Clicking Relay


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By Nat Santamaria - 16 Years Ago
Hey guys. I just put my newly upholstered seat in my baby bird. It has power seats. There are 2 motors and 2 relays. The seat moves up and down fine. The forward and backward motion just stopped working. I am hearing a clicking out of the relay behind the seat. Can these be opened up cleaned and repaired? Are they mechanical?



Thanks
By Doug T - 16 Years Ago
Nat Santamaria (12/31/2009)
Hey guys. I just put my newly upholstered seat in my baby bird. It has power seats. There are 2 motors and 2 relays. The seat moves up and down fine. The forward and backward motion just stopped working. I am hearing a clicking out of the relay behind the seat. Can these be opened up cleaned and repaired? Are they mechanical?

Thanks

Hi Nate,

Before you go to the trouble to try take the relay apart be sure the is no current flow through it using a volt meter. Then check that the wire plugs into the motor wires under the seat are connected and making good contact.   Also I believe the relays are the same up/down and in/out.  Swap them out since one of yours works for sure.  Working under a T bird seat isn't that much fun but maybe you can break the drive motor loose from the seat and floor brackets and set it near the relay with its wiring intact and then you will have a good chance to figure it out. 

To answer your direct question I believe those relays have the metal cover crimped in place so it is likely you can get into it without total distruction.  BTW I have been using my power seat on twelve volts for many years with no change even though they were originally 6 volt for a '55. 

By Noob - 16 Years Ago
Yes, they can be opened and contacts cleaned... the only "difficulty" is breaking and re-soldering the grounding lug... at least as I recall... try cleaning all the wire contacts/connectors first, if you havnt already... less than spec power supply can cause the clicking, as well as poor grounding... do you have the selectomatic or the regular pwr seat?

cheers... brian

By Nat Santamaria - 16 Years Ago
Hi guys. Thanks for the help. I will try opening it up cleaning the contacts etc. It has acted up before. Failing that I just buy a new one.

It is not that select-o-matic power seat.



Thanks again.
By Nat Santamaria - 15 Years Ago
Hey guys. I got around to swapping the the 2 power seat relays. The problem still exists. The seat still will not move forward or backwards. It works fine up and down. I took the power motor out from underneath the seat- it has slightly burnt smell. I opened it up - the brushes are in good shape I cleaned the armature. I noticed some rust in the coil packs. It works more powerfully in one direction than the other but still the faint burnt smell. By the way, there are two separate motors : one for forward/backward and one behind the seat for up and down. Sounds like a new motor?

Could it be anything else other than a motor now that I know its not the relay? Any thoughts from anyone.



Thanks guys.
By crenwelge - 15 Years Ago
When electrical smells burnt, its usually finished. Check and see if you get current to the motor when its supposed to work. About all you have is a switch, relay, a motor and wiring. Many electric seats had a 2 stage relay like an overdrive relay. I never owned a ford with electric seats, but I remember the 2 stage relay from my fathers Chrysler worked on my Ford overdrive.
By DANIEL TINDER - 15 Years Ago
Nat,



I remember reading something about the screw drive sometimes jamming in the fully extended position. Have you disconnected the mechanism from the seat? Maybe it can be turned down by hand, and then operated with the motor?
By paul2748 - 15 Years Ago
DANIEL TINDER (1/17/2010)
Nat,



I remember reading something about the screw drive sometimes jamming in the fully extended position. Have you disconnected the mechanism from the seat? Maybe it can be turned down by hand, and then operated with the motor?




Yes-I would check this first. The screw that moves the seat may not have been in the correct spot and has jammed when it moved the first time after reinstallation.
By Nat Santamaria - 15 Years Ago
Thanks guys. I tried that. In fact I installed the suspect motor where the back seat motor goes with no load (screw drive not attached) and I get a clicking. The problem also seems to be intermittent. I would not even bother with the repair since I always keep the seat at the furthest back and highest position. I only have to move the seat forward to put the soft top down.



Thanks again.