06 M35x Broken driver seat - help?

[lovemycarM35]

For the forward/rearward movement there is no part available separately. The reason being the damaged gear is on the rail itself. There is a kit available for one repair...I'll check when I get back into work. I cannot find a part number or description online.

Thanks steve If that's the case I'll just get that rail replaced is that a big job?

[wingFeather]

For the forward/rearward movement there is no part available separately. The reason being the damaged gear is on the rail itself. There is a kit available for one repair...I'll check when I get back into work. I cannot find a part number or description online.

Any luck finding a part number or link for this kit? Much appreciated

[seldomseen]

The driver's seat problems affects may other Infinitis and Nissans too. It's a problem on the F50 (Q45) and some of the new M56 owners have reported seat movement/creaking problems as well. Nissan Motors is plagued with tons of carry over problems for some reason. Which is most likely due to cost trimming.

[MaxBolus]

Any luck finding a part number or link for this kit? Much appreciated

If you're talking about the fwd/back seat gear, I replaced mine a few months back. Got a replacement from odometergears.com.

Thread is here: stripped-seat-gear-t542745.html#p6196505

good luck!

[BryanJ]

MaxBolus you are my new hero!! If this fixes my sliding seat issue I will officially be the happiest man on the planet. Thought I was going to have to eventually spend $1,000 to get this sh*t fixed.

[lovemycarM35]

MaxBolus you are my new hero!! If this fixes my sliding seat issue I will officially be the happiest man on the planet. Thought I was going to have to eventually spend $1,000 to get this sh*t fixed.

Ok should I be buying the gear with the magnetic collar? and does anyone no what side usually fails because theres two gears

thanks

[MaxBolus]

Unfortunately, I think you'll have to get under the seat and look at the gears to determine 1) which one is shot, and 2) what type of gear you need.
As I recall, there are 2-3 different types used on the various seats, and you can't be sure of which type based solely on the vehicle model.

Also, they do not sell the magnetic collar- if you have one (which is indicated if you have seat position memory), you have to re-use your existing collar.

That said- I think there are a couple of issues raised in this thread..the stripped gear issue does not cause the rocking effect that the broken seat bracket causes. And if your seat is sliding forward and backward on its own, I don't think stripped seat gears are the problem there, either (imo). What I had (in addition to the rocking seat) was a seat that would not move fwd/back, the left side would move only about an inch before it all bound up and stopped working.

good luck!

[wingFeather]

My seat slides forward when braking, and back when accelerating It doesn't rock, lean or bind.

[BryanJ]

...And if your seat is sliding forward and backward on its own, I don't think stripped seat gears are the problem there, either (imo). What I had (in addition to the rocking seat) was a seat that would not move fwd/back, the left side would move only about an inch before it all bound up and stopped working.

good luck!

Ok, that tempers my excitment somewhat . I do see now where SteveTheTech said the broken gear is on the railing itself. I will get down there and take a look nevertheless.

[Lagm35x]

There are two types of movement in the seats in the 06-07 Ms. The forward/rearward movement is caused by worn out gear teeth. The other and far more dangerous is a breakage in the rear support bar. The causes the seat to sit lower on one side and be able to be lifted up. The seat back will usually rest against the center console This breakage is no joke, and will cause an M to fail a safety inspection in almost any state. The rear motor of the seat is no longer connected to the seat and not adjustable, in the worse cases the left side of the seat frame will break through the leather itself. You can usually see the seat being off center, and sitting on it just doesn't feel right. It is a trip driving a car with a crooked seat.

If this were my problem and it didn't have an extended warranty ( ) I would remove the seat and weld it. However the sparks can destroy the seat care must be taken so this really isn't a diy type thing.

If the driver of this car...who is now sitting lower and to the side of where the seat should be rearends another driver the seat will try to fly forward the seat belts will try to force it backwards and the airbag (if they inflate) will stop any forward movement. The type of force here is enough to cause some serious damage.

To anyone else with an 08-10 or newer M this issue does not exist. This was really the last of the great seat issues of the last decade. The only time I have replaced any seat parts on newer cars is when they have flood or collision damage.

Be safe out there fellas.

Hi
I now have the problem with the seat leaning in towards the center console which would be caused by a failure of the rear support bar as describe above by Steve.

