Removing an electric seat that won't move and prevents you from getting to the mounts
 

I just bought a 987 that got a very small amount of water in it. Just enough to fry the rear body control module under the seat. What I will describe here is on a 987 (2005 Boxster S) but should in many ways be applicable to 986's too.

I had to get to the module under the seat, but the seat was almost all the way back and there was no possible way to get to the rear bolts to remove the seat. What I did was remove the front bolts and wedge something under the loose front of both sliders to get the seat as high up as possible.

My car has heated and memory electric seats, and as such has a black plastic seat memory module strapped to the underside of the seat cushion on the drivers side.
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I took out the Phillips head mounting screw toward the center of the seat. The outboard one is impossible to remove with the seat in the car due to its location. Once I took out the screw I was able to swivel the box on it's remaining screw toward the center of the car. Once I did that I was able to remove the plugs on the back of the seat memory module box.

The plug you're looking for is the grey one.

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All the + and - leads of the various seat motors go DIRECTLY to this plug. Apply power to the correct wire pairs in the plug and if the motor is workable, it WILL run. I took my 12v battery charger, and as advised by someone else on one of the forums, I took solid strand 18ga thermostat wire and tapped the ends somewhat flat with a hammer to semi-simulate the spade type connections that normally do in the plug. Don't go crazy with this, just flat enough to give the connector something to connect to. I connected the red and black wire to the appropriate alligator clip on the battery charger.

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Here are the appropriate wire pairs in the plug:

- For the motor that controls forward/back movement of the seat - blue/green wire and blue/black wire.

- For the motor that controls the front of the seat going up and down - white/green wire and white/black wire.

- For the motor that controls the rear of the seat going up and down - yellow/black wire and yellow/green wire.

- For the motor that controls the seat back recline function - grey/green wire and grey/grey/black wire.



I plugged the flattened ends off the wires I "created" into the appropriate terminals on the plug opposite the correctly colored wires and turned on the battery charger. Nothing. I tapped the motor with the wooden handle of a hammer and PRESTO, it started moving. WRONG DIRECTION! I simply reversed the wires; I put the positive wire where I had the negative wire, and the negative wire in the terminal of the plug where I had the positive one, and PERFECT! The seat ran forward. I ran it forward until the rear bolts were accessible, took out the bolts and removed the seat. Now I was finally able to access the rear body module and the seat memory module underneath the seat.

I hope someone down the road finds this helpful, and thanks to all who so generously gave their advice.

It seems that you were like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz - you had the power to get back to Kansas all along. I hope that the suggestions from the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion stimulated your thinking.

Since you are on a winning streak, maybe you can offer some suggestions on my Mercedes C63 seat retrofit project: https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w203/716541-seat-swap-2009-c63.html

I will have some time off over the Christmas and New Year holidays and I will be picking up where I left off a few months ago. The Mercedes aficionados haven’t been must help.

I wish I could help you on the Benz - this simple Boxster seat issue I had stumped me for a few days. I think your Benz seat issue requires someone with a much higher level of expertise than I possess. For what it's worth, my daily driver is a W211 E55 AMG. The car is a beast - AMG's are tons of fun. Best of luck - I read your thread on the Benz forum, they look like nice seats.

Congrats!
Hopefully this milestone opens the door to many more.

Excellent sleuthing and deduction! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks
I was hoping for lightning to strike and reveal an expert on Mercedes seats. I’ve had a bit of random luck on some of my previous projects and I am always willing to ask for input.

The seats are significantly more complex than those on a 986. I have found a way to operate the seat motors and the seat heater wiring looks identical to the wiring in my car. I am still trying to understand the wiring for the lumbar supports (each seat has an upper and lower lumbar support) and the adjustable side bolsters.

I am not attempting to enable the seat memory. I don’t have the controls and I am the only person who drives the car regularly. I retrofitted memory seats in my 986. I like the functionality, but I rarely use the features.

My mechanic had an E55 AMG. Although I haven’t driven one I understand your assessment of it’s capabilities.

Great job!! I love this type of a puzzle.

These type of things are the exact reason I have a Power Probe in my tool arsenal. I have been able to operate hood/trunk latches, motors, locks, windows, etc on two 986s with water fried immobilizers one 987 with a water fried rear control module.

The cool thing about the Power Probe is you can supply power or ground as the case requires.