Superb electric drivers seat issue

[superb2500]

Hi everyone! First time on here as I'm having an issue with the electric seat on my Superb. Its stopped working and I'm not sure what the issue is. Could it be the switch or the seat motor? What should I check/change first?

[Danny 57]

Has the battery been disconnected for any reason?

[SuperbPaul]

just had a same issue-was working on this last weekend. its the corroded ccm contacts + water ingress + coroded nodes.

get this fixed and it will be grand. check under your passenger carpets for water first, there are loads of topics here related to this

[devilman9050]

Had a similar problem with my drivers seat, try disconnecting the plug underneath the seat, then plugging it back in again.

 

I have no idea why this would work, but it did the trick on mine!

[jimbof]

I think the reason this works is that the driver's seat (if a memory seat with the 1-2-3 buttons) has it's own control unit which can get locked up (you can query it in VCDS).  The passenger seat doesn't have such a thing, with the switches pretty much just hooked up to the motors.

[porky2]

I have had the same problem And got tired of disconnecting & rec connecting. Decided to solder every elect. joint on the wiring on the floor pan. Cured the seat problem, intermitent windows wing mirrors cruise control dropping out like a new car took it for mot today everything ok. £7-50 added to the bill to get airbag light re=set. Arrived home " lost" the comp trip info & now have drivers side door indicating open all the time but can live with that. :think:

Tel

[jenodgr8]

Has the battery been disconnected for any reason?

 

Hi,

  My Superb 2011 Elegance was hit by water ingress due to floods here. The water level inside was just below the seat's lower lip. The battery was dead, but managed to start it with a spare battery. Since then, the power seats are not working, both driver side and passenger side. Also the bluetooth in the bolero head unit is also not  working. Everything else looks like its working fine for now. 

 

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks .

Jeno 

[Tdi1.9]

Ouch...that sounds nasty.  You have my sympathy.  Are you near Mumbai?

 

Realistically, I think the only solution would be to take out the carpets, but that's a great deal of trouble.

 

A compromise would be to take out the seats and raise the carpets.  Disconnect the battery and wait about 20 minutes so there is no chance of the air bag circuits being live. The front seats come out quite easily.  Unscrew the two nuts under the front of each seat, lift up the front of the seat and figure out how to disconnect the yellow airbag connectors, and also the power seat connectors. Remove the plastic covers over each seat runner.  Each cover has one screw (torx I think) under a small plastic plug and then the plastic cover can be moved either backwards or forwards, I forget which, and the cover strip removed.

 

Now the seat can be slid backwards, off the runners and out of the back door.

 

The trim strip along the sill also needs to be removed.  There is screw under a plug in the plastic cover at the front of the sill, by the wheelarch.  That cover pulls off, there is a christmas tree clip at the top, then the sill strip needs to be pulled out of its clips all the way back. Now you can begin to lift the carpet and backing foam and you will see the extent of the flooding.  The carpet can be propped up with lengths of wood and you can more easily get to see the lake.  The CCM is under the passenger footwell, and will need to be opened, unplugged and dried out.

 

To raise the carpet at the back, the rear seat base needs to be removed.  The front is held down by two clips under the front edge, positioned in about the centre of each footwell. A google search will give a diagram of the clip positions. There are also two clips that hold the back down.  They are a bit fiddly, the seat needs to be pressed in from each side I think, and also pushed backwards to release the clips.  All these clips are very sticky if it's the first time thay have been released.  A good tug is necessary. For along time I thought it was impossible.

 

Be warned, it will take days to get to the carpet and thick foam to a reasonably dry state. I don't envy you.

 

Then you will need to check all the connections in the cable bundle that will also have been flooded.  Removing the crimps, recutting and stripping the cable ends and soldering the connections is the best way.

 

Don't reconnect the battery or switch on the ignition without the front seats back in and the airbags reconnected, or you will put on the airbag light on the instrument panel.

 

Having written all this, wouldn't you be better getting the insurance company to deal with it...I'm sure they would write the car off because of the labour charges that would be involved.

 

You could perhaps then buy it back from them (If you want)  and if the insurance companies do that in India.

 

Good luck!

Edited 9 December, 2015 by Tdi1.9

[jimbof]

My Superb 2011 Elegance was hit by water ingress due to floods here. 

 

My sympathies, but you are in the wrong forum.  This is for MK1.  

 

Your problem is quite serious if you've had that much water inside the car.  I believe on MK2 that the bluetooth module is on the floor, and the seat controllers are probably on the seats (if it has them, some just have switches and motors).   There might be other controllers at the floor level you may have problems with.