I had the motor on the right side of the driver's seat replaced before reading this thread... Of course it didn't work.
If someone could please post a diagrammatic illustration of where exactly the rear support bar is and what it looks like, i would be very grateful. I would like to know what exactly I'm looking for the next time the mechanic removes the seat.

Thank you

[charlesspencerjr]

Fellas check this site out http://www.arfc.org/complaints/2006/inf ... oblem.aspx
and make sure you file a complaint with the NHTSA. This is BS, we have paid all this money for our vehicles only to suffer 1100 dollars out of pocket due to a manufactures defect for a seat. Like all of you I went to the dealer and filed a complaint with Infiniti consumer affairs to no avail. If you had this problem call the hot line or file online so we can get a recall. Even if you have already had the seat fixed a recall will grant a refund for this problem. I have an 07 M35 thats also out of warranty. Check the info below to file a complaint...

Car problem(s) with the 2006-07 INFINITI M35. This database includes information received by NHTSA from consumers either directly or as recorded by the Vehicle Safety Hotline. This information may be used by NHTSA during the investigation process. You may file your own complaint by calling the NHTSA Monday-Friday 8am to 8pm at (888) 327-4236, TTY: (800) 424-9153. You can also file your complaint online.
http://www.arfc.org/complaints/2006/inf ... oblem.aspx

[anotheraznguy]

just wanted to bump this thread up and see if anyone has a part number or link to buy this?
also considering 08+ does not seem to have this issue. does anyone know if the 08 fits and we can be rid of this problem once and for all?

Thanks

[Pizzle_22]

Hey guys did anyone get any luck on this? My M35 is at 140,000 miles and my 100 pound girlfriend was driving my car because I got surgery and it snapped. I checked with the dealer today and there saying its $1,500 for the new assembly piece. Don't really want to do that since I have so many miles on the car.

Joe

[Stolzies]

Joe I got tired of trying to find a resolution/fix to this problem and just bit the bullet and bought a used seat on ebay. Total time to swap seats was about 20 minutes. There is nothing to guarantee that the "new" seat won't have the same issues in the future but I figured it was worth the chance.

[asavage]

To anyone else with an 08-10 or newer M this issue does not exist.

Funny, infinitipartsusa.com seems to have the same part number (87450-EH00A) for the seat base for all versions of M35/45 for 2006-2010

(Item 1) 2006 M35 Left Seat adjust assy

2006 models:
M35 base
M45 base

2010 models:
M35 base
M45 base

There seat rendering leaves out a lot of detail, so I'm assuming that we're talking about the same part (Item 1, Left Seat adjust assy.).

[clemson99]

Hey,

I had the same thing happen to my 06 M35X at 77,000 miles. I just got it in february at 69,000 miles. I did have the warrenty and it ran me $25 at the dealership. They ordered a whole seat assembly for the driver seat.

[hsingh2088]

Hey all,

I am not sure if we all have the same problem or not, but my drivers side assembly has essentially shared from itself. It looks like there is a bracket that connected the chassis of the car, to the driver's seat.

In any case, I was hoping someone had a photo of the drivers side assembly from various angles so I can see what work needs to be done. I plan on removing the entire driver's seat out of the car, and if possible, removing the seat from the bracket, and weld it into place with some reinforcements welded onto similar critical areas.

In addition, is there a step by step guide on youtube or on this forum that walks you through the different aspects of taking the seat out of the car?

Thanks,

[asavage]

Ditto on a request for pics.

Our '06 M35 has started to rock fore/aft very slightly on accel/braking. Not slide, rock. It's really very slight, but very noticeable, and I'm certain it's going to get worse. I seem to be unable to see anything amiss with my head down there and pushing forward on the seat back.

[avanti5010]

Fixed my 06 M45 like this (only works for one driver since it locks the seat in place).
Adjust your seat.
Get a sharp 3/16 drill bit and powerful drill and drill a hole through the seat rail channel into the rail itself.
Put a hex head sheet metal bolt in and rachet it in tightly!

