1970s 74 Eldorado Convertible front seat release problem

[danjarrett1]

On occasion, my front seats will not "unlatch" to allow egress into the back seats.....seems intermittent, does anyone have any experience with this situation or what is causing this?

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

There are a couple of things that cause this, and loose wiring and connectors is one.

There are two door switches on the front door opening.  One for the interior lights, and the other for the seat back release.

I found a very odd problem with mine, in as much as the power feed from the junction block actually came out of the plug, and was just sitting there.

If you follow the two blue arrows, you will see the back of the red plug and the wire with the short length of stripped wire.   For some unknown reason, the wiring connection wasn't properly tight, and separated.   Pity I couldn't go for a warranty recall.   Was operating when I purchased the car in 2007, but fell out around 2014.   Tried to find the fault, but couldn't.   Seriously delved deeper when I replaced the upholstery, and wasn't going to let it beat me.

The only way I found the problem was that I had another complete wiring loom that I had striped from a '71 Eldo, and was able to trace the wiring from the seat, to the separate Junction Block which was joined to the power at the Fusible Link at the Starter Motor.   This had constant 12 Volts.

Bruce.

PS.   The '71 had a Black Block, so that took a lot of finding as the '72 was Yellow, and nowhere near the Fuse Block.

[danjarrett1]

Thank you Bruce, I'll check out the wiring issue. Always wondered why there were two door plunger switches

[Roger Zimmermann]

Always wondered why there were two door plunger switches

You never had the idea to push manually one after the other to see what will happen?

[danjarrett1]

I did, they both are locked down

[SaltLife97]

Chiming in here because i've been through this: you might have to resort to having to undo the seating material (fairly easy to do) and exposing the metal seat frame in which the solenoid sits to pull the hook up to "unlock" the seat. I already had to replace my faulty one and some how found a NOS which was pricey. But then this stopped working a year later and all I had to do was spray electronic cleaner into the solenoid's coil area without having to tear it apart. What I'm saying is you might need to remove this solenoid and spray cleaner into it to clear up grime.

[TJ Hopland]

Door switches are locked down meaning stuck in?  Not popping out?   Sounds like you know what area to look first. 

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

These door switches being locked down, or in, means that there is a lot of friction holding the plungers from moving.   The springs are reasonably stiff.

Brfore you try to remove them, remove the inner cover and have a look at what could be holding them in.   They are screwed into place, and undoing them without checking could be nasty.

From recollection, I think you can undo the body/nut and hold the plunger from turning so the wiring doesn't turn, but with yours stuck, the wiring will turn.

I think one is a two wire connector, and the other one, a three wire connector.

One wire on each switch is direct to 12 Volts, so disconnect the Battery before proceeding.

Bruce.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Further, with the actual Solenoids, they have a double operation.   Firstly, they receive full 12 Volts to operate the solenoid, and once the solenoid is contracted, it is held in place, open that is by a secondary coil which takes a lesser amperage to hold it open whilst either door is open.

This saves the Solenoid having to be fully powered, and probably they are so expensive.

Bruce.

[danjarrett1]

All very good reccomendatioms. The plunger switch is not "locked down". The latches controlled by the solenoids are locked down. I'll confirm plunger door switch is functional, them might take a look at contact clean in the solenoids. Thanks guys