 

Firstly, make everything dry.  Check all the fuses.  Scan the car with VCDS to see what that says.  Then I would split any connectors that have been submerged and use some terminal cleaner in them, check wiring loom for any nodes which have corroded, and repair, and if that isn't successful look at repair / replace of any submerged controller modules.

 

Good luck...

[Tdi1.9]

My sympathies, but you are in the wrong forum.  This is for MK1.  

 

 

Ah yes.  I hadn't spotted that.

[jenodgr8]

Ouch...that sounds nasty.  You have my sympathy.  Are you near Mumbai?

 

Realistically, I think the only solution would be to take out the carpets, but that's a great deal of trouble.

 

A compromise would be to take out the seats and raise the carpets.  Disconnect the battery and wait about 20 minutes so there is no chance of the air bag circuits being live. The front seats come out quite easily.  Unscrew the two nuts under the front of each seat, lift up the front of the seat and figure out how to disconnect the yellow airbag connectors, and also the power seat connectors. Remove the plastic covers over each seat runner.  Each cover has one screw (torx I think) under a small plastic plug and then the plastic cover can be moved either backwards or forwards, I forget which, and the cover strip removed.

 

Now the seat can be slid backwards, off the runners and out of the back door.

 

The trim strip along the sill also needs to be removed.  There is screw under a plug in the plastic cover at the front of the sill, by the wheelarch.  That cover pulls off, there is a christmas tree clip at the top, then the sill strip needs to be pulled out of its clips all the way back. Now you can begin to lift the carpet and backing foam and you will see the extent of the flooding.  The carpet can be propped up with lengths of wood and you can more easily get to see the lake.  The CCM is under the passenger footwell, and will need to be opened, unplugged and dried out.

 

To raise the carpet at the back, the rear seat base needs to be removed.  The front is held down by two clips under the front edge, positioned in about the centre of each footwell. A google search will give a diagram of the clip positions. There are also two clips that hold the back down.  They are a bit fiddly, the seat needs to be pressed in from each side I think, and also pushed backwards to release the clips.  All these clips are very sticky if it's the first time thay have been released.  A good tug is necessary. For along time I thought it was impossible.

 

Be warned, it will take days to get to the carpet and thick foam to a reasonably dry state. I don't envy you.

 

Then you will need to check all the connections in the cable bundle that will also have been flooded.  Removing the crimps, recutting and stripping the cable ends and soldering the connections is the best way.

 

Don't reconnect the battery or switch on the ignition without the front seats back in and the airbags reconnected, or you will put on the airbag light on the instrument panel.

 

Having written all this, wouldn't you be better getting the insurance company to deal with it...I'm sure they would write the car off because of the labour charges that would be involved.

 

You could perhaps then buy it back from them (If you want)  and if the insurance companies do that in India.

 

Good luck!

 

Hi Tdi 1.9,  thanks for your detailed feedback. I live in Chennai, it is more to the south. They say this kind of rain happens once in 100 years. And i used to be in ncl last year. 

 

I managed to remove the control unit under the front seats. Also unplugged/removed the accelerator and the dead pedal to remove the carpet. I did this with a help of a knowledgeable friend. But since the power seats are not working, we were not able to remove the rear bolts of the front seat rails. Was not aware about the airbag wires or that it might open up. I will keep that in mind. For now, im just drying the floor of the car by pulling the mat up with front seats in position. I took out about a Bucket of water yesterday. 

 

Im not sure if we will be able to write the car off. The primary reason that didnt even consider the option is because our dealer is not available right (literally) . The value of the car after the damage should be less than the value of the car on the insurance to declare as total loss. That also doesn't seem to be the case. And if i try to claim the insurance to bear say 50% of my costs, i will need to service the car with the authorized dealer. And unfortunately, the only dealer in our city is closed for a month due to lack of space in the dealership to accommodate all the water damaged cars. I though leaving the car for a month in this state might end up with more trouble. 

 

Thanks a lot for your instructions again. I will try to slide the seat through the rear doors this time. And just to let you know, both the seats are at rear most position right now.

 

 

 

 

Under the front seats !

 

My sympathies, but you are in the wrong forum.  This is for MK1.  

 

Your problem is quite serious if you've had that much water inside the car.  I believe on MK2 that the bluetooth module is on the floor, and the seat controllers are probably on the seats (if it has them, some just have switches and motors).   There might be other controllers at the floor level you may have problems with.

 

Firstly, make everything dry.  Check all the fuses.  Scan the car with VCDS to see what that says.  Then I would split any connectors that have been submerged and use some terminal cleaner in them, check wiring loom for any nodes which have corroded, and repair, and if that isn't successful look at repair / replace of any submerged controller modules.