[axefire]

OK folks - Kongz. posted a quick DIY to properly fix broken driver seat - You'll need a little mig welder but he's spot on!

fixing-broken-seat-bracket-m35-m45-t577768.html

[asavage]

Until last week, I thought that there were two ways that 2006-2010 M35/M45 seats would fail:

• Seat frame lift bracket would break or un-weld itself from the rear crossbar, dropping seat rear to the right or left several inches;
• Failed gear(s) in the track powered leadscrew would allow fore/aft motion of the whole seat

Turns out, there's at least one more: Seat track ball bearing spacer fails, allowing 3/8" up/down motion.
Clues:

• The whole seat back rocks (not slides) fore/aft when the vehicle stops & starts.
• You find loose ball bearings on the floor under the plastic cover(s) at the rear of the seat track(s).

Our '06 M35 Sport has rocked about 1/2" (measured up at the headrest) for a couple of years, and I wasn't sure what was going on, as the rocking symptom didn't match either of those other two issues. Ten days ago, I finally got around to pulling the seat, and found a third failure mode. I had thought that it was a freak thing, limited to just ours, but I bought a JY seat for parts and it had not only the broken lift bracket but the track ball bearing spacer failure as well.

Seat track ball bearing spacer failure

Doesn't sound all that bad, does it? Problem is, you can't fix it. Or, I should amend, I can't. Believe me, I spent many hours trying.

Nissan decided to use open, loose ball bearings running in greased grooves, open to the elements, to reduce friction in the tracks. Since by default the driver's seat travels a significant distance every time you enter/exit the vehicle, reducing track friction is a good idea. But putting greasy parts down where the dust, dirt, and dog hair get attracted to it? Not a good idea. This really needs a sealed bearing design. But, Hey! it made it out of warranty, right?

Seat track, as seen upon seat removal from the vehicle:
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It looks like you can remove two bolts to disassemble the lower fixed portion of the track (the part that bolts to the floor) from the upper portion that moves with the seat, doesn't it?
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But that's not the case. In order to separate the lower from the lower from the upper . . .
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. . . these eight tabs must be bent outward (four on each side of each track).

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In the pic below, the tabs have been bent out.
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Why would you even want to take the track upper off the lower? Because a poor design choice leads to a failure of two sheet metal ball bearing separators. Below, ball bearing separators that are in good condition are shown:
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Here's what a sample from a couple of seats I tore down look like:
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When I was disassembling ours, which had two bad spacers, I was able to disassemble the tracks without bending the tabs. I bought a junk seat from a JY 50 miles away, and it had bad spacers too, but I could repair enough of them to make one good set.

The problem began when I tried to reassemble. There isn't a way to assemble the top to the bottom, with the ball bearings installed.

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The upper track's grooves do not run full length, so the bearing sets can't be slid in from the end.
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With the tabs bent out (all of them!), the bearings can be installed on the upper track, and the lower track can be slid over the bearings.

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OK, now you've got the bearing spacer(s) replaced, the tracks cleaned of grit, grime & hair, but when you go to bend the tabs back inward, they snap off. Every time, without exception.

Without the tabs, eventually the bearing spacer will walk to one end, further than it's supposed to. It'll then bind up and break again.

I gave a lot of thought to various ways of putting things on the tab holes to replace their functionality, and there are a lot of variables to be considered. I was going to build some C-shaped retaining pieces with set screws, but one end of the lower track is oddly shaped and there's little room for an external part. Other problems included not being able to buy just the right C-channel or square tubing (that I could saw into channel) dimension off-the-shelf, and while I could fire up the milling machine and make the things from raw stock, I could see the man-hours count running out of sight.

I assembled the seat tracks and put the seat back in the car, plugged in the airbag but left the motor harness connectors disconnected, so we could drive the car for a week until . . .

. . . the new seat base arrived. More on that in another post.

[asavage]

Seat rear lift bracket stress crack or weld failure

Seat frame lift bracket breaks or un-welds itself from the rear crossbar, dropping seat rear to the right or left several inches. It seems more common for the right side to break, dropping the seat toward the console, but the example seat shown here broke the left side one.

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The only difference between the new seat base I just bought, and the one that had this broken lift bracket, was this extra weld on the outside bend of the ell. Infiniti didn't beef up the bracket or the cross tube:
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[asavage]

Seat base frame assy. replacement

If you've got a cracked/stripped/broken track gear, you can replace it/them.
If you've got a broken lift bracket, it can be welded.

