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Self Inflating Power Lumbar

hbrenner

hbrenner

SM 2003
Full Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2002
Messages
334
Location
Sanford, Florida
I asked the dealer and they said this was normal. It feels as though every 2 or 3 times I hope in the car I need to deflate (lessen) the lumbar, I prefer it down/off all the way. I am curious if any of you have thoughts on this problem as well.

Howard
 
This has been discussed before... I'm sure a moderator will hop in shortly with a link to one of the other threads.

I have the manual lumbar and have a similar problem. Seems to adjust on its own. It's been into the dealership and they've replaced it and it's better but it still moves on its own.

The power lumbar seems to be a known issue and I don't believe there's a fix for it. The manual lumbar seems to be more rare.

You may want to try to ask the dealership to disable the power lumbar controls.... set it totally off like you want it and have them disable it so that it won't move. They did that for me with the manual lumbar until they had a chance to replace it and I had some success with that.

David
 
My '99 GMC Sierra used to do that... I never got it looked at though, I never had time for anything back then. :rolleyes:
 
This had been discussed before....search for seat controls or something like that....

I am search deficient
 
Ok, here's an idea for an odd mod, how much pressure can the seat lumbar pump put out? Could you hook it up to an auxillary tank and get some pressure? Volume would be minimla, but you don't use the air tanks often enough, and volume can be made with a holding tank. Any ideas? :D :D
 
I think lumbar support and the side are actually mechanical controls.....but what do I know ;D
 
Edward K said:
My '99 GMC Sierra used to do that... I never got it looked at though, I never had time for anything back then. ? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Mine did to, and my '01. I thought it was just my bad memory forgetting I adjusted it. :rolleyes: Now I'm sure I didn't. (y)
 
geez....I'm not crazy after all....thought I was losing my mind.....glad someone else has the same problem ...could it have anything to do with a start-up system check?
 
I'm glad I came in to look into this it has been driving me crazy I thought I was nuts.

I don't undersdtand how this can happen if my Avalanche is supose to have memory seat settings?
 
To my understanding the seat memory function DOES NOT cotrol the the lumbar supports, so my owners manual says. I was going crazy wondering why both my lumbar and lateral supports seemed to be self adjusting from full release but finally figured I was bumping against the button when getting out of vehicle, or when leaning into cab to get something off the seat. Check out the 03's and I think GM put some kind of protrusion around the adjuster button to stop this from happening.
 
My first problem with my Av is this aggravating problem. It all started when I tried to increase the lumbar support. Now it inflates to max all the time and I have to keep deflating it. I had the opposite problem with my '90 T-Bird Super Coupe. Ford was never able to fix it, has anybody who has had the same problem with their Av had it successfully repaired?

Thanks,

Peej80
 
I thought I was crazy. I thought maybe I was hitting the controls while entering and/or exiting.

But looks like I'm not the only one with this problem.

Has anyone had theirs 'fixed' ?
 
Mystery.Shadow said:
I thought I was crazy. I thought maybe I was hitting the controls while entering and/or exiting.

But looks like I'm not the only one with this problem.

Has anyone had theirs 'fixed' ?
Click to expand...
MysteryShadow .... Perhaps send a PM to WhiteThunder. I recall him saying at a GTG that he had his repaired. Good luck :B:
 
I have not had any problem with the lumbar ...but i have another problem mabey some of you can relate to...I keep hitting the heated seat button every time i use the window button :( :(let me tell you it's not good when it's 90 degrees outside :7: :7:I apoligize that this is off topic ...just wanted to find out if anyone else has had a similar problem????
 
I have experienced lumbar changing on it's own as well. I assumed it was related to the memory feature not working exactly right, but someone said lumbar is not stored, is that correct?

I believe thought that mine changed once or twice on its own when I first put the key in.

FWIW, my 96 C1500 had power lumbar that was some sort of air inflator. I believe this one is mechanical. (Which I assumed was necessary to facilitate the memory function, but that may not be true.)
 
Are you sure that you are not leaning over the seat to remove something and accidently leaning on that button? I have done that before, leaned in to get something and heard a faint noise--it turned out to be that round lumbar button was being pushed by my stomach!

Butch
 
Z66 BUTCH said:
Are you sure that you are not leaning over the seat to remove something and accidently leaning on that button? I have done that before, leaned in to get something and heard a faint noise--it turned out to be that round lumbar button was being pushed by my stomach!
Click to expand...

At first I thought that too, because I have done that. When leaning in from outside to access the center console, I hit it all the time. I even attempted to place an object over the control to prevent me from hitting it. It still 'self inflates'.

My seat memories work fine, and you are correct, the lumbar support is NOT stored in memory.

Just funny seeing others are having this same problem.
 
Mine is still doing it, and seems even more so since I moved to FLA. I seriously doubt the climate has anything to do with it, since it is mechanical but certainly has increased in frequency. I will headed to a new dealer in early Jan to get some scheduled maint. done and some other issues this for sure will be on my list.

Howard
 
I used to have an '01 GMC Yukon that did the same thing. I always thought it was the way I got in and out of the truck. On my '03 AV they now seem to have a raised plastic guard around the lumbar control. I think they jnow there is some kind of problem, and fixed it without saying anything.
 
I have this same problem, i want to check a theory i have about this.

It seems to be doing this in the cold. I think the seat adds pressure in the cold for the memory function. If you add heat or the truck heats up, it seems the seat is now over inflated.

Maybe the heated seat is heating the air, increasing it's volume. But because you haven't hit the memory button again, it will not decrease volume to it's set level.

What does anyone else think?
 
So here is my experience. First of all this has nothing to do with memory settings or the way the padding is setup uround the air bladders. this is an electronic issue I have had my seats totally ripped apart. The final fix was to install a by pass switch that totally dissconect all current to the switch that contorls the Lumbar and Kidney bladders. Since the switch was installed I have had no more problems so it is the correct fix!

Best of luck! If i remember I'll take some pics.
 
Well 2 problems with the above, I initially thought about the cold / hot air problem as well, however this lumbar is mechanical not pneumatic. Meaning instead of air, it uses pltes, sticks and motors, probably with some kind of screw drive mechanism, like a craftmatic bed thing. And 2, I do not think the lumbar is tied to the memory seat, at least in the '02 it isn't.

Howard
 
DANG JSL, I do that all the time, you are right, not to good when hot out. Thought it was my big fat fingers trying to loose some fat. ha.
No lumbar support problems after 22,000 miles, change settings alot for lumbar and back when making long trips. :E: :E:
 
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