Drivers Seat Motor and Movement Issues

[kk57]

It all started with the seat not being able to go up or down. the motor works, but the gears sound like they are stripping. Now the seat goes up and down, but leans to one side. the controls are all functional. the seat raises, but only on one side and then somewhat on the other. I believe it raises on the other only because it leans into the center console and gets assistance. I am thinking there is gear failure or the frame is broken causing the gears to not mesh properly. don't want to furhter mess the motors up, so i have fully lowered the mechanism to the floor and am entertaining buying a used seat frame off of ebay. Dealer says only repair for seats is to replace at $1,600. not feasible. Can i replace the lower frame with a used frame from a salvage job? is this most likely a broken frame that is reparable with a weld job? I'm looking for preemptive answers before i make my car inoperable for a day or so.
07, M35, black interior with Bose, heat and cooled seats.

[ezb57e]

We fix a lot of Murano frames that are cracked, and a few Altimas too. Haven't seen the Rogues do it yet. We remove the seat and motor gear and have it welded.
Make sure there is someone local ready and willing to do it.
Saves the customer tons of $. The frame assys are ridiculous.

[kk57]

thanks ezb57e. i have a stick welder in the garage and am decent with it. i don't like the prospect of welding the frame around the plastic and upholstery though. getting the seat out is going to be hard enough because it is as low as it goes and as far back as it can travel. it seems almost impossible to remove the rear bolts under this condition.

[ezb57e]

Yeah, its a pain but you can pull off the trim and get them with a wrench.
You have to get it out to see what's going on.
The drive cables off the motors can have problems too.

[pedsemdoc]

A member here posted a real nice DIY with pics too:

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

Good luck,

Craig