However, if your track ball bearings spacer is crumpled, as far as I can see you can only replace the entire seat base frame. The track parts are not sold separately, nor have I found a viable way to reassemble a track once disassembled. If you're willing to use used parts, it's possible that, perhaps, the seat tracks from a passenger side seat might be swapped in. I chose to cut my (time) losses & buy a new base frame. I elected to purchase it from Infiniti Parts USA.com, part number 87450EH00A-1431823-88648 for $679 + $40 shipping. It went from Phoenix to my doorstep in rural east Seattle in three days.

It's a big box, but mostly air inside.
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The base frame assy. comes with the four electric motors and their drives all assembled, but with NO wiring and NO electronic modules or switchgear.
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The tag attached implies it was mfgr'd in Mar2014.
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I was purchasing it because I couldn't repair the tracks, but it provided a good opportunity to check out what Infiniti has done about the all-too-common lift bracket breakage issue. The answer: nothing, except one additional 1" of weld filler on the "backside" of the bracket. So, each bracket is now welded to the cross tube in three places, rather than two.
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What follows is a tedious bunch of pictures I took as a way to figure out how to reassemble the seat while transmission everything over from old to new seat frame assy. Wire routing, covers placement, seat material folding, and especially harness clips . . . there are a hundred and more details to assembling this complex seat, and I needed to refer to several of these pics to get this job done. But unless you're actually doing this job, these pics are just slowing down your day. Feel free to skip.

One of my favorite tools is this o-ring pick This is a Craftsman, but honestly I prefer the orange-handle set I got from Harbor Freight years ago, it's held up better than the Sears one. A right-angle-pokey tool like this is invaluable.
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Removing the seat from the vehicle: this is easier if the seat will still move fore & aft under its own power. Each of the four bolts holding it to the floor are under removable plastic covers that more or less just pull off. Use the o-ring tool to work the integrated plastic hooks loose, but on these you can probably just manhandle them and yank.
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Use either a box-end wrench or (if the the seat can be slid fore/aft under its own power) you can use a socket & extension. 14mm bolt heads.

Remove the headrest! Do it now! It'll be in the way later, believe me.

Tilt the seat back to expose the three wiring harness clips:
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These are three harness tie wraps that must be released without damage. These three are the ones that it's easier to take the harness out of the clip than to disconnect the clip from whatever it's clipped to.
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Use the o-ring tool or similar to lift up the plastic ratchet pawl, and the wrap will almost fall open for you.
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Before you try to move the seat, be aware of this 2" pointy rod that's part of the right lower track. It locks the seat track to the floor in addition to the four bolts, and you do not want this to poke a hole in the back seat while you are removing it.
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I have a small helper, so we opened both left doors, he picked up the front of the seat, I the rear, and we maneuvered it out of the vehicle through the rear left door. Easy, if you have a short helper. This is not a light seat, and there is some potential to have the sharp edges of the seat tracks or the pointy rod to damage your console or interior, so try to find a helper, or pad everything with a moving pad and wrap the sharp bits of the seat with duct tape to blunt the sharp edges.


Kitchen table time. Saved my back big-time. And the lighting's good in the kitchen. And it's close to the snacks
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Removing this panel, there's two upper screws . . .
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. . . but the bottom edge has two of these clips . . .
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Here's what you're fighting:
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Using the o-ring pick, the "wings" can be pressed back toward the hole, and the clip released without damaging it. This is a technique you'll use a LOT on this project.

Our seat is from a 2006 M35 Sport with Bose speakers in the seats and the heated/cooled seats options, so there's a bit more wiring up the seatback and a duct for the air that runs up the rear of the seat.
The seat bottom cushion has some material with velcro fastening that wraps the heated seat duct up to the seat back:
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The right hinge cover presents no problems removing:
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But there's a screw hidden for the left one, behind the velcro (if you have heated/cooled seats):
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Moving to the front, the front valence has two heavy-duty white plastic clips whose "wings" can be manipulated with the o-ring tool. Once released, the panel comes off without fuss. It sort of plugs in to the left side panel.
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The left side panel has the manual switchgear for the power seat. The switch "knobs" pop on, but require a bit of force to pop off the switch stems. I used the o-ring tool to lever/pry the "knobs" off the stems, which left no damage. In the past, I've pried using a small screwdriver. The o-ring tool worked better.