Good luck...

 

 

Sorry about that. I didnt see that its specific for the MK1.  I do have the VCDS cable, i will do that once everything is completely dry and clean.

[Tdi1.9]

Hi jenodgr8,

 

I'm pleased to hear you have managed to raise the carpet.  The drying out process will take a long time; there is a lot of water in that thick foam padding.

 

When everything is dried out, do check the wiring, as in this long thread...http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/152490-water-ingress-problemsolved/

 

The crimped connections corrode when wet and cause no end of electrical problems.  Soldering the joints is a more reliable solution.

 

Some cars, I think the automatics, also have a computer under the right hand carpet as well as the CCU on the left hand side.  You'll need to make sure they are properly dried out too.

 

I think you will find that a knowledgeable friend is a lot more help than the dealer!

 

Good luck with fixing the problem.  Plase let us know how it goes.

[jenodgr8]

Hi jenodgr8,

 

I'm pleased to hear you have managed to raise the carpet.  The drying out process will take a long time; there is a lot of water in that thick foam padding.

 

When everything is dried out, do check the wiring, as in this long thread...http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/152490-water-ingress-problemsolved/

 

The crimped connections corrode when wet and cause no end of electrical problems.  Soldering the joints is a more reliable solution.

 

Some cars, I think the automatics, also have a computer under the right hand carpet as well as the CCU on the left hand side.  You'll need to make sure they are properly dried out too.

 

I think you will find that a knowledgeable friend is a lot more help than the dealer!

 

Good luck with fixing the problem.  Plase let us know how it goes.

 

 

HI,

 

  We managed to remove the seats completely. We took the battery out and used it to power the electric seat motors. so we were able to move the seat front and back to remove all the screws on the Rail. And all three motors on both the seats are working fine when directly connected to the battery. And we were careful about the Airbag connector this time, the yellow connector. 

 

  The floor was really dirty with fine sand, and was a pain to clean. And there were two layers of carpet, the lower one had litres of water stored in it and was pretty heavy, the upper layer was better both in terms of water and smell. I used detergents and anti septic to clean the whole carpet and left it to dry outside my house. Its pretty hot here usually, constant 30 + even in our so called winter. 

 

and as you said, few wires have already come off the connectors,  what you suggest i should do. And the connector itself doesn't come out of its place more than an inch, very hard to even see if it is damaged, cant imagine soldering it. 

 

Pictures after removing the carpet.

 

 

 

 

Pictures of connector with "out of contact" wires (didn't know the exactly English word for broken wires)

 

 

 

 

Thank you very much for your support and help. Really appreciate. 

Edited 15 December, 2015 by jenodgr8

[Tech1e]

Replace the connectors in the multiplugs and dry out.

[Tdi1.9]

You're doing very well!

 

In photo 3, to fix the broken wire / disconnected cable ..  that plug can be dismantled:

 

Have a close look at the small blue piece of plastic at the top of the connector in your photo.  I think that can be removed.  In some similar connectors like that it slides out, towards the left in your photo.

 

However looking closely at your photo I can see some blue showing through a square hole in the black plastic. I think that blue square might need pressing in with a small screwdriver, to allow the blue plastic to slide out.  There may also be a similar thing on the opposite side of the connector.

 

This should allow the block that holds all those connectors to slide out.  If you can manage that, then the pins that are broken can be released and slid out if you use maybe a pin or very small pointed instrument to press down the clip that holds the metal pin in the block.

 

Then soldering is a much easier prospect.

 

Oh boy, it's so much easier to do in real life than it is to explain!!

 

Have a go, look closely and that whole plug can be dismantled.

 

You've done a great job so far.

[jenodgr8]

You're doing very well!

 

In photo 3, to fix the broken wire / disconnected cable ..  that plug can be dismantled:

 

Have a close look at the small blue piece of plastic at the top of the connector in your photo.  I think that can be removed.  In some similar connectors like that it slides out, towards the left in your photo.

 

However looking closely at your photo I can see some blue showing through a square hole in the black plastic. I think that blue square might need pressing in with a small screwdriver, to allow the blue plastic to slide out.  There may also be a similar thing on the opposite side of the connector.

 

This should allow the block that holds all those connectors to slide out.  If you can manage that, then the pins that are broken can be released and slid out if you use maybe a pin or very small pointed instrument to press down the clip that holds the metal pin in the block.

 

Then soldering is a much easier prospect.

 

Oh boy, it's so much easier to do in real life than it is to explain!!

 

Have a go, look closely and that whole plug can be dismantled.

 

You've done a great job so far.

