Yesterday I replaced my non-functioning power antenna assembly with a Metra European style power antenna and it works great! It was a bit of a bear to mount but otherwise a piece of cake.

I am in no way shape or form an electric expert and the only other non-functioning electrical items on the car are the drivers seat heater, memory control, and driver and passenger mirrors. I believe these are all tied together.

I was fiddling with the control panel on the door the other day and everything began working for a few seconds (the seat and power mirrors adjusted automatically), then ceased working again. If I press the memory button I can hear a relay click under the dash. Also, the power mirror adjustment on the dash does not function in any position and I can't hear a relay clicking or any sort of response.

I can't find any blown fuses. What should I check next? Oh by the way, the drivers seat up/down back/forth and tilt functions all work perfectly if that helps.

 

I messed with it some more tonight. The seat memory/power mirror fuse is good as well as the drivers seat heater fuse. If I have the key in the 1 or 2 position and the drivers seat is approximately 50% forward, the memory will function and new settings can be saved. The power mirrors will move outwards (away from the car) but not back inwards. The power mirrors remain inoperable from the dash switch.

When the seat is more than 50% back, the seat memory is completely inoperable (and cannot be programmed in this "rearward" position) and the power mirrors remain inoperable. When pressing the "M" "1" or "2" buttons on the seat controller I hear a clicking from underneath the drivers seat but no further response.

Any ideas? At this point I think it may be a failure of some component under the seat. What could the "clicking" be that I hear? The motors all work flawlessly as I can easily manually adjust the seats to any position.

The seat memory is not the primary goal in fixing this problem. I just want my darn power mirrors to work!

I hope this helps you guys decipher what may be going on here.

Thanks!

 

Unfortunately it sounds like you have intermittent connection problems somewhere... If the memory is only working while the seat is in certain positions, I would suspect the wiring loom that goes to the seat from the control module on the floor just in front of it is damaged and you are either creating open circuits or short circuits when the seat is in different positions. Having had my seats out, I noticed at the time that the wiring loom is kind of a stupid design and is just ripe for cracking the more the seat is moved around.

Unfortunately, your mirrors and the drivers seat all operate through the control unit, ie there's no "manual mode" where the switches are connected directly to the mirror or seat motors, so the control unit needs to be happy before it'll allow you to move the mirrors.

I would first move the drivers seat all the way back and have a look at the wiring loom (it's visible at the front of the seat base when the seat is powered all the way back) If there's no obvious visible damage to the loom, I'd probably start probing the control units inputs and outputs as these are all documented in the electrical wiring diagram for the car.

Your seat heaters are probably the pads have failed. The best you can do is check you have power going to them in the wiring loom. This rules out fuses and the timer circuit. Worst case you have power but no heat..... then it's seat out and seat apart time to have a look at the pads. Are you getting no heat at all from either the base or the back ? (There are 2 pads) If you have none, it would tend to make me think it's an incoming power issue as oppose to a pad issue, but of course XJSes are special and it's entirely possible both pads fail at the same time :-)

Just a crazy thought but as you have issues with seat heat and mirrors/memory, both of which use control modules which are on the floor infront of the seats...... I would remove the covers and have a quick look to check for any water damage....... perhaps the car has been wet at some point and the electronics got a bath too......

 

On my 1992 xjs there are actually two fuses, one for the seat power and one for the memory. My seats and mirrors wouldn't move at all until I found the memory fuse had blown.
The control box under the seat is little more than some diodes and relays. You should be able to take the cover off, reconnect it and manualy press each relay to determine what it does and if it's working, But check for the extra fuse first.

 

Interesting.

The wiring diagram shows 4 power sources going to the drivers seat control. One permanent live (fused 15A, slot 1 left hand fuse box) and 3 other ignition lives coming directly off the power line with no fuses......

There is a separate system for the passenger seat (which doesn't have any memory). Again, it has the same single permanent live fused plus 3 direct ignition supplies.

Of course it wouldn't be the first time the diagram was wrong.....

 

I have checked both fuses and just finished checking the wiring loom at the front of the seat. Everything seems intact and in great condition. I guess my next step is to remove the drivers seat and see if I can find something out of place or broken underneath.

