1988 Volvo 240 wagon seat latch issue
 

My seat latch is completely broken. I tried to release the seat by pulling the cable and pulled the cable out as well.

Now the right release is unhooked, but the left side is stuck. Is there a way to release the left side to keep the seat folded down?

Im not sure how that mechanism works. I tried prying it open with a screw driver. Any ideas? Thanks

should be 2 cables one on left side one on right. unless you stripped it out you cn take a pliers and pull on weither side until latch releases...try to relive the pressure off the seat while pulling...if stripped you have to replace the seat...shouldn have just ordered a new latch from Volvo and replaced your bad one...

Yes, the cables are stripped out. I just need to get the latch unhooked to release the seat. Any ideas?

Any pictures to help us understand what your dealing with?

you need to remove the hold down itself from both sides of the car...should be able to release them once they're off if not just replace them wheb you get the new seat take all the hardware too...PITA I know...

yes, i will post pictures tonight. thanks

Here are the pics are the broken latch.. one side of the seat unhooked and the other side that will not release. Trying to figure out how to release that side.

Ok, here's what you do, the latch is completely broken in my car and it's not a problem at all. If you take all the plastic stuff (the old latch mechanism) out of that hole that the latch used to sit in you will have two wires that come from both sides of the car. I wrote a thread about this earlier this year.

https://volvoforums.com/forum/showth...atch+back+seat

Read through the thread and it may answer all your questions. It was a beast to figure out but I finally could lower my seat.

Anyway, it's easy to lower the seat once you know what you are doing, you just have to hold one of the wires with one pair of pliers and push the black stuff covering the wire to the OUTSIDE of the car with a second pair of pliers. You'll hear the first latch unlock, then push the black stuff on the second wire to the outside and you've unlocked the seat. Take care to not squeeze the black stuff too much as it could collapse and become trapped on the wire, it should move pretty easily without using any muscle. You could do the unlocking without pliers but the pliers do make it easier.

Let me know if that helps.

My suggestion would be to take all the plastic latch mechanism stuff out of the hole and you should be able to see what is going on with the wires that are covered with the black stuff. Especially after reading my old thread which had others chipping in about what worked for them as well.

Can't tell is it in the locked position? If not then it's super easy. Just take a long screwdriver and release the spring on the bottom of each side of the seat one side at a time and pop that seat out. Go get another at a junk yard and call it a day bro...:D If not you need to remove the latch from each side of the cars body...then proceed with the new seat...grab the latches from the junk car if your seat will not realese your latches...if possible go with the older style set-up...latch lasts forvever it's the horizontal latch not the verticle like yours...they break all the time!!

The seat is locked on one side of the seat...

The wire is stripped out from the inside of the seat. What do you mean by "the black stuff on the outside of the car"? The only black is like a rubber bumper. Since my wire is stripped out, do I need to follow these instructions? or is there another solution?

I guess I can buy some star allen wrenches and just unscrew the locking mechanism and see if will come off with the seat?

Sorry, the black stuff is on the outside of the "wire" not the car. lol. I should have said- the black stuff surrounding the wire. I can see it in the picture where you showed the latch handle (or what is left of the latch handle). Push that black stuff towards the passenger side of the car (if the wire is coming from the passenger side) and the other black stuff to the driver side (if the wire is coming from the driver side). Should unlock and allow you to fold down the seat. That should be your solution if you want to fold your seat down. If you want to remove the seat altogether, I can't help you out. Sorry if I misunderstood.

By the way what do you mean by the wire is stripped? Like I said before, I can see one of your two wires in your posted picture coming from what looks like the passenger side of the vehicle. Do you still have the wire that looks just like it but comes from the drivers side? are both wires surrounded by some sort of black sheath (looks like one of them is at least)?

The wire from the drivers side is missing... The passenger side wire is still there.

Problem Solved!!
 

Ok, after numerous attempts to break off the bolts... A light bulb popped in my head after a "stare off" with the middle seat. I decided to pull down the middle arm rest and see if I could reach inside the seat..

EUREKA!! it works... you can slide your arm all the way in to the end of the seat and there is a mechanism you push that releases the seat..

You wouldve thought I won the lottery when that seat folded down!

Hope this helps anyone else in the situation...