I NEED HELP WITH MY ALFA 164Q DRIVERS SEAT. HOW DO I RESET IT IS STUCK

[paullatin]

Hi I need someone's help.  I am a new owner of an Alfa 164Q the electric seats have been working fine and this morning I went to clean the carpet. I slid the seat forward when finished I attempted to slide it back and now only goes a couple of cm.  All other seat functions work. How do I reset the drivers seat? or is there an electric motor bypass?

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Have you checked there's nothing stuck in the track, possible if you were cleaning to accidentally dislodge a coin or something like that.

Does the motor still try and work while doing this or does it just stop when the seat does? 

Maybe try gently tapping motor with a small hammer (or suchlike) a few times, this always works with Italian electrics.  If still nothing maybe take out the switches and give them a clean.

[Sheldon McIntosh]

Any luck?

If you don't respond to a thread like this one, we all assume that it was in fact a coin stuck in the track.

[Doug Gould]

There are 2 common problems with 164 elec seats:
1. switches. Because the rocker switches are mounted horizontally, it tends to let moisture and bits of crap get inside. Step one would be to squirt contact cleaner into the switch.
2. The armature shaft on the electric motor can slip out of its bearing cup so that it loses contact with the brushes. This is more likely to happen when its run to the limit of its travel and the motor tries to produce higher torque. The first step is to try and hit it with something (underneath the seat in the pass footwell) to see if that will jump it back into place. There is an adjustment on the shaft end float that can help take up wear and hold the shaft more securely in place.

Doug