# Pontiac Bonneville, 1965 Power Seats **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** pontiac, bonneville\ **Created:** [May 3, 2025, 12:27am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100 "2025-05-03T00:27:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![yadmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c4cdca/32.png) [@yadmas](https://community.cartalk.com/u/yadmas)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 12:27am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100/1 "2025-05-03T00:27:38Z")
So this is my power seats. they are 8 way. the middle stick goes front/back and up/down. Every way works except front back and its in the farthest back setting which is cool, but my wife is sick of duct taping phone books to the bottoms of her feet when she drives. When you press it forward or back the red circled pin spins (as it does with every direction) but track doesn’t move. Any ideas on cause and/or fix? seems like everything works but i just don’t know where to start! thank you in advance. i have it rigged to battery to mess with it. ![IMG_0793](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/d/a/dac524df5052b0ca036ed653eb464101fdeca5b5.jpeg) ![IMG_0791](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/a/9/a938b7ffb2f3ecb28a24e08d26ae016696262c9d.jpeg) ![IMG_0790](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/3/f/3f2f0f1ce5cbfbadb8c0c516642dc4bebfcc089b.jpeg) ![IMG_0789](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/f/4/f42c66c995bfffa463e018f3979d6f6537d39fdd.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 1:07am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100/2 "2025-05-03T01:07:42Z")
The transmission is broken for the fore-aft track. … the lumpy thing at the top of the picture circled. Stripped gear or shaft. Take it apart and look inside. ---
**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 1:14am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100/3 "2025-05-03T01:14:06Z")
[https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/early-60’s-gm-power-seat-repair.1189959/](https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/early-60%E2%80%99s-gm-power-seat-repair.1189959/) Tester ---
**Author:** ![yadmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c4cdca/32.png) [@yadmas](https://community.cartalk.com/u/yadmas)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 1:31am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100/4 "2025-05-03T01:31:11Z")
wow. that is about as good of help as someone could have given me. thank you! it seems the guy wasn’t able to successfully get one to work. but the difference between his and mine is my bar spins, (whereas his didn’t, on all of them) but just doesn’t move… which gives me hope that a good break down and clean will work! ---
**Author:** ![yadmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c4cdca/32.png) [@yadmas](https://community.cartalk.com/u/yadmas)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 2:11am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100/5 "2025-05-03T02:11:35Z")
thank you! ---
**Author:** ![yadmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c4cdca/32.png) [@yadmas](https://community.cartalk.com/u/yadmas)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 2:16am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100/6 "2025-05-03T02:16:45Z")
![IMG_0795](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/8/b/8b194ea6e6746dac397e4bb24c79491c6f10c4f5.jpeg) this piece right here? do you know what it looks like inside? is it basically 4 sets of teeth that get alternated? ---
**Author:** ![Nevada\_545](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/nevada_545/32/41232_2.png) [@Nevada\_545](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Nevada_545)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 4:20am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100/7 "2025-05-03T04:20:48Z")
Disconnect the black drive cables from the seat adjuster, they are similar to speedometer cables. See if they rotate while operating the switch, check if the inserts are broken. ---
**Author:** ![davesmopar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/davesmopar/32/41750_2.png) [@davesmopar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/davesmopar)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 4:49am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100/8 "2025-05-03T04:49:03Z")
> [@yadmas](#): > > but my wife is sick of duct taping phone books to the bottoms of her feet when she drives. I hope that was a joke, as that could slow the movement of her feet just enough to cause a wreck, or the book get caught on the edge of the pedal… If not a joke, well my son, daughter and wife are all short, and if needed, have used pillows behind them to move them forward enough to work the pedals, I have also used small block(s) of wood and strap them somehow to the pedals to help a customer reach them better… I’m sure Amazon probably has all kinds of pedal extenders now a days… lol ---
**Author:** ![yadmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c4cdca/32.png) [@yadmas](https://community.cartalk.com/u/yadmas)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 4:51am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100/9 "2025-05-03T04:51:29Z")
yes. it was a joke. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![yadmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c4cdca/32.png) [@yadmas](https://community.cartalk.com/u/yadmas)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 4:52am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100/10 "2025-05-03T04:52:41Z")
