Just noticed that my driver's seat lumber isnt working anymore. Im out of my warranty so it'll come out of my pocket, estimated about $600 for parts and labor. Its just going to stay broken! =) I can hear the motor going, and every now and then I can kinda feel the pressure increase. But for the most part you dont feel anything, and every once and a while when I try to move the support up and down, I feel it move and you can hear the leather creaking, and then it feels like something slips out of place within the seat. Has anyone ha trouble or issues with their lumbar support? Thanks.

 

I am having a similar problem. Although I felt the lumbar support mechanism actuallybreak, I was just driving on the highway and I felt/heard a snap and my lumbar support was gone. Now I have the same problems you aredescribing however, I don't think I want to spend themoney to replace it because mine is also out of warranty.

 

Did they tell you exactly what was broken at the dealer?

 

No, they didnt identify the cause, they just said your lumbar isnt working. DUH!!!! thats what i brought it in for. and they also said they'll need to replace the "frame". But his esitmate of $600 with parts and labor, I said no thanks. I wonder if I should bring it to another dealer. at least they didnt charge me to troubleshoot it.

 

I've seen entire seats on Ebay with lumbar cheaper then that... I'd take a look around anyway.. (Local junk yards..)

 

I had the exact same thing happen, luckily it was under warranty...it snapped and you could hear the motor running but nothing happened...

 

There are 3 plastic gears that break inside the motor/ gear housing. there are two motors in the setup. I took the passenger side and moved it to drivers side until I can get replacement. (about 200$)

 

mbumgua, how do you get inside the seat to get at those gears? Can you write up a process for a DIY? Where are you purchasing your replacement(s) from? What are you driving and at what mileage is this thing breaking on you? Any special situation when it broke, like were you leaning back, getting in, shifting positions?

 

I have a 2007 2500HD gmc duramax. The drivers seat was the problem. To access the mechanism you have to remove the plastic cover on the seatback. There is a map /article holder as part of this plastic back.I pulled down carefully on the plastic seat back until I could release the 2 plastic hooks holding the seatback to the top frame of the seat. Then you can reach down into the back of the seat and release the other hooks holding the plastic on. Now you can see the mechanical parts that operate the lumbar support. There are two motors that are on each side of the mechanism. I unhooked the leather seat cover from the seat frame and pulled the seatcover away and up to the interior ceiling. There are several wires attached to the frame of the mechanism which must be released and several plugins which need to be unplugged. The mechanism is held at the bottom by two white plastic clips which had green sharpie stripes on them. By now you should have all connections undone and the mechanism should be connected at the top. The wire frame goes into the top of the seat frame. To get it loose you have to swing the mechanism up to a horizontal position 90 degrees from its normal position. The top which is bent will then drop out of the holes and the mechanism will be free from the seat frame. My drivers side was different from the passenger side in that it had limit switches on the gear covers which were plastic. The passenger side has metal covers. I swapped covers from side to side and also swapped the central metal dowel out from side to side. The plastic cover has a longer dowel pin in center. Other than that the two sides are identical. Once you swap the plastic covers and dowel pins you are ready to reinstall the mechanism. Not sure why the passenger side doesn't have limit switches like the drivers seat. If the limit switches are there to prevent the gears from breaking--they don't work. You have to put the old mechanism from the drivers side back in the passenger side as it is the support for the seatback. good luck and reply if you still have questions. Don't have source yet for new parts. Also the three screws holding the gear covers on are square drive.

 

The plastic gear covers have a three prong cup which has different thickness on the prongs. They operate the limit switch and must go back into the correct size hole. Truck has 220,000 miles but has been broken for about 100,000 miles. Finally got around to fixing it. No special thing going on when it broke. Just normal operation nd the it started grinding noises.