47-55.1 Power Seat Question

[J48chevy]

So helping my buddy on his truck. He purchased this very nice set of 2011 Chrysler 300s leather seats. Trying to get the drivers side powered up and having a struggle with the memory computer and all the sensors. Passenger seat is easy. Drivers seat cannot locate main power and ground. Does anyone have a link, diagram, or suggestion to get the drivers seat working? I do know many of the sensors can just be disconnected but no simple power and ground in for these that I am seeing. I have tested all motors and they work fine. Just want power seat functions and not hooking up any heated or cooled seat options.

[joedoh]

does it have memory button? anything that says it has "memory" and is post 2008 will have a CAN interface that it has to see before it moves. your friends truck likely does not have a 2011 Chrysler CAN bus. if it were mine I would find the + and - of each seat motor and wire in some high current relays to some small momentary switches and use those to move things. you will need two relays and switches per motor and wire them as "rest at ground" because the way you reverse motion is to reverse the polarity of the motor. this is a diagram I found online for a door lock actuator but its the same principle and the same wiring.



you can see that when you press the switch one way it breaks the ground on one side of the motor and keeps it on the other side, making the motor turn one direction, and when you press the switch the other way it reverses polarity.

there are likely 4 wires on each motor, two for the motor and two for the position sensors, so test to make sure you have the right pair.

if you dont want to use a lot of relays (prob need at least 8!) you might try to find a electric seat switch assembly from an earlier model, it is high current and wired just like the relays, without needing the relay. it occurs to me you could probably use a switch from another passenger seat actually

a note as well: if the seats are heated, be sure and use a timed switch to run the heaters and not just an on/off. anything 2008+ will use PWM and feedback to make sure the resistive heater does not get too hot. remember how in older cars with seat heaters it would get really warm then taper off? a resistive heater changes resistance as power is applied, increasing it as it heats up. newer cars use PWM (pulse width modulation) to keep the resistive heater in its sweet spot for heat, leading to a much longer heated experience. without the PWM at best it will function like an older heater (taper off as time goes on) and at WORST it will overheat the seat bottom. a timed switch of 4-5min is a safe way to make sure it doesnt get left on.

[J48chevy]

Thank you. Not sure I want to do the relays for each motor as the drivers seat has a total of 5 motors. 2 for seat base, one for back of seat, one to move front to back, and the lumbar support motor. I also don’t see a memory switch on the seat. It is possible to direct wire each motor to a relay on one switch possibly another passenger side switch? Very nice seats but all the modules on drivers seat make it next to impossible to figure it out. Lol

[sack54]

I do believe you need the BCM to make the seat work.

[J48chevy]

Originally Posted by sack54

I do believe you need the BCM to make the seat work.

So will need to get a BCM just to make the seat work? That means also needing plugs in and out of BCM as well. Boy these new seats are not easy plug and use. Lol

[dsraven]

ok, suggestion:
look for or fab up a regular seat base. really, how many people are gonna be driving YOUR truck. you will adjust the seat the way YOU like and then leave it there.

[J48chevy]

Wonder if I just get a harness from another passenger seat and replace driver seat and eliminate computer on drivers seat. Basically do the drivers side just like passenger side. Passenger side everything works with hooking up 2 wires so wouldn’t see why this would not work on converting drivers seat like that, correct?

[mick53]

Holy moly, I'm liking my little lever on my seat a lot right now. I had no idea that much circuitry was in a seat.

[dsraven]

I will be putting my power seat on a regular seat base, for that reason. It will just be me or my wife driving the truck, and we are both about the same ground clearance

[dsraven]

sounds like you need to get rid of the memory seat module and go from there. possibly the pass side wiring could work, it's probably not wired to the bcm. bcm is programmed to a couple of different remotes etc so that's why the bcm needs to be in the loop.

[_Ogre]

use the passenger seat harness on the drivers seat and make the pass seat fixed
easy peasy

[1project2many]

FYI, when it comes to Chrysler products, it's important to remember the driver's primary job is to submit requests to the vehicle. You don't accelerate, you press the accelerator pedal which sends a throttle open request to the ecm. You don't open a window or lock a door, you send a request to the bcm to open the window or to lock the doors. Seats are the same.

I'm also voting for duplicating the RH seat harness under the LH seat if possible.

[J48chevy]

Originally Posted by 1project2many

FYI, when it comes to Chrysler products, it's important to remember the driver's primary job is to submit requests to the vehicle. You don't accelerate, you press the accelerator pedal which sends a throttle open request to the ecm. You don't open a window or lock a door, you send a request to the bcm to open the window or to lock the doors. Seats are the same.

I'm also voting for duplicating the RH seat harness under the LH seat if possible.

That is the plan. Figured since we got the passenger working just fine, we are ordering a passenger wire harness and replacing the driver seat with this.