thank you. whats an insert? ---
**Author:** ![Nevada\_545](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/nevada_545/32/41232_2.png) [@Nevada\_545](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Nevada_545)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 5:03am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100/11 "2025-05-03T05:03:10Z")
There are a flex-cables inside the black/blue/yellow cables to drive the gears inside the seat base. If the cable rotates freely, the problem might be that the gears in the seat base are seized. ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/5/d/5d9a121c4a8cb851c394072576dcd5f71e9dc795.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![yadmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c4cdca/32.png) [@yadmas](https://community.cartalk.com/u/yadmas)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2025, 9:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100/12 "2025-05-04T21:12:42Z")
Uploading: IMG\_0825.jpeg everything seems good. it’s the top piece that controls the middle switches. i don’t see the problem. but when u press the switch the speedometer cable. its black. didn’t move. ![IMG_0825](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/b/c/bc772d650f2d05e34e45f4d81323ea0a2308d00f.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![yadmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c4cdca/32.png) [@yadmas](https://community.cartalk.com/u/yadmas)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2025, 10:18pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100/13 "2025-05-04T22:18:50Z")
the gears look fine but the black cables dont turn. ---
**Author:** ![yadmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c4cdca/32.png) [@yadmas](https://community.cartalk.com/u/yadmas)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2025, 10:25pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100/14 "2025-05-04T22:25:58Z")
i may have gone a bridge too far. i messed with it now only 1 way works. im guessing the gears have to lined up certain way once you open them and are trying to put back. everything seems fine. no gears seem chipped. … and advice is welcome. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 12:34am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100/15 "2025-05-05T00:34:19Z")
My guess would be bad/broken cable. Gotta be a vendor in hemmings that can check, repair, them. Now our 86 Buick bought new always had a problem with the passenger reclining seat back. Sometimes it would catch and sometimes not so cable problems are not new. Never fixed it though. ---
**Author:** ![yadmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c4cdca/32.png) [@yadmas](https://community.cartalk.com/u/yadmas)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 4:00am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100/16 "2025-05-05T04:00:02Z")
update. so i got all cables to spin. and whole thing is taken apart. theoretically it will work when i put it back together but it’s weird that i have to click 2, 3 sometimes 4 times to get a direction to work. it may be because im using flimsy little alligator clips from my battery. and maybe battery is almost dead. i’m not sure. when you’re driving along when you press it, it works. you don’t have to do it multiple times. i’m also concerned that if bars are exactly equadistant when i put bacj together, over time they will slowly seperate and itll be cockypuss. also the two screws that hold the gearbox to frame are stripped to the point they won’t tighten all the way. .. ---
**Author:** ![yadmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c4cdca/32.png) [@yadmas](https://community.cartalk.com/u/yadmas)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 4:03am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100/17 "2025-05-05T04:03:23Z")
it’s not. i think maybe it got put all the way back and then just sat for like a decade. and it froze to frame? i say that because separated, now, all the cables turn. and i can force tracks to move after lubing, with drill. not sure though once i put back together. nothing seems broken or stripped though. ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 1:09pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100/18 "2025-05-05T13:09:22Z")
Reassemble the power seats, get the seat in position to drive, then go out and charge the battery. Now test seat function. ---
**Author:** ![yadmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c4cdca/32.png) [@yadmas](https://community.cartalk.com/u/yadmas)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 2:59am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100/19 "2025-05-06T02:59:41Z")
alllll fixed. i got front and back and side to side. lol and up and down. 8 ways! thank u for everything!!! ---
**Author:** ![yadmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c4cdca/32.png) [@yadmas](https://community.cartalk.com/u/yadmas)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 5:53am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100/20 "2025-05-06T05:53:56Z")
Also another cool thing is that the way the bolts are set up, i’m able to shift the entire seat back like two inches. which for a .6ft3 guy that’s awesome. [Next page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/pontiac-bonneville-1965-power-seats/200100.md?page=2)