Help needed about rear seats on A2

A

alanfr

Member
The Left Hand rear seat on my A2 is stuck, I can fold seat down but pulling up on the rear handle does not release the seat from the floor pan at back- it is well and truly jammed to the floor! I am trying to work out how it is held in place and what may release it (brute force?). Does that rear handle do anything to release the seat from the floor or is it only to do with the seat back locking onto the seat (ie closed up position)? Is it a case of getting two levers near to those two parts that drop into the holes in the floor and simply applying brute force? Looking at the seat that is out it appears that there are three small parts that are presumably spring loaded. On the seat that is out these seem possibly stuck 'in' (which may explain why this seat drops into place but is not held firmly in place); is it likely the on the seat that is jammed to floor these pins have simply stuck in their outermost position. I do have the dreaded rear wetness problem so possibly things have corroded and jammed?? Age and a heart attack has made me leave sorting out the damp issue (I assume it is the rear vents)!! But I need that seat out so I can go and help a bereaved cousin sort out and get rid of various largeish items!

All help and advice appreciated. And yes I have looked through the forum posts but could not find the answers I seek.
 
Have you tried bouncing up and down on the folded seat with all your weight while pulling the lower handle up to try and release it?
 
Hi Alan, this happens fairly frequently now on approaching 20-year-old seat mechanisms. Have a look at the base of that seat from behind, does one corner appear to be sitting slightly higher than the other? If so, the lug underneath that corner is probably not seated properly so the latches will not release. With the seat folded down, try kneeling in through the rear door on that side, put your weight on your knee in the centre at the back of the seat and pull up on the handle. You should hear and feel it lock into place. Then by pulling the handle and maybe also pushing down on the front of the folded seat-back, it will release for removal.

I'm literally just down the road from you in Chesham many evenings, including tonight. If you're stuck, send me a PM and I might be able to nip up and help. I'll also be in Chesham on Friday evening, or Saturday morning is also possible.
 
Whatever you do, don't use brute force. As stated above, it is probable that it isn't quite latched home in one of the positions and consequently the safety interlocks designed to prevent collapse in a crash are preventing other movement until that mechanism is home. My project car's seats were both unlatched in the outer rear position and were then stuck in the upright position unable to unlatch the side catch - reading the threads here it took me about an hour to go through the required steps and sort both out. I would now be a lot quicker doing the same again on another car.

There are at least a couple of excellent posts on here (probably linked to above) that go through each of the stages of seat unlocking / dejamming and suggest the combination of places to apply bodyweight / leverage while holding onto the associated handle / catch to reseat or release the mechanisms in sequence so that eventually you can return the seats to normal. Best of luck!
 
Proghound said:
Hi Alan, this happens fairly frequently now on approaching 20-year-old seat mechanisms. Have a look at the base of that seat from behind, does one corner appear to be sitting slightly higher than the other? If so, the lug underneath that corner is probably not seated properly so the latches will not release. With the seat folded down, try kneeling in through the rear door on that side, put your weight on your knee in the centre at the back of the seat and pull up on the handle. You should hear and feel it lock into place. Then by pulling the handle and maybe also pushing down on the front of the folded seat-back, it will release for removal.

I'm literally just down the road from you in Chesham many evenings, including tonight. If you're stuck, send me a PM and I might be able to nip up and help. I'll also be in Chesham on Friday evening, or Saturday morning is also possible.
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Proghound said:
Hi Alan, this happens fairly frequently now on approaching 20-year-old seat mechanisms. Have a look at the base of that seat from behind, does one corner appear to be sitting slightly higher than the other? If so, the lug underneath that corner is probably not seated properly so the latches will not release. With the seat folded down, try kneeling in through the rear door on that side, put your weight on your knee in the centre at the back of the seat and pull up on the handle. You should hear and feel it lock into place. Then by pulling the handle and maybe also pushing down on the front of the folded seat-back, it will release for removal.

I'm literally just down the road from you in Chesham many evenings, including tonight. If you're stuck, send me a PM and I might be able to nip up and help. I'll also be in Chesham on Friday evening, or Saturday morning is also possible.
Click to expand...
Hello, have sent you a PM (I hope/think)..
 
Proghound said:
All received Alan, we'll get this sorted on Friday ?
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Well, I went and had a look yesterday, hoping it would be a 10-minute job ... err, nope :oops:

This seat base is level and properly located at both rear corners, and the back raises and locks in position as it should. It's just completely locked in place, as described. The rear handle isn't doing anything. While the mechanism is still sprung and the handle returns to the resting position, it's as if there is a disconnect between the metal bar that it moves, and whatever things that moves which unlock the lugs underneath.

Apparently last time this seat was removed and put back in a couple of years ago, it was difficult to remove and then took a lot of force to get it to go 'home' when put back in.

The rear of the car being very damp from water ingress through the rear vents is probably not helping matters.

Curiously enough the other seat is out, and is equally locked with the same symptoms, but in the open position. I couldn't persuade that one to release the lugs either.

The plan now is for @alanfr to obtain another pair of rear seats. Twist ones in the standard SE fabric (not the Satellite upgrade) would be ideal, but any would do. I don't see a Wanted ad in the Market from him yet but if anyone has a pair to offer (or even a whole set) then a PM to him would start the ball rolling. The closer to Amersham in Bucks, the better.

Then, removing the covers from the base of the seat that's out might shed some light on the workings of the interior mechanism and allow at least targeted destruction of the seat that's locked in the car to get to that mechanism from above, and operate it.

Meanwhile, does anyone else have any experience that could help? Any diagrams of the internals of the seat base? Thanks in advance for any assistance.
 
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