I rarely adjust the driver seat on my 2012 Pruis to change distance from the pedals, but recently I tried to adjust it forward, and it moved for just a moment and stopped. It seemed to have no problem going backwards, however. Any thoughts? Physical obstruction? Needs lube/grease? Tortion cable of some kind broken? Motor going bad? I've rarely used it. Is this gonna be difficult or expensive to fix? Thanks, all thoughts appreciated in advance.
Just point the car due east or west, then keep adjusting the seat backwards for about 19,813 miles (should be about right if you're in Springfield, latitude 37.2°).
My thought is that the guesses of people hundreds (or thousands) of miles aay are worth about as much as a politician's promise. You need to look for mechanical or electrical malfunctions with your eyes, hands, and a multimeter. Might be a bad switch, a broken wire, a stripped gear, a failed spline, etc. It's a pretty basic device but can fail in several ways.
I'm guessing the seat is now so far from the pedals that you do not feel safe driving the car. Probably you cannot push the seat forward without touching the controls, but can you move the seat if you get out of the car and push the seat forward while simultaneously pushing the control in the same direction? Does the control motor make any sound when pushing the control in either direction? With the car in IG-ON mode (2 presses on the Power button, without your foot on the brake), do the dash lights dim when operating the power seat controls?
I tested more this morning and turns out I was wrong. Moves for a second or two then stops, and is same behavior forward AND back. So it's not a one-way-only issue.
Bet the brushes are dirty. Since you don't move it, except during a blue moon, the contacts corrode on the commutator. You'll have to pull the motor out and clean the commutator. Since they are not worn, spraying some contact cleaner on the commutator and spinning the motor will clean it up.
