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Rear seat back won't release to fold down (3 door).

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3.7K views 4 replies 2 participants last post by  SXI_1.2  
S
#1 ·
Tried to help someone to move some stuff recently and when I went to fold the rear seat back flat to make a larger boot space, I found I couldn't release it. It's the first time I have tried to do this since I got the car about a year ago so it's well past the take-back period.

It's a single seat back, not split, and it has a black metal overall cover across the rear of the seat back which looks as though it is held on by countersunk torx head screws.

I just want to check that it works the way I think it should: - I pull up the little loop handles at the top corners of the seats and two little orange plastic flags pop out next to them - as far as I can tell these are just meant to be indicators to show that the seat is released and can be moved, except it can't - the bolts at the side of the seat back aren't withdrawing from the holes they slide into so it is impossible to move the seat back away from its locked position even with the loops pulled up to the fullest extent.

Am I right to expect that if I pull the loops up and the orange flags pop up, the seat back should be free to move at that point?
 
Discussion starter · #2 · (Edited)
Answering my own question, I had another look at this and found that it was actually the passenger side latch only which was not releasing, with a 'clank' from that side whenever I had both handles pulled up to release the seat while trying to move it.

This being a 3 door there are no back doors to open to get better access to the sides of the seat so, with the latch refusing to release on the passenger side the only way I could release the seat back to get it to move was to remove the side access hatch on the passenger side of the boot and remove the two large silver torx screws which secure the bar which the seat latch locks onto. Once I did that I was able to release the driver side latch and push the seat, still with the passenger side support bar locked in, forwards, so that the bar withdrew through the hole in the plastic cover between the seat back and the boot.

Once released from the top at both sides and tilted forward, I realised that if I pressed the spring loaded discs at the lower corners of the seat back in towards the seat back I could release it and lift it out of the car altogether. Doing so makes quite a decent flat loading area with the boot floor and the back seat cushion at more or less the same level.

With the seat back now completely out of the car I was able to peel back the upholstery from that corner to expose the latch, where I found that the bright metal 'bolt' which goes through the black metal bar to lock it in place was basically not attached to anything, so I was able to remove the small black clip on cover on the outward facing side of the latch mechanism, withdraw the bright metal 'bolt' so that it wasn't keeping the black bar locked into the slot in the back of the seat back, and then remove the black bar from the slot at last.

Just having the seat lock at one side would be enough for me as I never carry rear seat passengers, but the car is due in for MOT shortly and I've just now realised that not having one corner of the seat lock in place could cause it to fail the MOT. Looking around, I see the seat latches available second hand, but there is a weird discrepancy in prices - approx £13 for a driver side latch and usually around £50 for a passenger side latch, which makes me think that it must be the passenger side one which goes 90% of the time.
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
Brief update, just been on to my local Vaux dealer and they have priced the latch (not including the pull handle / orange flag assembly, which is a separate part and is OK on mine), brand new at ~£49 inc VAT - seems a lot for what it is but at least it will be brand new and should outlive the car now. Now all I need is for the other one to fail five minutes later...
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
Replacement latch fitted and working just in time for the MOT. That gave me the confidence to take the original latch apart to see what was wrong with it, since it didn't matter now if I broke it beyond repair.

The original symptom was that the latch would not let go of the seat support bar even when the handle was fully pulled up and the orange flag fully extended. When I managed to get into it I found the bright metal 'bolt' which should move sideways to withdraw from the seat support bar wasn't attached to whatever it was supposed to be, so it was just hanging about where it was, sticking through the hole in the support bar and preventing that from withdrawing from the hole in the back of the seat.

when I got the mechanism apart I found a specially formed, or in this case deformed, black wire spring which was supposed to engage with the groove around one end of the bright metal bolt - the spring had become bent out of shape and let go of the bolt.

I carefully reformed the spring to the right shape, put it back together and now I have a working spare passenger side latch. If you pay for a new one of these yourself, what you are most likely paying ~£50 for is a new little black springy piece of wire worth about 10p. Unfortunately, I doubt that this part will be available as a a separate spare part.

If you aren't under any kind of time pressure like I was, try taking it apart and having a look to see what is wrong with it. If you get lucky, you might be able to fix it.

If I ever get time I'll dismantle the repaired latch again and take photos to show what the mechanism looks like.
 
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