Power seat weirdness with pictures - this truck is driving me bonkers

This is a 2004Tahoe. It has heated seats, lumbar adjustor, the works when it comes to the seats. When we first bought it the drivers seat was totally dead. The lot looked into it and said that it was a ground. Once “fixed,” theheated seat section started working, the lumbar came to life, and the seat could be adjusted – it worked great.

Tonight my wife tries to drive the truck for the first time to have some tire work done. The seat would not move at all. No noise from the motors at all. The lumbar support and the heated part still work, the seat just will not move.

I have attached pictures I took while dropping it off tonight, it looks like this might be the ground that the guy “fixed.” Any thoughts or opinions? Am I barking up the wrong tree?

It looks like the ground wire is broken a bit at the seat bolt he grounded it to, only a few strands of metal are holding it on. Would a weak ground let the other options work but not let the seat motors work?

I appreciate any help guys. This thing is driving me bonkers.

Oh also, I have replaced my power mirrors recently, both door panels were off, the alternator has been replaced as well.

I will try to strip and reground it tonight, but if that does not work – any ideas? I have been reading former posts but don’t seem to see an issue like this floating around.

-Edited for clarity - at least I hope

From what I am reading I don't think its the module under the seat because the heat still works on both seats as does the lumbar. I am thinking this might be the ground wire. The connection to the seat bolt pictured looks weak, only a few strands holding it on, the other strands are broken off. What is getting me shouldn't the whole seat be dead if the ground is not good?

If that ground wire is only bare wire under that nut, clean it of the rust and put an eyelit like the one picturedon the end of the wire to provide a better ground plain, that would tell you right away if the ground is the issue.

Freedom Motorsports said:

If that ground wire is only bare wire under that nut, clean it of the rust and put an eyelit like the one picturedon the end of the wire to provide a better ground plain, that would tell you right away if the ground is the issue.

View attachment 74699

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Thank you, I will look into it. What concerns me is that some of the functions work but the seat is dead. I am wondering if a weak ground would let that happen because I know seats pull alot of power.

It "Could". That may not be it, but it could be the cause of some power loss. That being said, I think the seat power for moving the seat and the lumbar and other functions may be on different fuses. Check the fuses under the hood and see if you have one blown as well.

I would think that the warmers pulled more amperage than the motors. Also, I believe the warmers are on a separate circuit than the power adjusters. But, I'm not the engineer that designed these circuits and it may not be as cut-and-dry as that. First thing's first- fix that sloppy ground "repair" with a ring eye terminal like Chris mentioned. Make sure there's no paint, grease or dirt where it contacts. You seem to have a basic understanding of how electricity works, but yes, a weak ground can pass enough current to power some loads and not others. A higher load through an insufficient conductor (such as a poor ground) can cause it to pull more amperage than it's supposed to which can blow fuses. After you repair the ground, check your fuses if things still don't work. Lets hope all of this is just from the car lot's half-assed patch job on that ground.

iamdub said:

I would think that the warmers pulled more amperage than the motors. Also, I believe the warmers are on a separate circuit than the power adjusters. But, I'm not the engineer that designed these circuits and it may not be as cut-and-dry as that. First thing's first- fix that sloppy ground "repair" with a ring eye terminal like Chris mentioned. Make sure there's no paint, grease or dirt where it contacts. You seem to have a basic understanding of how electricity works, but yes, a weak ground can pass enough current to power some loads and not others. A higher load through an insufficient conductor (such as a poor ground) can cause it to pull more amperage than it's supposed to which can blow fuses. After you repair the ground, check your fuses if things still don't work. Lets hope all of this is just from the car lot's half-assed patch job on that ground.

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Sing it! i should have checked the repair, but I - like an idiot - trusted them. Now I am stuck and my wife needs to be able to drive this. Without knowing what gauge that wire is and how large the bolts are I am going to try to estimate and buy some over lunch and work on this after 8pm tonight. I hope its just a blown fuse due to the bad connection. I keep reading that the seats pull a great deal of current, more than the heaters - something to do with keeping the heaters frm being a fire hazard - I think there is some sort of link that kicks the volts down for them.

I am honestly scared to touch the connector he has "tapped" into. I am afraid it will come apart or some lose. I know some about electronics but not enough to bypass plugs and make that kinda stuff work. I was hoping to undo the seat bolt. Clean it up with a wire brush really good, strip back more the insulation, put one of those eyelets on there and place it between the bolt and washer - was hoping that would work. I will check fuses after that. If not, I am going to take this to an "old timey" car electronic place and let them deal with it. They are usually very good.

Freedom Motorsports said:

It "Could". That may not be it, but it could be the cause of some power loss. That being said, I think the seat power for moving the seat and the lumbar and other functions may be on different fuses. Check the fuses under the hood and see if you have one blown as well.

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Will do, I am hoping if I clean it all up, and put it back right, that it will actually work until I can get it in to see a real electrics guys not me lol. THANK YOU

Okay, I went over my lunch hour and got some of those eyelets, different sizes, some wire as well. My plan is to clean up the bolt tonight and the rail it bolts to, and to strip back some of the "patchwork," and connect it cleanly to see if it works before I waste an eyelet on it. I will also pull the fuses and check them. If it works, then I will undo it all and try my best to get a clean connection at both end and be done with it.

Question: I don't have a test light, can I just bridge the connections in the fuse box to check if it works? I know this is not the best way to do it, but can/should I try it?

I am really hoping this works, I need a break with this truck. An unhappy wife makes for an unhappy life....