Memory Seat Position

[Eric]

Trying to figure out what position the seat should remember after you come back to the car when you unlock it.  I think the manual says that it should remember the last position that the seat was in when it was locked.  I use #1 and my wife uses #2.  Sometimes when I come back after I have used and locked it in the #1 position it is in my wife's #2 position.  Is this a warranty issue or user error?

Thanks

[jst4fun]

Hi Eric...

From my experience with my 04'XC70 (okay my wife's XC70), locking the remote with a given remote will remember the current mirror position, for the next time you use that remote to unlock the door. However, simply locking the car with the remote after *selecting* a Seat memory position will NOT remember that memory position for next time. You have to PROGRAM/memorize a seat position and then lock the car with the remote before the remote will be tied to that memory position.

Here is what the manual says...

Pg41: "If you lock the car and later unlock it with the same remote control and open the driver's door, the sideview mirrors will automatically move to the position they were in when you left the car" (translation of "left the car" = last locked the car with that remote)

then on page 57 it does make it sound like the remote and seat position behave the same way...

Pg57: "Adjust seat to your preferences. When you leave the car, lock it using the remote control. The next time you unlock the driver's door witht same remote control... the driver's seat will automatically move to the position in which you left it."

Which does NOT match with what the dealer told me, or what I have experienced. I think that the "Adjust seat to your preferences" line in the manual, should be replaced with... "adjust seat to your preferences, then follow the steps to asign that seat position to one of the memory positions"

Because as far as I can tell, the remote selects the memory#, but the remote does NOT remember specific seat positions.

IN FACT... I decided to go try it, JUST NOW and although my wife thinks I'm a bit crazy, (luckily) it worked the way I described it...

step1: press unlock on remote, open door, it was already in "my position" so no movement
step2: angle the seat way back beyond where I like it
step3: do NOT re-memorize position#2, do not press any memory button
step4: get out, close door, press remote lock.
step5: wait 30 seconds, press remote unlock, and open door
step6: the seat returned to it's normal position#2 (the seat back went to normal, where I like it)

for me, this proves that the remote-lock, does not remember seat position. if set correctly, it can however, remember the seat memory#.

hope that helps.

[SpudRacer]

Very well described jst4fun, I think I finally undersstand this time.  http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif


Tom

[jlf]

Ok guys, I'm totally screwed up......after snowblowing a foot of snow off my driveway, I got both key fobs (mine and my wife's), and experimented on our 2 week old '04 to try to simulate this.  Keep in mind, seat memory position #1 is my wife's, #2 position is mine (typical, huh.  Here's what happens:

1. I drove the car last night and locked it, back and forth a few times, but I left it unlocked last night in our garage.
2. I get in the car this morning.
3. I put seats/mirrors in memory position 1 (wife's), start the car, turn it off, get out and close the door, use my wife's key fob to lock doors.
4. I unlock the doors with my wife's key fob, nothing happens.
5. I open the drivers door, the mirrors and seats go back to MY position on it's own.
6. I put the seats back to memory position 1 (wife's), start the car, turn it off, get out and close door, use my wife's key fob to lock doors.
7. I unlock the doors with my wife's key fob, nothing happens.
8. I open the drivers door, nothing moves, and seats/mirror stay in memory position 1.  This now stays put as I repeat the sequence many times.

Then,

1. I put the seat/mirror memory position to #2 (mine), I start the car, I turn it off, I get out, I lock it with MY key fob.
2. I unlock with my key fob, nothing happens.
3. I open the driver's door, the seat/mirror goes back to memory position #1 (wife's) on it's own.
4. I put the seat/mirror back to position #2 (mine), start car, stop it, get out, lock the door with my key fob again.
5. I unlock with my key fob, open door...nothing moves...this works repeatedly.

Then,

1. I leave it locked with my key fob, I unlock it with my wife's key fob, nothing happens.
2. I open the door, nothing happens....so my wife would have to hit the seat memory button to get it to her position....using her key fob will not remember the position the last time that key fob was used.