Once the switch "knobs" are off, there's another heavy-duty white plastic retainer -- use the o-ring tool and a flashlight to release, and then lift the hinge end of the side panel to swing it up and lay it down.
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The side panel snaps over the switches with four fairly heavy plastic integrated clips, and there's no good way to release them, so you must just pull harder to the left to have them give up and release.
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Here's how the hinge covers interface with the seat: grooves in the half-pipe on the seat, engage the tabs on the hinge covers:
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Before the left side panel can be taken away, this harness clip must be released from the frame:
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Working at the front left of the seat, release the airbag harness clips. There's one at the rear that clips into a blind hole and cannot be released. Just rip it out, nothing for it.
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This is NOT the unreleasable clip, you can get to this one at the front. See about three pics up for the bad one.
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Remove the seat bottom cushion by detaching the white plastic tube hooks that hold it to the base rods on both sides & the front. The o-ring tool works really well for this, too. I didn't capture a good pic of these, but this is the type:
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Now the seat bottom cushion can be pulled out, leaving the metal cushion base. Remove the four nuts (12mm, I think):
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Now there's a bazillion harness clips to detach to get the internal harness disconnected from the motors, the motor controller and memory module, and the optical encoders (on some of the motors). Use the o-ring tool and work each one loose.
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This module can be unbolted now or later, it doesn't matter. All the heater/cooled seat stuff stays with the metal cushion base, so there's no need to remove any of that.
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The magazine pocket in the back is held on with two more of the heavy-duty white plastic retainers, but I couldn't release them, so just pull outward on the bottom, hard. The whole thing just slides off after that:
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Pull the side upholstery aside and get a 14mm box-end wrench on these bolts. I had to use a cheater on all of them to break them loose, they are seriously tight. Access on the left side forward bolt head is not ideal, but it can be done.
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With the four bolts that hold the seatback to the base frame/hinges removed, I'll skip ahead a bit to show you what you are removing: the seatback and the wire harness.
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You'll want a helper to pull the seatback up while you feed the wire harness up and, more importantly, disconnect the optical encoder and power wires to the seatback tilt motor on the right side. There is very little slack, so somebody has to hold the (heavy) seatback up about 3-4" while you use the o-ring tool to disconnect the two connectors. It's a bit fussy, you can't see much without a flashlight, and there's not a lot of slack in the harness. Again, you need a helper for this.
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Coming back to the metal seat cushion base, you can now see why it doesn't want to slide out the front easily: this metal "chimney" barely clears. You have to work it out (wiggle up & down) and the same for installing it on the new base frame.
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transmission the seat manual switches over to the new base frame:
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Move over miscellaneous plastic cover bits:
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The rest is mostly just reverse of disassembly, paying attention to getting every harness clip reattached, every connector plugged in. You'll need a helper to lower the seat back onto the hinges mounts, so you can reconnect the tilt motor power & encoder connectors, and some attention is needed when you slide the bottom cushion's rear flap under the seat back, to get the bit of material that velcros around the metal "chimney" so it fits well where it meets with the wire harness up the back, but it just requires patience.

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The original, old seat base frame, stripped of all transmission parts:
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[asavage]

I'd planned on fixing a few typos there, but I seem to have lost edit capability rather quickly after posting those. Sorry for the remaining typos.

Here's a couple more pics of a repaired rear seat lift bracket:

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[rdonline]

Excellent write up!!!

[biglo]

Is it still not possible to buy this bracket as an aftermarket part? Just broke the brackets on my seat the other day and would like to get it repaired.

[biglo]

Pathetic I know, but it works!

One top piece is longer than the other, this stops the seat from rocking left/right:

Can you help me out with the measures for this lol.

[biglo]

Pathetic I know, but it works!

One top piece is longer than the other, this stops the seat from rocking left/right:


I cut the 2 bottom pieces like a bridge so it doesn't block the air flow from the rear floor vent:




I'm pushing on the back of the seat lifting it up, otherwise you really can't see it:

Can you post the dimensions and what size wood you used lol. I need this to be honest.