Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi there,

I'm getting really ticked off/irritated with the electric seat switches, they are a stupid design, I have no idea why they have been designed so ridiculous. Anyway, I'm thinking - cut off the original switches with the balls in and replace them with 4 push buttons, that I can install in the same place - using a fibreglass panel - hopefully I can make it look semi-professional!!..

Any opinions on this? Is it a must/preferred by owners that I keep the switches original?

Thanks

Katherine

How often do you use them?

I'm the only driver of my 944 S2 and I don't think I've had to adjust them since I bought the car a couple of years ago. I suspect it's a lot of work for a minor niggle.

As for originality, if you have your car as an 'investment' keep them original or make so that you can revert it back before selling. There'll be enough buyers who won't mind modifications, though, as long as they work.

P.S. the word investment isn't a word I'd use for a classic car as I don't think I've ever got anywhere near recovering the amount of money I've spent keeping it up to scratch when selling a classic & I've had a few....

Agreed. Seems like a silly design but what do we know. Replacing with push buttons may be difficult - the switches have to be able to reverse the flow of current so the motors move in both directions.
The main problem I had was getting the little balls to stay in place. I overcame that by replacing them with small map pins, cutting off the pointed end to the right length so they would sit inside the spring and holding them in place with a blob of blue tack inside the spring. That was 5 years ago and they are still working.

I agree with other comments, for something that gets used once in a blue moon, its not worth the hassle. One of mine doesn't work at all in one direction so I'll take your old switches off your hands!! They should simply unplug from the wiring harness

I don't think they do unplug, that's why you can't just buy the switch on it's own. You have to remove the whole wiring get up in the seat with it - so I would have to cut the switches off, I could keep them in case the new owner wants to re solder them back on.

reversing the current? hmmm don't know about that at all. I can't imagine those seat switches do anything like that do they? or is it something very technical and that's why they use balls on the end of springs? I will have to do some more research.

I like to adjust my seat a lot to be honest.

Keep it original Kat. I have refurbed many seat switches and it's not that difficult. I kept my balls (!) in place with a dab of grease when refitting. Clean up all the prongs and contacts inside and they should give another 20 years service, they are very robust in design, almost agricultural!

Stuart

ISTR that you can disconnect the switch but the connector is underneath the middle of the seat and you need to take the seat out of the car to reach it.
Yes, the switch does reverse the current to the motors otherwise the seat would only move in one direction.
Using my method it is easy to repair them in situ. Prise the centre part out making sure you catch all the parts including the springs and the small pin in the centre that the switch pivots on. Clean up the contacts in the switch while its apart and put back together using map pins!
I tried the grease method first but at least one of the balls always fell off when putting it back. I also tried glue.

You can disconnect the switch. There is a connector box under the seat which accepts the bullet connectors from the switch wires. At this stage you are as well taking the switches out all together and giving them a good clean up and the grease method works fine when you have the switch on the work bench and are not trying to defy gravity by re-building them in situ!

Stuart

Just as Stuart said, they are a simple design of switch and typical of the over-designed nature of the 944. They can be dismantled for cleaning and servicing (as can almost all of the switches on the car) - something that can't be done with most switches.

Keep them original. It'll be much less hassle than making a new switch system. And yes, they do reverse the current flow.


Oli.

Keep em, rebuilding them is not as frustrating as watching the Eurovision Song Contest or Bolton Wanderers.

There are actually four seat motors in the late model 944s ie the S2 - pulling one coupling plug under the seat doesn't negate the whole system.

Dave
S2 CT