I posted a couple of years ago about a driver's side power seat issue. The slide motor makes noise but won't move up and back. I didn't like the dealer's estimate so my wife just drove it as is since it was adjusted to fit her. I finally got around to buying a slide motor online for less than half what the dealer wanted. Anyway, I worked on it today and of course it's not the motor. The motor works fine after removal, switch is good as well. After reinstalling it wouldn't work and neither would the new motor. I tried removing the track assembly but gave up due to difficulty in reaching one nut. After reassembly the motor now works. However, the bolts won't line up with the floor pan. I obviously realigned the seat which helped the slide mechanism but now can't resinstall it.

Bottom line, how do I properly align the seat and tracks so the seat will work and still bolt to the floor? I've tried YouTube as well Chilton's online repair guide that I accessed through the local library. Nothing!

 

How are the bolts out of line? Is one track just moved forward a few notches? Or is something out of square?

 

I'm thinking it's just out of square. The cross piece should square it up but I made the mistake of leaning it back to work under it. As a result the cross piece didn't want to line up easily either. I need to pull the seat out completely and measure it with a tape measure. I'll do the same for the bolt holes on the floor. We bought the car used so long ago I don't recall if we got a CarFax first to see if it had been wrecked.

I was worried that the worm gear had failed but like I said it started working again. If one track is further forward I assume I can move it by spinning one gear with a screwdriver, correct?

 

I find it strange the new motor was flaky, so you may want to some testing on the wiring if the problem returns.

As for how the tracks are off, I'm not sure. The most likely is on track is slid up when you installed the new motor. I'm not sure how the mechanism works on the power seat. You might have to disengage the power motor to get the tracks lined up? If a track is out of line, then recheck the installation.

 

I do appreciate you responding. I worked on it again today and discovered that the tracks were way off, over an inch difference! I also noticed that the mechanism was rather loud and would only go forward or backwards a short distance before quitting. I've tried two different motors with the same result. Power seems to be fine because every time I activate the switch I can feel the motor respond. The motors also run perfectly when removed from the assembly. I then discovered that the left track was moving properly but the right track was not moving at all. After further testing I concluded that the right track must have a stripped worm gear because turning it with a screwdriver would not cause any movement. So I moved the left track until they both lined up and now the seat will fit properly in the car.

Bottom line is I need to replace the track assembly. It comes with the motor and sells for about $800 online and of course much more from the dealer. A little research showed that salvage track assemblies are very cheap, around $100 or less. At the moment I'm thinking about just doing that unless somebody talks me out of salvage parts.

I looked closely at the tracks and can't seem to figure out how to remove the worm gears from the tracks. They don't sell them separately anyway.

Have you had any experience with salvage parts? I hate to spend a lot on this car because I'm not sure how much longer we will keep it. It has fewer than 100,000 miles but is due for a timing belt, etc. That plus the track assembly might be more than the car is worth.

 

For your issue with the motor, I didn't realize the motor was making some noise. I suspect the motor has a limit switch/sensor and the bound gear mechanism was overloading the motor

I'm a fan of salvage parts. I had something minor, but annoying break on my old accord's manulal seat track. I ordered one from a salvage yard and installed with no issues. I haven't seen too many folks post about broken seat track, so this isn't a pattern failure on accords. A used part is likey to function properly in this case.

 

Thank you so much for your help! I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

Thank you so much for your help! I'll let you know how it turns out.