and pull it apart yourself

 

wait, s197's came with a lumbar option?

 

Can`t speak for the the O.P but, yes, mine has a button that "pumps up" the lower portion of the seat back. I can`t tell if he`s referring to that or the recline mechanism.

 

Yea, the physical lumbar pump. When you press the button to inflate or deflate it, it makes this mechanical click-click-click sound and the inflatable bag thing dosent shrink or grow. I dunno I'll prolly take er apart tomorrow and check out whats goin on.

 

I've heard this from 4 guys in the club at our last meeting. If it's an airbag it might me blown. although I'm more inclined to think it's a little motor in there pushing something in and out.
Don't really know the mechanism behind it, but I do know like I said 4 guys that complained about theirs not working anymore. Mine still works.
lol I tried it after they all said theirs were dead

 

It's actually a cable driven mechanical device that contracts as the cable is wound in a spool. That is what pushes out the lumbar support. It is not a pump.

The gear is stripped in yours and it needs replaced. If it's under warranty take it in because it's a pain to change it out. I fixed one for a friend of mine and it was making the same noise as yours. From start to finish it took me about 2-1/2 hours and the seat was good as new.

To repair it you'll need to remove the seat and take the side panel off the base to get access to the hinges. You'll need to unplug the power switches from the side panel. Unplug the lumbar power line from the back of the seat base and remove the seat back. With the seat back separated, undo the seat cover and pull it up. There are a couple hog rings that need to be cut to get the cover up. Replacing the lumbar is pretty easy once you get to this point. Assemble in reverse but make sure you have new hog rings or the seat cover won't be tight to the foam.

Take your time, take lots of photos and be careful removing the side panel. It is held by 3 tabs that go into spring clips and they are a pain to pull out and you don't want to break it. Before you put the panels back on, remove the spring clips and bend them back in shape otherwise they won't hold the panel tight.

One more thing, the seat bottom frame has razor sharp edges. You'll need some bandaids before you're done. I know from experience.

 

Ok, thank-you all for your insight and answers. Im going to try and take this to the dealer. However if I do land up replacing the striped gear I will be sure to follow your advice Cavediver and I will do a write up best I can for others. Thanks again for the help.

 

Mines having the same problem. WHats the exact name of the part i need to get, lumbar gear?

 

I forget the part number and I've long ago thrown away the receipt so I have no way to look it up. I just went to the Ford parts counter and ordered the 'lumbar assembly'. I think it's the same one used in many other Ford vehicles. They got it in the next day so it's not hard to get. There is not much to it but it does include the small motorized cable spool which is what strips out.