1957 6-way seat repair

[Dan Koser]

Dan,

The solenoid internal is straight forward and only a few pieces can be removed such as the plunger, the spacer, trip plate and the metal ball bearing. The rest electrical coil and spinning nut that rides in the worm screw are non-removable.

Attached is the previous page from the Delco bulletin for the 6-way seat motor from the one I’ve attached to “1956 six way electric seat - solenoid replacement” post.

HTH

Good luck..!

Hopefully, the exhibit I prepared will show up; I left the seat on the frame and was able to remove the aluminum cover from the front and middle solenoids. Each contained different pieces.The ferrous ball in the middle spinning nut does not dislodge from the nut, while the ball in the first will. I haven't tried to open the furthest inboard, as it appears to be working,....the middle one is the one that is supposed to control fore and aft movement of the seat, so I'll concentrate on getting that ferrous ball loose and then try to make a spacer, which that one is missing. Looking with a magnifying glass, it does not appear that either plunger ever had the other piece extending from the bottom as shown in the exhibit. Dan

[J. Gomez]

Dan,

Very interesting..! Only assumption from your finding is the solenoids are either original or someone jerry-rigged them, I lean towards the second as they are missing pieces. 

But again I could be wrong, which is a common thing most of the time. 

The ones I’ve worked on were the same as the drawing, so my comments below are based on the original design.

I could see the non-ferrous ball as there is an electro-magnetic field inside the coil. But the missing shaft on the plunger is puzzling, also the non-ferrous ball may not be large enough to press the other one down when the plunger is engage.

The missing spacer is another puzzling thing. There is a recess on one side (face side) of the plunger the trip plate and spacer fills this area. There is a lip on the top of the plunger which the trip plate engages to push it when power is removed from the solenoid.

All of these pieces move freely up and down including the ball inside the hole on the spinning nut.

When power is off at the solenoid the ball will bounce up the spinning nut cavity and remains there. Once power is place the plunger presses the ball and when the spinning nut rotates the ball falls inside the cavity to lock the solenoid. You can see the function on the solenoid on the other thread attachment of page 7.

Good luck..!

[Dan Koser]

Dan,

Very interesting..! Only assumption from your finding is the solenoids are either original or someone jerry-rigged them, I lean towards the second as they are missing pieces. 

But again I could be wrong, which is a common thing most of the time. 

The ones I’ve worked on were the same as the drawing, so my comments below are based on the original design.

I could see the non-ferrous ball as there is an electro-magnetic field inside the coil. But the missing shaft on the plunger is puzzling, also the non-ferrous ball may not be large enough to press the other one down when the plunger is engage.

The missing spacer is another puzzling thing. There is a recess on one side (face side) of the plunger the trip plate and spacer fills this area. There is a lip on the top of the plunger which the trip plate engages to push it when power is removed from the solenoid.

All of these pieces move freely up and down including the ball inside the hole on the spinning nut.

When power is off at the solenoid the ball will bounce up the spinning nut cavity and remains there. Once power is place the plunger presses the ball and when the spinning nut rotates the ball falls inside the cavity to lock the solenoid. You can see the function on the solenoid on the other thread attachment of page 7.

Good luck..!

Thanks for the info. I think someone has been into the first one...cover was damaged,not to mention the missing pieces. I put some penetrating oil into both to try to free up the ferrous ball, so we'll see what today brings. Thanks again. Dan

[Dan Koser]

Today, after letting those ferrous balls soak in the crud cutter, I was able to get them both out of the spinning nuts. Then I cleaned where they sit with carb cleaner, and cleaned up the balls. Then I made replacement parts for the ones I'm missing, using the ones I have as templates. I found an old spring I hope will work in the unit missing one, and tomorrow I'll clean the rest of the parts, reassemble and test. Hopefully what I've done will result in the forward and backward movement of the seat on its frame.  Thanks again for the help and information. That diagram showing the parts to the unit was key. Dan

[Coupe Deville]

At the time, I removed the whole front bench from the car to lube the cables, and install seat belts. So I don't remember if it would have been accessible with the seat in place or not. If you don't have a helper to remove the seat from the car, you can remove all of the bolts holding the seat in place, then push the seat all the way towards the steering wheel, and then push the seat up and tilt it backwards and it should rest on its back. Unconventional, yes but it will give enough room if you don't have help.

[Dan Koser]

Today, after letting those ferrous balls soak in the crud cutter, I was able to get them both out of the spinning nuts. Then I cleaned where they sit with carb cleaner, and cleaned up the balls. Then I made replacement parts for the ones I'm missing, using the ones I have as templates. I found an old spring I hope will work in the unit missing one, and tomorrow I'll clean the rest of the parts, reassemble and test. Hopefully what I've done will result in the forward and backward movement of the seat on its frame.  Thanks again for the help and information. That diagram showing the parts to the unit was key. Dan

Today I got one of the two solenoids back together, but am still missing the small spring for the other. I thought I'd found one in my stash, but its diameter was just a bit too large, so the plunger wouldn't move up and down properly. Hobby Lobby didn't have anything, so now I'm contemplating what to do next.

[55 cadi]

Try ace hardware, they have a large section of those kind of parts.

If not them then i have seen different size springs at Home Depot in there parts area

Lowes not so much, they are limited.

Jason

[Dan Koser]

Try ace hardware, they have a large section of those kind of parts.

If not them then i have seen different size springs at Home Depot in there parts area

Lowes not so much, they are limited.

Jason

Thanks for the tips Jason...I'll check it out. Dan

[Dan Koser]

Today I got one of the two solenoids back together, but am still missing the small spring for the other. I thought I'd found one in my stash, but its diameter was just a bit too large, so the plunger wouldn't move up and down properly. Hobby Lobby didn't have anything, so now I'm contemplating what to do next.

I finished the cleaning and repair of the solenoids on my '57 Series 62, and have posted the following videos to YouTube showing what I encountered and what I did to effect the repair. Dan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o176TclK8Io
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRVjk2eiXwc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKoSFF5fIFw&feature=em-upload_owner