lpcard

I had the problem in my 2011 where the back of the seat would not raise up and down...well, mostly down since I had raised it all the way up to vacuum underneath it. When I tried to lower the seat back down the front dipped right away but the back stayed up and all I got was a terrible ratcheting sound. So I ran the seat all the way up and drove it home, feeling more like I was driving a truck than a Mustang.

A quick internet search gave me a few tantalizing clues on how to fix it but no details. So here are the details. I will warn you now, it's picture heavy so if you haven't entered the new century yet and still have a dial up (really, who does that?), or if you are on a mobile device, this is going to take a while.

First, you will need a Genuine Ford Fixing Parts Kit ER3Z-78617DD6-A, available wherever gen-you-whine Ford parts are sold. Here's what you get in the kit:



Ford parts kit ER3Z-78617D66-A
Included in the kit is two each: ball screw nut with attaching bracket (the long silvery piece that is split halfway along its length), ball screw with drive gear, cupped washer with retainer (they are sitting in the cupped washers), thrust washer, thrust disk (the thing inside the washer), retaining stud (partially inserted in the bottom of the ball screw nuts), and plenty of grease along with eight screws, four for each gearbox. You can assemble them now or you can wait until you actually have the seat out. Assembly is as follows:

Slide the thrust washer on to the ball screw, nestling it on the bottom of the drive gear. The photo captions explain the rest.

Thrust washer

Grease the ball screw

Run the ball screw all the way into the ball screw nut

You won't have much room to install the washer and retaining ring

The washer goes on with the bevel side up, the retaining ring will go into the bevel.

Put the washer on

Place the retainer on the top

Find your quarter inch drive 11/32 socket

put it over the retaining ring

and drive that puppy on with a hammer.

Now its time to take out the seat, but first disconnect that battery.

The plastic covers on the rear of the seat tracks are held on by these clips

which slide into these slots. Slide them straight back to remove, which is easier said than done.

Take your 15mm socket or wrench and remove the rear retaining nuts.

Take your 13mm socket or wrench and remove the front retaining bolts.

Lift the seat off of the rear retaining studs and tip it up to disconnect the electrical plugs. The yellow plug is to the air bag, the reason the battery is disconnected AND MUST STAY THAT WAY until the seat is reinstalled. If you hook the battery back up with the seat out you will get an airbag light which as far as I have read has to be reset by the dealer.

Lay the seat on its back on a good working surface. The bed of a Subaru Baja is a pretty darn good working surface. Tipping the seat back all the way forward puts the seat bottom at a good working angle.

Here are the gearboxes. The one I had to work on was the right one.

Take a look at this picture again. See the "Annoying bracket that is in the way"? Take the seat track bolt out so you can slide the track all the way down and get it out of the way. It might be a good idea to put some twisty ties or something on that seat track ball screw to keep the nut from moving, that way you don't have to fiddle with it to line the seat tracks back up when you put it together.. Ask me how I know...

Anyway, with that out of the way you can drive the retaining studs out with a hammer and punch. That makes it easier to move the gearboxes so you can get to the screws that hold them together. Remove the three black plastic clips so you can slide the gearboxes on the shaft they are permanently mounted on. Don't worry about the drive shafts coming loose, they can be reinstalled when you put everything back together. Each of the gearboxes are held together by four screws (as I recall it is a 7mm socket to get them out). Carefully separate the cases and note how the parts inside are arranged. There is a worm gear (not included in the parts kit, which IMO it should be), then under that is the ball screw drive gear with the thrust disk atop it. When you take the old ball screw out you will probably find the drive gear is missing teeth, like so:



Clean all the debris and old busted gear teeth from the inside of the gearbox case. Grease all the gears and put the new ball screw with its thrust disk in place, making sure the washer underneath the gear is INSIDE the gearbox, and not outside of it. Yes I did, and I had to take the box back apart. A goodly amount of grease is useful in holding that thrust disk in place. Assemble the gearbox halves with the new screws included in the kits. Note there is no pictures of the disassembled gearbox, I had my hands full doing this and didn't have one free for picture taking, sorry.

Reassemble the seat (really, if I have to guide you through that you should probably have someone else do this for you), reinstall it in the car (plug it in before putting it in place), hook the battery back up and enjoy your newly repaired seat.

TonyC1

Thanks for the info and pics. I have the same repair package and glad it includes a second gear set, just in case.

FLBuckeye

Thanks for this detailed "how to" on the power seat repair. It is the only one I found online. I found lots of threads about people having this issue and the part number for the "Fixing Parts Kit," but no detailed instructions. I just did the repair on my 2014 GT California Special Convertible. It's primarily my wife's car and she drives with the seat all the way up and I drive with the seat all the way down. So when the power adjustment for the rear or the driver's seat broke with the seat all the way down, she couldn't drive the car. (That's what she said) So I ordered the kit and did the repair using this post as a guide. There are no YouTube videos on this repair which is surprising considering how many posts there are online of people having this problem.

My 2020 update to this post is that the "Fixing Parts Kit" now includes already assembled attaching bracket (the long silvery piece that is split halfway along its length) and ball screw with drive gear. The only thing I had doubt about is where the thrust disk was positioned. It has it's own little niche in the gear box just above the gear. I found a picture online and I am adding it to this thread to complete these great instructions.

lpcard

Thanks for adding the picture, as I said in the write-up I was a bit busy and didn't have enough hands to take pictures and hold all the parts together. I'm glad my little scribblings could help out.

Sam.lynch2871@gmail.com

Thank you SO much for this descriptive thread!!!!!! My 2010 quit one function completely and weak on another. I ordered the kit from Fairway Ford and set out following your instructions. The updated kid is already assembled but without your instructions I would have been lost.
For those who are on the fence,, it can be done just set aside a few undisturbed hour or ours and go for it