The drivers 6 way power seat on my 2002 Trailblazer LT seems to have a lot of forward and back play in it all of a sudden. I have seen the cure with the shims for pickups and full size SUV's with the screw type mechanism, but the Trailblazer seats appear to be made differently, with teeth on the track. I assume a gear must make the seat go back and forth. The factory shop manual does not have any illustrations of the tracks. The passengers seat has no play in it. Anyone had this problem and know the cure?
Power Seat Track Play
- Thread starter ek02
- Start date
- Apr 7, 2012
- 103
I also have an '02 and the power seats work fine. But Safety First! Inspect the tracks make sure that the play you're noticing is not a loose or cracked or broken rail.
It looks like the shafts that drive the gears are OK. I will need to take the seat out to inspect the mechanism that drives the track. I am wondering if there is a gear that engages in the track teeth. There are probably no parts that can be replaced other than the entire track.
I pulled the drivers seat today and figured out how the track works. There is no way to get the track apart except to cut the large rivets that holds it all together. There is a threaded rod driven by an angle drive type transmission. The rod runs through a metal block attached to the track with 2 torx bit bolts on each side. The play is where the threaded rod runs through this solid block. The threads inside the block must be worn.I could not see the back side to see if there are any shims in the block like full size trucks use, but the rod and block are half the size of the ones in a full size truck. There are a couple of plastic plugs on the bottom of the track. i pulled the bolts and the plugs and squeezed some marine grease from a tube on to the threads to maybe stop any more wear. It's not worth cutting all those rivets and then finding out there may be no way to repair it. I took some photos, and will attempt to post them. The first is with the bolts removed and the track slid forward.
View attachment 61594
View attachment 61594
I pulled the seat again today to give it one more shot. I removed a roll pin from the angle drive and tried to remove the screw and block assembly, but it will not come out due to being retained by a vertical slot in the track which is keeping it from sliding forward. The track will not move forward or back enough to let the drive raise up enough to pull out. The upper track is shaped so that the tangs on the lower outer track will not let it move enough either way. I did not want to mess with that because there are ball bearings inside the track that the tangs keep in there. Inside the metal block that the screw drive goes through, looking through the screw holes, is what looks like crumbling nylon. That is what is causing the play. I looks like a whole new track assembly is the only fix. They are selling for $450.00 on the internet.
It makes me wonder if the part that the screw goes through is solid nylon, or steel surrounded by nylon. If it's solid nylon, that is the only thing keeping the seat from sliding forward in a crash, and it could crumble. I made some shims from a wooden paint stick and tapped them into the track from the front between the track and the angle drive. The play is gone, and if the seat is moved in either direction, they fall out. I am the only one driving this TB, but the seat will still move if necessary. I may spring for a new track after Christmas is over. This TB has been in the family since new, garage kept until I bought it, and it is in really nice shape. It is worth spending the money on.
Finally a solution to the loose seat track problem. The same company that makes the seat track kits for the full size Chevy trucks has a kit for the Trailblazer on E Bay. The kit is $14.00 plus postage. It comes with complete instructions on how to remove the screw drive, clean out the old crumbled nylon, and select fit nylon O-rings. By select fit, I mean the instructions say to sand the washers until they are a snug fit. The reason I could not get the screw drives out before is because the track has to be moved all the way to the rear to let the screw and block assemblies come out. Not in the instructions either. Putting them back in required installing the torx bit screws in the blocks loosely and then prying up on them to get the block to clear a rivet. Took me about 2 hours to do the job and the seat now works fine with no play.
The nylon washers are probably worth .25 cents. The instructions are worth the rest of the cost.
I find it difficult to copy and paste on this site too. Right click and it gives you the menu for like if you clicked a picture instead of a text entry box. I figure it is a web browser problem. I just right click like three times and it usually gives the correct menu to paste. Or you can paste with "Ctrl+V".ek02 said:
I assume this is the item.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GM-CHEVY-SMALL-SUV-ENVOY-TRAILBLAZER-Unwanted-Movement-Seat-Track-Repair-Kit-/291311313624?hash=item43d381e2d8&vxp=mtr
You can make the new bushings yourself to replace the self destructing OEM plastic. I used a piece of rubber hose, sliced into a strip, and punched a hole the diameter of the rod into it. Cut it into a a square to fit in the slot on the threaded block. Do it for both sides of the block. You may have to grind the rubber to match the thickness needed to fit tightly inside the outer steel block.
The new bushing will probably last forever
The new bushing will probably last forever