Driver seat not reclining 2020 explorer

[Ryan599]

I have the 2020 Explorer limited. My driver seat will lean forward all the way, and lean back until it hits about the 90 degree point then it stops and wont go any further. Ford said it needs a new seat motor which is only sold with the track and would cost $1300 for parts and labor to replace. Its not a fuse problem. Wondering if I need to replace the switch that the seat controls are attached to? I dont buy that the motor is bad considering it moves fine between 90 degrees and fully forward. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Cdubya]

Have you had the Driver's Seat Module firmware updated? There was a module update issued 2-3 years ago for it.

 

[Blue Beast]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Ryan599]

Have you had the Driver's Seat Module firmware updated? There was a module update issued 2-3 years ago for it.

How would I go about doing that?

 

[Cdubya]

How would I go about doing that?

Are you the original owner or know if any modules were updated? Your dealer can do it but not saying it's necessarily a fix. I would also try removing the negative terminal of the battery for a few minutes. That will reboot all systems. I have done that quite a few times when the windows, liftgate, headlights, car voltage rails, etc were acting up.

And if you don't have it, get a code reader to see if there are any codes. This car is produces a ton of codes and problems almost always produce codes. By contrast, my wife's Audi Q5 has hardly any issues and very seldom produces any codes, despite having a lot more tech features.

 

[Dmac904]

Did you find a fix? Mine is doing the same.

 

[EDWYER]

Ford said it needs a new seat motor which is only sold with the track and would cost $1300 for parts and labor to replace. Its not a fuse problem. Wondering if I need to replace the switch that the seat controls are attached to? I

The switch means nothing without the motor.

 

[CoHPhasor]

This is weird because it sounds like a position-sensing/tracking error.
Something has to denote the seat is at its limits. (A switch, a position on its track, a rotary sensor, etc).
If the motor were broken, it wouldn't work. If there is a dead spot in the winding of the motor, you both wouldn't be stopping at the same position. The fact that you can repeatedly use the seat means the switch isn't bad.
Now, what mechanism is used to determine what position the seat is in? I have no idea.

 

[CoHPhasor]

I found this out in the wild.
https://www.explorerforum.com/forums/threads/driver-seat-wont-lay-back.496851/post-3924208

That person did some things and got temporary comfort. Apparently this has to do with the saved memory presets feature, and can also be tangled up in multi-keyfob-saved presets in the car at the same time.
Someone also cured theirs by getting the dealer to replace the BCM.

This problem is highly searchable on the internet, and everyone says the same thing, so it is definitely shitty code that causes bad code to fail.
Unfortunately, yet another example of companies not caring what people have to deal with.
(I see 10yr old Escapes having posts about this too. Whoever wrote the code for the BCMs needs to be quartered)