The articulating buckts in my GTA wont work, all the wires appear to be hooked up, what else shouldi check?

 

my driver seat would not work when I installed my articulating seats.

listen for any sounds when you push the button, if you do not hear any sounds, then you either have a bad pump, or you have a bad wire connection.

If you hear a sound and it only makes sound for a spit second before stopping, check your air lines. Mine would kink and would not pump up the bags. There is a pressure sensor in the pump mechanism, and it will not exceed a certain pressure.

hope that helps...

John

 

The clicking sound indicates that electricity is flowing through the circuit and that you do no have a current flow problem. There was an inline fuse in the 87 GTA Ultima seats I put in my 87 T/A which could be blown. The fuse was taped into wiring harness which was under the seat. You would more than likely have to take the seat out to find out if this is problem. Since the air pump that runs both seats is in the drivers side seat, that is the seat you would want to look under.
The clicking noise mentioned is due to the current which builds up to inflate the lumbar air bags. When the air bags become inflated, they require more paaower from the air pump, which electrically trips the switch to the air pump, keeping current from flowing to it so the air pump will not burn itself up. The clicking noise is made when the switch turns the pump off itself.
If you have any electrical experience, understanding and mechanical background, then you will not have troube tearing out the drivers side seat and trouble shooting your problem. The seat side panel which holds the switch comes off pretty easy. When I bought my used seats, I torn them all apart to clean and maintenanc them. They were not intimidating at all. My seat switch had become filled up with seat foam particles and they would sometimes prevent the current from flowing through the switch because they would get in between the swithcing contacts. I was told by the original owner that they were finicky sometimes, which is why I cleaned and maintenanced them.
If you have a test light to measure current flowing through the system, then you can begin at the start of the wiring harness under the seat and check current flow from the harness connector to the switch, if the light lights up then that section of wire is good. Next check currentl flow across the switch, if that light the light bulb, then it works and checks out fine. You just keep up this process of checking and varifying until something doesn't work. This is how a good mechanic diagnoses a system. Electricity flow can be likened to water flowing through a garden hose. The wires are the hose and the water/electricity has to go from the power source to the load, which is your air pump in this case.
Once the seat is out. If the fuse is ok, you can always take your car battery out and hook 12 volts from it, directly to the seat wiring harness, If you pluf the end of the air tubing which runs from one seat to the other, then the seat air bags should fill up or deflate out of the car. If the seat works out of the car, then you know yoru problem lies in the wiring from you power box, up under the drivers side dash, above the fuse panel, but mounted to the car metal kick panel. You could have a bad rusty ground wire. Which is what I would look for, if the seat worked when taken out of the car and a direct 12 volts is applied to it.
But, if the fuse is ok, the switch is cleaned and checks out, and you still have no clicking an you know that power is going to the air pump moter,then it checks out that it is bad. I know that it can be access by removing the plastic cover containing it,which is under the front of the drivers seat. I think that the wires are soldiered to the air pump inside in such a fashion that a direct 12 volts can be applied to the air pump to verify its operation, but I can not verify this since it has been a while since I have been inside my seat.
As a last resort, I video taped the extraction of my seats from the donor car, which depicts the wire routing, and where the ground wire is attached and where the power wire is attached. The video also shows how the seat is switch is disassembled and what is inside the air pump black box. For a cost of $10, to make it worth my effort, I would copy and send you the video. But, I hope that with the extensive 30 minutes of written technical information that I have provided, that you will be empowered to diagnose and fix your seat to suit your self
FYI: f-body 6 way power seat mechanisms can easily be bolted onto your GTA seats, and the power seat wiring harness be hooked into the power lead box to make a 6 way power GTA Ultima bucket seat. That is what I fashioned. A seat that GM never made. As well as just had a hand in helping my brother make me a tilt/telescopic column that Gm never made either. I love the sporty ride of my WS6 T/A, but want the comfort of a Caddy.
Hope that helps, be in touch if you need more help or info.
Be cool!
"TEACH"

 

I too did the 6 way power conversion, I had to move the little pump box over a 1/2 inch for clearance. There are several versions of the 6 way power seat track, I have 2 of them and there both different.

John