1962 power seat transmission

[62 CDV]

Currently the power seat transmission in my 1962 CDV operates the 2 up and down settings just fine, but the forward and backward is inoperable. I can hear the unit trying to work but the seat does not move. Can anyone shed light on this issue for me?

Thanks in advance for the due diligence.

[Michael Petti]

 You don't say if what you hear is the motor working or just the clicking of the solenoids in the transmission. My initial guess would be that you are hearing power going to one of the solenoids but the piston is not sliding to make contact due to stiff grease. The solution is to disassemble the transmission, clean and regrease it with white lithium grease. The other  option that comes to mind is one or both of the cables is jammed or disconnected. There is an excellent post on a Pontiac site describing the whole process.

[russ austin]

I use wheel bearing grease on the gears and spray silicone on the slider dogs.   The white lithium grease dries with age quickly. That is the original problem, dried lithium grease.

[bctexas]

I had the same issue with my '65.  The motor and transmission were ok, but the 56 year old grease in the track mechanisms was more like concrete.  I found (via this forum) that I could unbolt the seat from the floor, and lean it back far enough to remove the track mechanisms, motor and transmission.  A thorough cleaning and re-greasing of the whole lot brought it back to life.  I almost had to chisel the grease out of the little screw jacks that do the up and down motion.  Messy, but not difficult.

Happy Motoring!

[Jason Edge]

Most of the seats issues that I have run into, or a contact/customer ran into, where they hear the motor turning and may have movement in one or more, but not all directions is the dried grease in the transmission casing. They are pretty easy to pop open clean out and regrease.  We have a Help Page with visuals on this over on the 63/64 Cadillac Website at https://6364cadillac.ning.com/forum/topics/cleaning-the-6-way-and-4-way-seat-transmissions