Problem with Rear Left Seat

S

Sonny

Member
Hi guys and gals,

Has anyone experienced problems with the rear seats?
We cannot get our left rear seat (one behin dfront passengers) to go forward (bend forward) anymore.

The lever at the top of the seat which you usually pull up to release the lock and push the seat forward, no longer works. It has lost communication with the lock. As you know there are 2 positions (a few inches apart) that the rear seat can be in when in normal position. It is stuck on the first one making it uncomfortable for anyone sitting on it.

We have tried using some pliars to pull the metal (steel?) lock up in order to release the seat and bend it forward, but that didn't work.

I got the excellent service manual CD from Mike (Skipton) but I cannot see a solution. I think it will need to be booked in to the dealers, possibly for a seat replacement. The seats are the Alcantara seats and migh cost a fair bit :(

Before going there, I thought I'd post here incase i'm missing something.

Thank you


Hope you're all enjoying the weather.
 
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When mine did this is was because the latch (on the seat back) was misaligned with the plate that it engages with. The handle that you pull to release was not releasing the seat anymore.

To fix it, I used a screwdriver blade to prise up the latch pin (you can see it, it is plated in a gold colour) and another one to hold while I prised it up a little more.

Eventually the pin disengaged from the locking plate with a hole in and I could move the seat forward.

Then it was a case of just making sure that the plate was engaging with the seat latch centrally when I put the seat back again. They seem to do this sometimes, especially if the seat base isn't pressed fully down when you swing the seat back to the upright position.

I would take a picture to show you, but I can't open the boot at the moment as my battery is disconnected (in the middle of a dash swap!).

Hope that makes some sense.

Alan
 
Thanks Alan

Thanks very much Alan. forgive my ignorance, I'm a complete dummy when i comes to car maintenance

Are you saying you got the thick metal lock out of the black plate's hole, which it slams down into everytime it locks into normal seating position?

If so, this is what we have been trying to do with screwdrivers and pliars but the metal lock just doesn't want o come up fully. We can push it up a centimetre or so then it becomes to difficult . Plus there's not exactly much space to manoeuvre.

Dad's taken the car to drop my mom to the hospital but when he comes back i'm not sure if it's going to help but I'll try taking a picture of it.

Glad to hear i'm not the only one who's had this

ps. I don't think we have any pins in our mechanism , or any "gold" bits. Audi 1.4 TDI 2003 (90)
 
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alanb said:
When mine did this is was because the latch (on the seat back) was misaligned with the plate that it engages with. The handle that you pull to release was not releasing the seat anymore.

To fix it, I used a screwdriver blade to prise up the latch pin (you can see it, it is plated in a gold colour) and another one to hold while I prised it up a little more.

Eventually the pin disengaged from the locking plate with a hole in and I could move the seat forward.

Then it was a case of just making sure that the plate was engaging with the seat latch centrally when I put the seat back again. They seem to do this sometimes, especially if the seat base isn't pressed fully down when you swing the seat back to the upright position.



Alan
Click to expand...
That is exactly what i did, whilst using the screwdriver, keep pressure on the lever at the top

what I can remember of this exercise was that it was bl**dy hard (lots of naughty words :D ) and can take-up to half an hour to do so (that included finding out why it didn't want to work :mad:
 
Havank is right. It took a while.

Have partience, worl out what pressure on the seat (forwars, backwards, up, down - or combination) gives you the best chance to move the pin (have someone help you). Then inch the pin up with something (I used screwdriver), and grag it with fingers or pliers, then inch it up a bit more ...

repeat until it is clear, the push the seat forwards, or insert something to hold the pin clear .., then move the seat.

I also agree that swearing a bit each time when you let go of the pin and it pings back in helps reduce the stress levels!

AlanB
 
Thanks

Thanks for the advice guys. Really appreciate it.

We've tried and tried but to no avail. Tried with 4 different pliars, screwdrivers but it doesn't do anything. Our next door neighbour had a go too! My fingers do not even fit in the space and it's very hard to manoevre

That metal lock (thick pin) just isn't coming up. What makes it impossible is that the end of it is errr blunted. This 'blunted' end keeps getting stuck and stops the metal thick pin from coming up. I found this out by looking at the other rear seats mechanism.



We'll take it to a garage see if they have any ideas.

