2006 Infiniti G35, Power Seat Not Working

This 2006 Infiniti G35 came in with the complaint that the driver’s power seat would not move back to front. The customer had already had it checked and was told that the seat base would have to be replaced, $700 for the part plus labor. He asked me if I would take a look at it and see if it could be fixed any cheaper. Sure, I like knowing what is wrong with stuff anyways.

I did a little checking and found that the motor for the front/back operation was getting power and ground. It was also a little warm after testing. Seems stuck to me. I looked a little and it seemed to me that the drive mechanism would come off fairly easy. Three phillips head screws on each side holding the gear boxes in place.

I removed the screws from each side and then used a screwdriver to gently pry the gearboxes off of the seat tracks. The inner gearbox took a little bit more force.

As I separated the gear box housing, the first thing that I could see was the ball bearing assembly (outer race).

When the housing was fully removed, I could see the shaft, the gear and the bearing. I saw damage to the gear on the inner shaft. I wanted to check the track mechanism, so I used my cordless driver with a 10 mm socket to slowly turn the shaft. I had to switch between the inner and the outer shafts, to make sure the seat would move the full track length and do it smoothly. I did not want to install a new gear, only to have it strip out again.

To remove the gear, I first placed a ratcheting boxed end wrench on the shaft nut. Then I used a pair of smooth jaw pliers to hold the shaft extension. While I loosen the nut.

I used smooth jaw pliers because the shaft extension goes into a recess in the plastic gear box housing. I knew if I damaged that shaft it would probably destroy the housing in no time. Maybe, maybe not. Why take a chance anyway?

It surprised me that the old gear and sensor ring came off with relative ease.

I reused the sensor ring because the new gear does not come with that piece. It comes with a plain plastic spacer ring that would not have allowed the memory seat function to work. It would have, had to been disabled.

I installed the gear boxes and motor. Connected the wiring and was back in business.

The old and new gear pieces.

If you are going to do this job yourself, you need to realize that it is not a quick fix. It seems that there are three different gear possibilities and there is no rhyme or reason to which one may be in your seat. There may even be different gears on each side. The point is you will need to disassemble the parts to see which one that you have before you can order the parts. Also in some cases the memory seat feature will be lost and the system will need to be disabled. I have not had the opportunity to see how to disable this function yet.