 

I know this doesn't help you ...........but I have a similar problem on my '95. My mirrors will only pan down, no matter what the control on the dash is moved to, plus the memory function does not work either. I haven't had time to troubleshoot it yet, as i've been working on the interior. I'll try putting the seat midway forward, and see if the memory works then (as yours does)
I was thinking that it may be the memory seat module, but as yet, i haven't been able to find one cheap enough, to just replace it, and then either fix the problem, or rule it out.
Anyway, seems like it must be a fairly common problem, so someone must have experience with it.
I noticed there is a recall for the 94 and previous facelifts, as in those they had capacitors in the mirrors, which caused the logic to fail. Since then, they deleted the capacitors, and the mirrors panning down when reverse was selected, but that seems to be exactly what mine is doing, except mine has a vin later than the recall ?????
let me know if you find anything, as it will be a while before I get a chance to start troubleshooting myself.............
Best of luck with it, I think it is more common than just you and me.....

 

Sounds good. The seat is pretty easy to remove..... basically 4 bolts in the seat rails, then 2 (or 3?) wiring connectors and you're done.

 

My memory system doesn't work either, regardless of seat position :-(, but at least everything works manually. As I am the only person that drives the car it's not such a big deal, but it does niggle me sometimes

 

I would gladly settle for not having the memory function work,.... but in mine and Scrible's case, ours has failed such that the electric mirrors cannot be adjusted, even using the joystick on the dash. i wonder if it is possible to build a harness, and connect the joystick directly to the mirrors, and bypass the seat memory control ?
if i could find a seat logic for less than $250, I'd buy one just to rule it out. Anyone know if there's anyway to get it checked out, other than replacing it

 

If you take the lid off the seat control as above you should be able to press the relays maually, provided the box is still similar to the 1992 xjs.

May also be the contact in the joystick itself.

Or the memory fuse!

 

Looking at the circuit diagram it "could" be possible to hardwire it... but it would take a bit of fiddling (and possibly some blown fuses and some smoke), but essentially the mirror switch puts 12V on an input of the control unit and you get 12V on an output to the mirror motors. There are relays in between I guess.

The confusing part is that there are only 4 potential outputs, yet 8 actual possibilities (counting up, down, left, right for both drivers and passenger mirrors)

The absolutely amazing part is that there is a "Diagnostic Socket" for the control unit as well...... I wonder if anyone on the planet knows how that works.... :-)

 

Well I fixed my mirrors today
Unfortunately it was, as I suspected the seat memory module. I finally found one that someone wasn't wanting silly money for, plugged it in, and behold working electric mirrors. Don't know if that is your problem, Scrible, but it fixed mine. Unfortunately most people with the modules want north of $300, so it's a bit expensive just to buy one to try.
I wonder is there anybody who tests or repairs these things ?

 

For the seat, you might try unplugging the connector you can see from the front of the seat, cleaning the contacts, and re-plugging. Then, disconnect you negative battery cable (make sure you have a radio code before you do this). Remove the lid to the compartment that houses your memory seat controller (in front of the seat in the floor, 2 screws under the main carpet, panel is width of floor board by about 8"). Unplugged all 3 connectors, clean the contacts, and re-plug. This might solve a connection problem and consumes very little time to do.

 

Yea, but sometimes when you let the "magic smoke" out, things don't work anymore LOL :-)

 

Well I had my connectors unplugged several times, and they were clean. The problem seems to be that the mirrors will operated, but only in one direction, which kind of rules out the connectors. The box is located poorly in my opinion, as any kind of water leak (mines a convertible) ends up with a pool of water, right where the box sits. Anyway although may not always be the case, in my situation, the logic was somehow fried. I plan on taking the box apart, to see if there's anything obvious, like relays, that have gone bad.
Unfortunately due to my experience I don't see any other way, than trying a known working box........

 

HI Have had similar problems and found that most circuits use two relays.
One engages in one direction and another in the other.
I found I had three relays that did not work. They were sealed units and I checked by removing the module and applying 12V power directly to the relays.
ONce I identified 3 faulty ones, I found the relays are a common item and an internet site that has them for $4 ea.
Ordered a set and replaced the 3 and all circuits worked for $12.