maybe one of the pro's on this site can help. guy down my road inherited his grandfather's 81' toronado nice car, but, he also inherited a pair of non-functioning power seats. i don't have any assembly manual or references to help me, or him.
the seat motor can be heard by using the toggle on the armrest, without any travel whatsoever. no horizontal or vertical. NONE. isn't there a way to manually move at least horizontal travel ? his grandpa was about 5'8" and his grandon is closer to 6'0" i don't see any gear drive corkscrew that using a screw driver could possibly give him more room. maybe somebody has a few suggestions?

dal442

 

Do you hear a click when you move the toggle? If not sounds like one or more of the solenoids in the seat transmission isn't actuating.

 

If you hear the motor running but the seat does not move then most likely the little coupler from the motor to the transmission is broken. Very common problem. One of this weekends projects is to replace the one on the passenger seat in my Wife's Riviera Its not a hard job but can be time consuming. I did the drivers seat a couple of years ago.

Depending on where the seat stopped when it broke it can be close to impossible to get to the bolts that hold the seat in place. You have to pull the seat to replace the coupler.

There are plenty of You Tube videos on the subject. Just search for GM Power Seat Coupler replacement.

Here is the part you will need:
https://gbodyparts.com/product_info.php?products_id=546

 

^^^This exactly. And no, unfortunately there is no good way to move the tracks if the coupler is broken.

 

thank you all for the experienced well explained trouble shooting comments. I could only guess that since the motor runs and it can be distinctly heard, that something else is the culprit that will not let the seat move. I will get into it with a better sense that all is not lost, problem can be solved.
thanks again

dal442

 

now this a job you wish on your worst enemy---- what an extravaganza to say the least.

first, i am assuming the 80 thru 85 Toronado seats are pretty much the same design, which in itself is a headache just to remove from the car. the biggest difficulty in the removal is getting to the two back nuts from under the seat track assembly which are totally hidden from sight on the rear floor bracket. that alone took me more than an hour.
once the seat was removed taking the transmission case out was fairly simple because after 42 years the transmission case just crumbled into pieces---15 to 20 in all. what a piece of junk.

a new transmission case was used and a new coupler also. did discover that the seat position can be adjusted outside of the vehicle using a cordless drill. simply use the drill on the end of the cable actuators and position it where you desire.
very simple.

the disappointment of the whole project is that after all the tedious labor of installing new parts, reinstalling the seat, it still does not work. came to the conclusion that mechanical seats are the way to go. Most likely will just remove the seat, adjust it manually and forrgetaboutit. the owner is the only person who will be behind the wheel.

 

I think you described the procedure ordeal just about perfectly I did find one video that shows them unbolting the seat from the entire base assembly. Then they could get to the bolts that hold the base to the floor a lot easier. I have been putting off doing the coupler on my Wifes car for a couple of months but it is the passenger side so not a big hurry.

 

Just finished the passenger side. What an ordeal. Its funny because the first step in the factory service manual is to "move the seat all the way forward" LOL. If the seat is all the way forward its porbably a 25 minute job to get the seat out. Turns into a couple of hours with lots of bad words when the seat is all the way back

 

I've had to do this a couple of times now on two of the 1985 Deltas. Suffice to say that an assortment of box and open end wrenches helps.