1957 six way power seat

[Paul Tesone]

Can someone please tell me what section(s) of the front seat is(are) supposed to respond to each of the three buttons on the power seat switch and in which direction they should move ? I always thought that the middle button moved the WHOLE seat in a forward or backward direction ; the rear button tilted the BACK of the seat forward or backward ; and the front button tilted the seat BOTTOM up or down .  Mine doesn't do that . It seems that the seat back will not move independantly of the seat bottom , but instead moves with the seat bottom regardless of which button I use . Which is correct , or is there another combination which I haven't mentioned ? Is there any way to move the seat straight UP without effecting the tilt of the seat back and/or bottom ? Thanks , Paul Tesone ...CLC # 6876

[LeRoy DeVol]

Paul, I am not sure how your seat is wired but if the switch is in the driver side door like mine was on my 64 Cad. the wires go thru the bulkhead and because the driver side door gets opened & closed 10 times more then any other door the wires break. When this happens the seat will act crazy. I would check the wiring and if everything is OK i would think the switch may be bad.

Lee DeVol

[cadillactim]

The center toggle button moves the seat forward and backward when the toggle is moved forward or backward. When the toggle is moved up or down the entire seat moves up or down. The front and rear tilt are not affected. The front tilt button moves the front part of the seat bottom up and down. The rear tilt button moves the rear part of the seat bottom up and down.
The seat back does not move by itself, but only in relation to the seat bottom tilt.

Tim

[Paul Tesone]

Thank you Lee and Tim . Paul Tesone ...Clc #6876

[Paul Tesone]

OK - here's an up-date . I don't have the car with me , but the person working on it says the seat does not simply move just forward and backward as described above . It reaches a point when moving it forward or backward with the middle button where it starts to tilt the front or back of the seat bottom as if you are using the front or rear toggle button when all you are using is the middle button . Any thoughts ?? Thanks, Paul Tesone CLC # 6876

[Walter Youshock]

There are not 3 individual switches on the '57.  The 3 knobs are a single cast piece so moving one knob actually moves all 3.

When moving the seat forward with the center button, the seat will move both forward AND tilt slightly up.  Pushing the button back will move the seat backwards AND tilt slightly down.  What you describe is completely normal on the '57.

[Paul Tesone]

Thanks Walter - I guess I'm expecting things of the seat that it wasn't designed to do . Paul Tesone CLC # 6876

[Walter Youshock]

Yeah--it doesn't move like a modern 6-way that we're used to.  Since it's all tubes, jack screws and solenoids under there, the seats don't move like the ones with separate motors and cables.  There's ONE big motor running all the functions. 

The front seat must weigh well over 100 lbs. with the rail.  I think the rail itself is about 40+!