Front seatback release stopped working

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gull
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Front seatback release stopped working

Post by gull »

Both of the front seats on my '89 Cabriolet have stopped folding forward, making it impossible to access the rear seat with the top up. Examining the mechanism, I can see that the outer hook is moving but the inner one is not. It looks like these are cable-operated.

Has anyone tackled this job? I'm guessing I'll need to peel back the upholstry on the seatback, but before I started that frustrating task I thought I'd check here for advice.
Last edited by gull on Wed Jun 21, 2006 4:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by PDX Cabby »

had that problem with my old seats
didn't want to tackle the job at all, and started lifting the lower lock by hand, while lifting the lever with the other... worked really well... heck, probably worked better than the lever ever did :D
85 Cab - 1.9L 8v, g-grind, euro dual downs to TT race w/ Borla, VWMS fuel dizzy, 2H tranny with 5th gear swap, TT short shift, FK 60/40, 15" BBS RA, rear disks... begging for boost...
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gull
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Post by gull »

It's occurred to me that I could just attach a length of cable to the inner hook and put a pull-ring on the end of it. (That's also my plan for the broken rear seat release strap.) That might be the easiest. Thought I'd see how much work it is to fix it the "right way" first, though. :)
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Briano1234
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Post by Briano1234 »

Yes you have to remove the seat back to get to the feed throughs for the cable, jbugs sold a cable replacement, on my older cabby I just used picture hanging wire and reran them new to the lever.
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Re: Front seatback release stopped working

Post by CalAltaDubber »

gull wrote:Both of the front seats on my '89 Cabriolet have stopped folding forward, making it impossible to access the rear seat with the top up. Examining the mechanism, I can see that the outer hook is moving but the inner one is not. It looks like these are cable-operated.

Has anyone tackled this job? I'm guessing I'll need to peel back the upholstry on the seatback, but before I started that frustrating task I thought I'd check here for advice.
Yrs there are two cables that operate the latches in each seat. Tou will have to open the seat up to replace them, but it is not a difficult thing to do. you will find the ctch hooks at the bottom of the seat back and the seat will open from the front.

I tried to use cables from a vw that was at my local P&P but they wernt the same size.

I also found that one of the nylon guides that the cable rides on was also broken, leaving too much slack.

So it is best to get new cables from your local stealership.

The whole job, including removing and replacing the seats from the car should take an evening.

Let us know how you make out.
Phil

'87 Cabriolet, "Topless Bunny"
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gull
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Fixed!

Post by gull »

Got it fixed. It actually wasn't all that hard.

I didn't bother to remove the seats. I tilted them forward and sat in the back seat. I bent back the tabs securing the seatback upholstry, and was able to peel it upwards enough to see the cables.

I have to say I'm not impressed with VW's design. The inboard cable traverses the seatback at a shallow angle, so most of the force is wasted in friction at the nylon bushings that guide it. This geometry also means that slight changes in the travel of the outboard cable translate into big changes in travel at the inboard release hook.

The driver's side was simple. The outboard cable had gotten snagged by one of the seat springs, restricting its travel and preventing the lever from moving the inboard cable enough. I unsnagged the cable, tested the release, then put the upholstry back in place.

The passenger side was a little different. It obviously got more use. Over the years, cable stretch and wear in the bushings for the inboard cable had apparently caused it to become somewhat too long. I cut the cable, pulled out the slack, then fastened the ends back together with a crimp sleeve from the hardware store. This was the tricky bit -- holding everything tight and crimping the sleeve just about requires three hands, and it took a little trial and error to get the length right. The length is critical if the two releases are going to work together.

The final problem was the plastic handle for the passenger side release was missing. (Maybe someone broke it off trying to force the release to work.) I cut a short piece of fuel hose and slipped it over the metal stub, to make operating it more comfortable.
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Post by Briano1234 »

cool fix, I never thought about using a swedge to splice it...
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