:mad:
 
I had exactly the same problem when I first had my car. I took it to a local dealer who sorted it out using the scredriver trick in a couple of minutes. It looked a bit brutal the way it was done, and did mark the plastic underside of the seat, but I've not had a problem since. It's a known problem so if you talk nicely they should help you... Once it's fixed spray some lubricant onto the locking pin mechanism etc.. And in future make sure you hear both pins lock into teh floor properly. The problem you have I think is that one pin is fully down/locked in position, and the other not, so when you pulled the seat back in to the upright position it's wedged itself againt the two position fixing/release mechnisim at the top.

Hope that helps
Simon
 
Wonder why its always the passenger side rear???

Mine is broken too. Other half returned it to upright after a particularly exciting Ikea run, and now its about an inch too far to the right. As such, it misses the locking plate entirely, the little red sticker is showing where the seat hasn't latched, and (bad bad news) she was so excited to be constructing all the furniture she snapped the plastic latch on the seat off.

Darn. Would take photos but it makes me cry just thinking about it....
 
rear seat backrest locked...

Hi guys,

I had the same problem adn found out about the pin misaligned with the black plate.
What i did:
1- Fold down the other seat (the one working!).
2- Give a short strong push on the side of the locked seat while holding up the seat handle. This will realign very shortly the pin that will come up and release the backseat rest.

worked for me because my seat is a bit bent towards the middle (like it's gone through the floor a little bit on one side:( ) and therefore misalign the pin with the plate...

Hope it helps.

cheers
Alex
 
Like arallsopp, my rear seat is now broken. :(

The little plastic catch on the driver's side rear seat was discovered lying forlornly in the boot, so I'm guessing some ham-fisted loon (or indeed, me) must've knackered it.

Now I can get the seat locked back, but the base doesn't engage in the holes or remain fixed. The only things that hold the seat unit in place are the front hinges and the backrest lock.

Is there anything I can do? Is it a home-fix, and what parts will I need?

Or worse... any idea how many £££ Mr. Audi is going to want?
 
GJR said:
Like arallsopp, my rear seat is now broken. :(

The little plastic catch on the driver's side rear seat was discovered lying forlornly in the boot, so I'm guessing some ham-fisted loon (or indeed, me) must've knackered it.

Now I can get the seat locked back, but the base doesn't engage in the holes or remain fixed. The only things that hold the seat unit in place are the front hinges and the backrest lock.

Is there anything I can do? Is it a home-fix, and what parts will I need?

Or worse... any idea how many £££ Mr. Audi is going to want?
Click to expand...
Gareth, Can you send me a few photos of the damage and broken parts and I'll get you the prices and also ascertain if it's a home fix.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Hi Gareth,

Some good news and some bad!

The good news is that the broken part is all self-contained in one unit, the main lock mechanism, and it costs £23, which isn't bad at all by Audi standards.

The bad news is that to remove the old one and to re-fit the new one is a pretty specialised job, which according to the workshop manual, requires the cover to be taken off - i.e. remove the fabric and padding!

I'll look into things further, but be prepared for a large labour bill if Audi has to do it. You may be better off getting a seat from a breaker.

Cheers,
Mike
 
Bloody hell! My first A2 problem and it sounds like I'm not alone. I took the rear seats out for the first time today. But when I went to put them back in, the base clicked in fine but the backrest appeared to be misaligned with the locking plate. I had already begun to click it back in, when I realised there was too much of a gap and something wasn't aligned properly and when I tried to fold the seat down again, something snapped off! Turns out it's the little plastic thing that disengages the locking mechanism, so now the handle on that side is 'up' with the red sticker showing. It was so out of line that it the little plastic 'switch' had got caught in the hole were the lock clicks into, and when I pulled it forward it snapped off. So it was about a centimetre or so out of line.

Trouble is, I can't for the life of me figure out why the seats on both sides won't align properly. Now I can't even get it to engage into the boot floor, so both seats are only held on by the 'hinge'.

I thought I'd come on here for advice but it appears it's quite a common fault. I wish I'd left it well alone, as it sounds like I'm in for a repair bill... :(
 
I took mine out a couple of weeks ago to clean underneath and pushed them down and one wasn't in properly so took it out and slammed it in without any pressure on top of it.
 
Hi Mike!

Any news on whether it's a possible home-fix yet?

Would the dismantling of the seat be listed in the workshop manual?
 
Seat dismantling is covered in the workshop manual, but it's the cover removal that is the worrying bit.

If you're happy to take the cover off from the backrest, then go for it - you'll save a small fortune over dealer costs to do the work.

Cheers,

Mike
 
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