This is for the drivers seat.

99 Coupe, Sport seats with memory

Here are the issues:

Seat will not go all the way back when I take the key out of the ignition the do go back but only 50% of the way the seat will stop moving but the noise it makes will continue for about two seconds and stop.

The only control that works is the long rectangular one that controls seat position and it will only go forward it wont go in any other direction. It wont even make a noise like it's making an effort to do it, however if I hit memory two it will go back to the setting for driver two (about 49 percent back, so if I have it on driver two and take my key out of the ignition the seat will only move 1/2 inch back.

The switch bezel is clearly broken I have included pictures for a visible reference.

 

Yes I know the car is dirty we have pine trees in my sub division and the pine needles get EVERYWHERE.

What Parts do I need to replaces to make the seat work properly again?

 

I have a 2000 with memory/sport seats and I replaced the seat frames because of the excessive play in the seat adjustment machinery that is anchored in soft aluminium. That's a totallly different issue which possibly could be affecting your issue.

I think you have to pull the seat, turn it over, and check to see that all the connections are tight, wires are intact, not cut, or loose. If the switch is cracked/broken you will have to replace. From your pictures it looks like all of the above could be the case. There are a lot of moving parts here, and a lot of places it could go wrong, so you will have to do a little exploritory surgery to figure it out.

Do an archival search of "rocking chair fix" and you should find a lot about the seats, especially the rocking and sliding issues. You may still be able to get a new salvaged track from Dino's Corvette Salvage from Pickyune, Miss. for much shorter $ than the dealer- A new dealer track with memory is worth about $600.

You have to look closely at the bottom of the seat to see what's amiss....

Good luck,

Bluemill

 

Please read this, and also look at 97vette.com for pictures of the "rocking seat fix," which is really the sliding problem.

Dear c5 seat Rockers and Sliders:

I purchased a new seat track, post 2003 model year type, non-memory from Dino's Corvette Salvage of Picyune, Miss. It was a salvage piece from a manfacturer who had bought entire Corvette seats from GM, and then was making executive office chairs out of them. Obviously, the seat tracks were not needed and Dino got a hold of them. Dino's attention to detail was fabulous; he would not send me a seat until he checked all the details of what I had in my car, etc. My car, a 2000 targa 6 speed, has had a rocking 1/4" -3/8"seat since I bought it one year ago with 15,000 miles.

The best price I could get from local Chevy dealers in the greater Boston, MA area was $500 for a memory seat track, $437 for w/o memory. The usual diference is $100+ more with memory but the dealer had a memory track on the shelf for too long - so I think he was trying to get rid of it at a bargain price.

Thanks to a thoughtful response form Matt Hathcock on the Corvette Mechanic Forum, I got hooked up with Dino. Keep in mind that I had already performed the Ken Robb Rocking seat fix twice ( the one with the washers) without really fixing the problem. The 1998-2002 (partial 2002 yr.) seat tracks have two nagging problems with wear: 1.) aluminum pivot points that wear out causing play with the foundation of, and the actual height adjusters for the seat, and 2.) black polyethelyne washers in the back and forth adjusting rods of the seat track. The latter disentegrate with use and then the seats slide on accelleration and braking. Bottom line is that you need to get a new track. Machining would be possible I guess but nobody in over a year came up with a referral, and that's after reaching out to 5 Corvette gear head sites.

The last hurdle was performed today in baking heat- sorry you guys in the South, we are just not used to it! The toughest part of the job was transferring the motors from the memory seat with the sloppy old tracks to the non-memory new tracks. I wasn't sure I could do it until it all fit together, but one thing for sure, the motors for the memory seat appear to be different and have more connections for electrical than the non-memory ones. It's not just case of moving the harness and memory module from one to the other -you must move the motors as well. If you try to do the job have a complete set of torx drivers!

BOTTOM LINE, the job was a success. You can transfer memory electronics to non- mem. seat tracks, Dino is a great part source, & the track he sent me was never used -( I know b/c the bluegreen grease that Lear pumped in at the end of adjusting rods was still down on the end- never being spread to the other end b/c it had never been adjusted!).
I had seen what a later model (past 2002) adjuster looks like, and Dino also came through on that issue as well, the silver box torx screws are replaced with "male" torx or reverse torx nuts on the newer part. These are located on the bottom of the tracks, 2 on each track. RESULTS - after all that work and research, well the seats are firmer, but they still have a slight spongy play if you push back on it, like the passenger seat feels. I did not replace the black washers in the silver box because I figured they had to have fixed that too! Well maybe they didn't. But I am not going in again until the weather gets a whole lot cooler!

Good luck guys- and remember- BUY AMERICAN!

GBWBook/Bluemill

 

Thanks for the info guys I will look for a switch bezel and new seat tracks.