Drivers Seat Jamed

simontaylor · September 19, 2007

I lent my pride and joy to a friend, he is tall with long legs, so moved the seat right back, that OK. Now, it will not move forewards for me. The motor works but only on the door side, the rail on the transmission side seems to be jammed. When I ask the seat to move foreward it just skews at bit and twists an inch or so. Now I can hardly reach the steering wheel or pedals.

I read with interest that others have suffered the same, but only in Mk I or II cars. I can not get much access under the seat, there does not seem to be a bar with a splined wheel on it like others have described, but also I can not see a 2nd motor either. By the way, all of the other seat controls function correctly. I have taken the back off, but can only see the rake, lumber and head rest motors and mechanisms.

Does anyone know how the MK III seat works, I need help with my back seat driving position. Actually, the saving grace is that there is still loads of space in the rear footwell even though the drivers seat is fully back.

ian11 · September 19, 2007

I may be barking up the wrong tree here,but it seems to be the same symptoms that happen with the seat backs,the main drive is on the drivers side with a bar crossing under the seat to drive the inner side,this strips its splines and you get the same, back moves on one side only,could be the same idea for the fore and aft movement,but doubt if you can get to it with out removal. I just used the instant metal on the end and its fine,but i dont move the back while having my rather podgy body on it !!!! its been fine for months now. cheers and good luck.

sure someone will have removed a seat and be able to point you in the right direction. Ian

simontaylor · September 25, 2007

I am having trouble finding this rod/cog/spline that others have mentioned as the problem. Does anyone have any pictures or a diagram or a detailed description of the cog/rod.

I am begining to wonder if the MkIII seat is different from the MkI/II as all the "problem seat posters" seem to have Mk I or II cars.

Many thanks in advance for any more assistance.

simontaylor · October 22, 2007

OK all, the journey was pretty hard, but now I know the answer and how to get to it, the fix was actually pretty easy.

As other threads suggested, it was the mechanism on the tunnel side rail which had come appart.

All I had to do was to reseat the worm gear which had a nut on the end of it and then screw the retainer cap back in to hole the worm inside.

Access was gained by raising the seat, removing the front lower cover (just 2 screws) and then undoing the 4 bolts that hold the seat to the floor. I could then recline the whole seat unit and get full access to the parts that needed reassembly.

All done in about 20 mins with no costly new parts needed. Actually, I am a couple of quid up now, I found a £2 coin under the seat rail.

This picture shows the worm with nut on the end being reinstered, it does go in a bit more.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/s.taylor8817/...%20seat%201.JPG

This shows the retainer cap going on, it screws right in till it is flush

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/s.taylor8817/...%20seat%202.JPG

This show the seat tilted right back, the ECU is still connected so it can be tested in situ, but take great care not to trap any fingers, the motors are very powerfull.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/s.taylor8817/...%20seat%203.JPG

Oh how much more comfortable the car is to drive now that the seat is in "MY POSITION".