 

 

Hi,

  Now, we changed the connectors instead of crimping them. So, our friend somehow managed to get similar connector, so we just had to connect the respective colored wires to get the new connector working. Here are the list of things which are not working 

 

- bluetooth module (7P6) , no response. Tried to check for fault code in VCDS, 

- electric seats, front and back movement .is not working, all other movements are working. 

- Front side light not working

 

Front side light should be a pretty easy fix, replace the bulb. But im more worried about the seats and bluetooth. Weirdly, the passenger seat actually moves front and back, but with a harsh noise(like a rusted metal screech, krrrrrrr sound). The driver side seat is worse, all it makes is a "tick" sound while the front/back switch is pressed but no movement. But while fixing the seats, the driver seat front-back movement was also working with that screeching sound. We tried to move the seat to its maximum limit, it got stuck at its front end. And its a pain to sit and drive now. So we didn't try the same on passenger seats. 

 

Let me know if you have any experience with bad electric seats. And i guess i will have to replace the Bluetooth module , or should I check the connector once more ?

 

Thanks for all the help

Jeno

[jimbof]

There are places who have the gear to test modules out of the car.  If you are getting no comms with it in the car it can't be that difficult for someone to hook up the CAN bus wires and power out of the car and see if the module will talk back.  But it does sound to me like it is toast...

Anyone else with a Superb near you who will let you try your module in their car?

[Tdi1.9]

I've no experience with power seat circuitry, but I think you moved the seat backwards earlier by applying 12 volts directly to one of the motors.

 

Could you do that again to get the seat back to a more reasonable position to drive?

 

Checking all the wiring connectors again would be a good idea, and the click you hear will be a relay used to power one of the the motors.  You could find that relay by listening to where the click is coming from, maybe in the under-carpet control box or under the seat.  Perhaps the relay has been damaged by the water?

[jenodgr8]

There are places who have the gear to test modules out of the car.  If you are getting no comms with it in the car it can't be that difficult for someone to hook up the CAN bus wires and power out of the car and see if the module will talk back.  But it does sound to me like it is toast...

Anyone else with a Superb near you who will let you try your module in their car?

 

 

I've no experience with power seat circuitry, but I think you moved the seat backwards earlier by applying 12 volts directly to one of the motors.

 

Could you do that again to get the seat back to a more reasonable position to drive?

 

Checking all the wiring connectors again would be a good idea, and the click you hear will be a relay used to power one of the the motors.  You could find that relay by listening to where the click is coming from, maybe in the under-carpet control box or under the seat.  Perhaps the relay has been damaged by the water?

 

Thanks for your support guys. Sorry for the late update. The car has done almost 2000 kms in the last 4 days. We managed to make the power seats work, but im still not sure how it worked.

 

While trying different possibilities, we noticed the seats were not moving back and forth when the rails are tightened to the body. But works with a grinding noise when the rails are kept loose. So, we thought the motors are fine and something should be wrong with the rails. So, we lubricated the rails with both WD 40 and grease. But no luck, everything was still the same. 

 

Then we tried to locate the noise from where is the grinding noise is coming, and found it to be the left rail (for the pass seat). While we looked under the seat with all the covers removed, the motor was placed more towards the right rail, and was directly coupled to the lever which will move through the rail, but for the left hand side of the motor, there is a flexible drive shaft which will transfer the rotational force from the motor to the lever on the left side rail. Below is the picture of the drive shaft(thats how i call it :p ). 

 

 

 

After we removed this part from the motor, the seat started to move back and forth on one rail smoothly without any noise. And we also lost the proper alignment of the seat. Then we lubricated the lever and and shaft itself and then put it back, it works a lot more freely than before, but there was still a little bit of noise, then we noticed the shaft rubbing against the metal near the rails while it rotates (since its flexible, there are some vertical movements for almost .5 cms). So we just used a cable tie to keep it as intact as possible. Now, the seats move back and forth with no noise when there is no load, but once i sit , it makes little noise and is slower to move, specially when nearing the end of the rail.

 

Hope it helps others who have similar problem. Any idea on how to fix it 100% ? 

 

Thanks for all the support 

Jeno

Edited 29 December, 2015 by jenodgr8

[Tdi1.9]

Can't help you make the seat movement perfect, but well done with fixing everything else.  Sounds like you've done a good job to get it all working again.

 

I bet you are looking forward to the next monsoon season!

[deldel]

HI all- I ma having the same issue- The power seat wont move on either side( the angle backrest wont work either) it is skoda superb 2006 prestige model. Also the wing mirror wont adjust either(but will fold in)  Would love to know if anyone has any ideas on how to fix- I replaced a cuple of fuses but not sure whether i need to replace all just in case or what- Cheers