So, my conclusion:

1. Upon the first time you lock the car with a different key fob, when you unlock and open door with that key fob it goes to the previous mirror and seat position for the previous driver who locked the door with the other key fob.
2. This system is totally worthless....as the different key fobs don't remember the seat/mirror positions they were in previously.

It just doesn't work, and in fact it's works in opposite to logic, which screws every one of us up!

I stand by my statement, that after 4 Volvo wagons, the engines are great, but the electrical engineers got internet degrees. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[Chipshot]

I guess it's a good thing my wife doesn't like driving "my" XC70.  I've never programmed the seat memory and have never given the fobs a second thought (except for their basic functions, which have worked fine).  Sorry to hear people are having problems.  It all sounds very confusing.

I once described my 2001 S80 T-6 as something along the lines of a "complex rolling multiplexed software nightmare."  From what I have seen and heard, Volvos are having far fewer problems than recent Mercedes.

[jst4fun]

jlf... the tone of your message is exactly how I felt when first playing with the settings on our 04 XC70. It didn't make sense, seemed backwards, etc.

Although you may have done this, I don't think you mentioned it... so, before you give up all hope and convince yourself that swedish engineers can't do good software http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif  I'd recommend trying the following...

1.  Lock the car by hand (press lock button before closing the door)
2. Unlock with remote#1
3. Have person#1 start the car, and adjust both mirrors and doors to preference.
4. BEFORE shutting car off, open the door and MEMORIZE person #1's preferences to button #1 on seat (hold down "memory" and press #'d button at same time for 3 seconds, I think)
5. Turn off car, get out of car, lock car with remote#1.

Now repeat the process 2-5 using the remote#2.

This SHOULD effectively set each remote to be assigned to the correct seat memory#, and each remote should now know the last mirror position.

I did the process above, and it has worked great for me ever since.  I just make sure to never let my wife lock the doors with her keys after I have been driving (she has a tendency to worry about the car being locked, so she was pressing lock on her remote, and I didn't know about it... you can imagine how that was confusing my seat memory experiments http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif )

When testing this out, I'd recommend NOT pushing the memory buttons.  just unlock with your remote, observe everything go to your position, then get out, close door (you don't have to lock it), then press unlock with her remote, and observe it go to her position.

FYI: Even if the car is unlocked, I always press unlock on my remote before I open the door, to ensure it will go to my position, and in case I make any changes to the mirrors, it will have gone through a whole cycle of unlock-change-lock, with the same remote.

hope that helps.  I honestly would have bet money that mine was broken until I followed the procedure above and realized that the remotes do not remember seat position unless you lock after memorizing.

[jlf]

jst4fun.....I take back my statement regarding the electrical engineers at Volvo.. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

I just printed out your instructions, followed them to the "T", and it worked  http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

Ok, the engineers knew what they were doing, they just can't explain it!  http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Really, thanks for the help, I tested back and forth a few times, looks like each remote has the proper memory.....JF

[jst4fun]

jlf... very glad to hear it worked.  

With everything else that I've been impressed with on this car, I just couldn't believe the volvo engineers had messed it up... so I didn't take the words in the manual at face value.  

Besides, I'm an engineer too, and I know a few things to be true...

1. the really good engineers aren't great at describing how things work.
2. because of #1, most manuals are written by non-engineer, technical-writer-type people, who try to understand how it works, and then try to simplify the wording.  Perhaps the correct operation got lost while simplifying.
3. regardless of #1 and #2, most manuals go through a translation process, again by non-engineers.  Perhaps the swedish section is correct, and it is just the english section that is wrong http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Anyway, suppose me being able to successfully describe it to you, doesn't say much for my engineering skills http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif but that's okay, I try to stay on the border of socially-capable and complete engi'nerd http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

take care.