1976 Cadillac Power Seat Repair.
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- čas přidán 22. 04. 2023
- We take a non-working power seat out of a 1976 Cadillac, remove and replace the power seat motor and relay, then lube the transmission and jack screws on a power seat motor to make it run like new.
New to your channel just recently picked up 76 El Dorado finding these videos very helpful. Thanks for taking time to share your knowledge.
Thanks for watching, let us know if you have any issues we haven’t covered.
I just purchased a 1976 Eldorado Caddie convertible with 34,000 miles, in original condition. The electric seats don't work. I will share this CZcams with our mechanic! Thank you!!! From southern Oregon to Chicago, Yahoo to you.
Glad to help! Congratulations on the new Eldorado.
Great video 📹 I feel your pain when removing the seats when they don't work. I had the same issues with my 80 coupe when I had them removed to swap in new (used) motors
Kansas City Auto Electric here, Normally I would list a few extra tips. In this case, I have none to offer. Your demonstration is the absolute easiest way that I have found over the years. The only thing that I could add is to pull all of the cables out of the sleeves and regrease them and regrease the transmission to ensure you are not overworking the motor. After 45 years the factory grease I am sure is hard and dried out. Thank you for sharing as I am sure this is going to help all GM owners not just Cadillac. Well done!
Thank you for reaching out, you are 100% correct, grease is the best medicine for this. Do you rebuild the motors? I can rebuild the transmissions, but I haven't found anyone able to rebuild the motors. Reach out to us at westofthelakeclc@gmail.com Thanks for the kind words.
Excellent (and timely for me) how to!
Nice work. It’s a real shame when the new parts are in worse shape than the old ones.
I know what you mean. After I finished the video, the new relay stopped working, so I rewound the coil on the original one. I should have done that in the first place. Thanks for watching.
My seat is still working; perhaps I'll remove it and lubricate it and burnish the relay contacts before this happens to me! Thanks for the video!
By the way how did you fix the relay? Did you have to bend the contact arm or tension the spring to get good conduction?
Hi Tristan: You are correct, the relay arms were out of alignment. Problem is, the new relays are so poorly made that it totally burned up, so I ended up rebuilding the factory original relay. Depending on the condition of the relay that requires either unwinding one loop of copper and resoldering it to the power lug (not a big issue for a low voltage, low use relay, but a BAD idea for a high voltage relay) or doing what I did, which is getting new copper thread wire and rewinding the whole thing (lots of work but mine was burned pretty deeply). Thanks for watching, stay in touch!
Useless to me I'm looking for more than after thought talking me thru it. But thank you for the effort
Thanks for your kind words. When you fix yours, shoot a video and send it to me and I'll replace this one with a better one.
Great video I’ve learned so much in fixing mines. I had question the plastic pieces inside the jack screws broke on mines. Do you know where I can get a replacement. Or do you have any videos on how to fix that.
Thanks for watching! Once that plastic gear strips or is broken, the only repair is to get a part from a junkyard car. Any GM car of that era with power seats will work, so they are pretty easy to find.
I have a 1976 Cadillac Seville with bucket seats where the passenger side power seat works but the driver's side six way power seat doesn't work. It clicks when I operate the switch, but the motor will not move. The courtesy lights at night dim when I attempt to operate the power seat switch. I tried spraying penetrating oil on all four bolts and nuts I could see under the seat. It started to work intermittently. But, after spraying the front bolts and nuts which were rusty, it stopped working. The ground wire with the round end that is supposed to bolt on to the floor I couldn't find. Does this sound like a motor problem or relay problem? Or just a ground problem? Sincerely Yours, Duane Wong Somerset, PA.
Hi Duane, thanks for watching and getting in touch. I’ve never worked on a Seville of any type, although I think they are all beautiful classics. The power seats are all relatively the same. Spraying the mounting bolts and seeing a change in operation is leading me to a possible grounding issue. It’s possible the ground wire was hanging by a thread and is now separated completely. Easiest test is using a jumper ground screwed to the nearest mounting bolt for the motor and securing the other end to a body ground. If the seat moves, it a ground issue. If not, check all the connectors on the motor, relay and transmission. If those are tight, you’ve got to start at square one and pull the seat out of the car to test all the components. Let us know how it goes.
Wonder if the seats are the same for my 1969 DeVille convertible?
If it's not exactly the same, it is very similar. The parts might look a little different, but the operation hasn't changed since the early 1960s. Thanks for watching.
My power seat just makes clicking sound and doesn’t move what could be the problem?
The clicking sound is a good sign, it means the motor is still working. Most likely, it's the transmission, and they are usually just dirty. If you can disconnect the motor from the transmission and the motor runs when you use the switch, then work on the transmission. There are some great videos on CZcams showing how to clean and re-grease the transmissions. Let us know what you find and how it works out, we can help if you get stuck. Thanks for watching!
It's called rust ,my friend.
Actually, it's not rust in this case. If the parts were rusted, they wouldn't be able to be rebuilt. This was a case of the seat not having been moved in 20 years and the gear grease hardened up like used chewing gum. You use a pick and commercial degreaser to clean all the gears and bearings, let everything dry completely and re-grease with a high quality gear grease. The best prevention is to use the seats, windows, locks, antenna, whatever options your car has. It's just like the human body, you've got to exercise it or it will stop working. Thanks for watching!