Matt W

Introduction:

My passenger side seat controls were starting to work intermittently only after moving the controls about 4 times back and forth, I thought the switch control unit was going bad and even though this thing is a small piece it was $150 to replace new. I read another thread where a person had the same problem and was looking for a cheaper Honda OEM compatible module. Instead I figured I would try and do the repair myself before I spent alot of money on something I never use.

Guide:

You will first have to remove the seat from the car to be able to get the rest of the pieces of the car. I don't have any pictures right now for removing the seat but here is the basic process:

• Put seat all the way forward
• Remove two back bolts on the floor under the two small trim pieces
• Put seat all the way back
• Remove two front bolts on the floor
• Disconnect car battery and wait three minutes
• Disconnect the 4 cable connectors under the seat and pull the seat forward
• Remove trim piece covering seat-belt belt and unbolt seat-belt
• Remove seat from car (I did it myself but it was very heavy)

There is one step missing from below and it is removing the front trim piece from the seat. You do this by removing the single screw on the left side of the seat (your left as if you were sitting in the seat) and then pull the piece towards the left and outward.

Now follow these instructions for repairing the switch control unit:















Now repeat removing the switch from the trim piece in reverse order ending with finally re-installing the seat in the car. When you reinstall the seat into the car make sure you disconnect the battery for 3 minutes before reconnecting the wire harnesses.

Mine was still working intermittently after reinstalling but I moved the switch back in forth about 10 times and now it works no problems, its been a day so far and it still works fine. If it stops working this thread will at least serve as an informational document as to the internals of the seat control switch.

Also, after examining this it looks like Honda got smart and was able to reuse the control casing from the driver side switch by putting two blanks in where you usually are able to move the switch on the driver seat. This means if you can find a driver side control switch in a salvage yard you can use it on the passenger side. I have taken apart the driver seat and I can verify the connectors are the same (minus the extra pins for the other motor/direction controls).

Here is a list of DIY's I will have coming up and will have better pictures and be more in depth than what I have here:
DIY Transfer Case Gear Oil
DIY Transmission Fluid
DIY Differential Fluid
DIY Oil Change
DIY Seafoaming
DIY USA Spec
DIY NavTool

Enjoy!!



Also remember to tell your wife to stop bitching about how she can't move her seat!

Matt W

FYI, I tested my passenger seat controls today and they are still working good! I thought this was a more common problem for people on the forums but maybe not!

neuronbob

Matt W

Just wanted to follow up, it has been nearly 2 months since I have done this DIY repair, I have heard a few people have had this problem which is why I tried to fix it myself first rather than buying a new control unit which was 100+.

MY PASSENGER SEAT CONTROLS ARE STILL WORKING 100%

I tested them again today when I was cleaning my car out. My car had been sitting outside in 100+ heat for 2 weeks last month and that didn't effect it, so it looks like this solution works (at least for 2 months).

elsanto

Can anyone re-host these images?

oo7spy

Matt hasn't been on in two years. Safe to say he isn't coming back. Find the service manual and see if that has what you need.

ex_hacker202

He's missing a step that I can't find (yet) - how do you remove the adjuster knobs on the side of the seat bottom that control the tilt of the seatback? My switch is fried, dealer wants $1500 to repair, and I need to remove that knob to make sure nobody tries to tilt the seat - it tilts back but won't come back up once it's down.

dapqam

I find that if electrical controls are not used the contacts corrode (oxidation) a little and may work intermittently. It is best to run seat controls, windows, etc. periodically to keep those contacts working.