Electric seats

about 3mm or 4mm will be more than enough. Usually you just slide the seats all the way back and undo the fronts bolts then slide the seats all the way forward to access the bolts at the rear.

Sussed it... You have to unbolt the seats from the runners before you can unbolt the runners from the frame.

Odd setup!

Been talking to a mate tonight and he reckoned he had all kinds of problems adapting the 200 frame for electric seats. He said he had to cut a section out and reweld it back together because the seat was too high. He then also had to cut a section out of it because the electric motor was fouling the frame.

Sounds like hard work to me. I may go and see if I can find a set of 300 seat frames!

discopinky said:

Sussed it... You have to unbolt the seats from the runners before you can unbolt the runners from the frame.

Odd setup!

Been talking to a mate tonight and he reckoned he had all kinds of problems adapting the 200 frame for electric seats. He said he had to cut a section out and reweld it back together because the seat was too high. He then also had to cut a section out of it because the electric motor was fouling the frame.

Sounds like hard work to me. I may go and see if I can find a set of 300 seat frames!

Click to expand...

Dont forget the floor mounting bolts probably won't be any use if you do, and you'll need to drill new holes for the 300 frames. So make sure you use spreader plates underneath the disco to make sure the seats are safe in the event of an accident.

Stickybackbob said:

Redhand, if you check the Rave CD for Electrical troubleshooting on the Range Rover, there is a series of tests that can be done for fault finding. This shows the seat multiplug which may be the same as that for Disco seats.

Worth a look?

Click to expand...

Pikey, did you check this out yet?

Stickybackbob said:

Pikey, did you check this out yet?

Click to expand...

Not yet downloaded the rave CD yesterday cos my copy is in Hull. & I'm not. Not burnt it to a cd yet though.

redhand said:

Not yet downloaded the rave CD yesterday cos my copy is in Hull. & I'm not. Not burnt it to a cd yet though.

Click to expand...

You can download a program that allows you to open the ISO files without burning to disc. I think it's called 7zip. I'll see if I can find a link.

Just copied it tonight. All is not as simple as I first thought. for starters there's all sorts of relays and diodes and fusey type things involved. Also because the seat frames aren't for electric seats there's doesn't appear to be any up & down movement. The wiring harness for a non-electric seat model is completely different to a "with-electric seat" It's a reety bugger ta git me head round.

If anyone is thinking of fitting electric seats to a non electric seat disco my advice would be don't bother unless you know a cheap auto electrician.

My next move is to plan some sort of control box incorporating 2 relays and two on-off-on (Momentary on) switches for each seat or use window switches. and a HD feed direct off the battery.

Here's the link
7-Zip

In terms of the wiring, I soldered mine into the power supply for the rear windows in the centre console. As previously stated, I doubt it's correct but it all seems to work without getting hot or blowing fuses.

The classic seats (from an late 80's rangey) came with the switches (bonus!) and only had 3 wires to connect. 1 earth, 1 positive for back/forward and 1 positive for all the others. Looked at the diagram for the rangey seats and that's what prompted this thread.

Each disco seat has 9 pins on the connector block.

redhand said:

Each disco seat has 9 pins on the connector block.

Click to expand...

Does it look owt like the attached?

If so, it would seem that the pins work as follows:

1&2 - back/forward
3&4 - rear seat height, up/down
5&6 - recline up/down
7&8 - front seat height, up/down
9 - not used

So in answer to your original problem with your mates uncomfy seats

redhand said:

Anyone got the pinout diagram for the seat connector block. (I thought of applying a 12v supply to the pins just to get them into position.)

Click to expand...

Applying voltage across the relevant pins should move the seats. Reverse the polarity to reverse the movement.

I'll duck now as no doubt this will be the wrong thing to do and some God of automotive wiring will be bringing down his wrath on me

Stickybackbob said:

Does it look owt like the attached?

If so, it would seem that the pins work as follows:

1&2 - back/forward
3&4 - rear seat height, up/down
5&6 - recline up/down
7&8 - front seat height, up/down
9 - not used

So in answer to your original problem with your mates uncomfy seats



Applying voltage across the relevant pins should move the seats. Reverse the polarity to reverse the movement.

I'll duck now as no doubt this will be the wrong thing to do and some God of automotive wiring will be bringing down his wrath on me

Click to expand...

It does and I've read that you reverse the polarity as well. But the rave maual. Says that switching the igition or having the doors open with the key in the ignition "Grounds the seat motors" So i'm thinking there must be a way to permanently ground the seats and then apply a live to both pins. via a (momentry on- off - Momentry on) switch rather like a window switch because reversing the polarity everytime you want to move the seats is going to be a right pain.

redhand said:

It does and I've read that you reverse the polarity as well. But the rave maual. Says that switching the igition or having the doors open with the key in the ignition "Grounds the seat motors" So i'm thinking there must be a way to permanently ground the seats and then apply a live to both pins. via a (momentry on- off - Momentry on) switch rather like a window switch because reversing the polarity everytime you want to move the seats is going to be a right pain.

Click to expand...

The switches you need are called DPDT ('parently). You could get them here. Maplin > Rocker Switches

There's a bit about how to wire them up in this one. Basic Electricity Tutorial - Switches (look for the bit about Double Pole Double Throw switches)

So maybe you could get away with just sourcing a positive and an earth without relays?

first a disclaimer... I know nothing about electrics and am only passing on what somebody told me...

Apparently it is possible to wire up electric mirror switches off a disco to control the seats.

discopinky said:

first a disclaimer... I know nothing about electrics and am only passing on what somebody told me...

Apparently it is possible to wire up electric mirror switches off a disco to control the seats.

Click to expand...

Do you mean the windows switches.

discopinky said:

first a disclaimer... I know nothing about electrics and am only passing on what somebody told me...

Apparently it is possible to wire up electric mirror switches off a disco to control the seats.

Click to expand...

I can see the theory of using the mirror switches. You'd only need 1 switch per seat if wired up correctly which could be complicated but then again, so would 4 rocker switches. My other concern would be if the switches are man enough for the job. The seats normally run off a 30amp fuse whereas the mirrors only use a 10amp circuit. The windows run off 30amp so their switches should be fit for the current.

I think the guy who suggested it to me did actually use mirror switches without any problems... but I do see what you are saying...

discopinky said:

I think the guy who suggested it to me did actually use mirror switches without any problems... but I do see what you are saying...

Click to expand...

I'm no expert in electrics so if someone has done it, then it must be possible. Mirror switches would actually make a very neat unit. Probably neater than the bulky standard ones anyway. The added bonus is that you can stop accidental seat movement by just flicking the switch to the middle position. Any relays could be hidden under the seat as well.

All in all, probably worth investigating. What says you Pikey?

To make it possible I guess we really need a pin out diagram for an electric mirror switch.

Still bothered about how to make sure the amp draw on the switch does not exceed what it can cope with. This I think might be the complicated bit.

discopinky said:

To make it possible I guess we really need a pin out diagram for an electric mirror switch.

Still bothered about how to make sure the amp draw on the switch does not exceed what it can cope with. This I think might be the complicated bit.

Click to expand...

Its int the Rave book.

int tha wot relays are fur?

reet having done a bit of research the pinouts that were posted are right. I adjusted the seats using a pair of patch leads and a long wire direct off the battery. And yes you need some way of reversing the voltage. So I'm not sure how windows switches would work. Each seat will need 4 switches. Which is gonna look messy however you do it. All in all If you haven't already done the conversion, then I wouldn't bother. The amount of work just isn't worth the benefit.