Hi Tech,

My 95 850 GLT wagon's driver side power seats backrest has stopped moving, I can hear the motor run but the backrest does not, it is now all the way back and very inconvenient to drive in.

What are my options, I read the Haynes book and for this very problem it suggests that I take it to a dealer (which means $$$$), can I somehow get the backrest in a vertical position and leave it there.

Look to your advice.

 

You have 2 options.1 undo your leather cover and reach in and try to play with the cable and get the seat to move and then leave it in a good place.What happens is the outer sleeve is made of plastic and stretches causing the cable to pull out of either the motor or the gear side.To open the seat cover you need to cut the 3 or 4 hog rings and then undo the leather from both sides od the seat where it wraps around the plastic.Start pulling up the leather carefully and cut more hog rings on the sides on the front of the seat at the creases.You can see the cable from the back of the seat.You can hit the switch to find it faster.You can carefully heat the plastic on the cable and push it into the metal sleeve and have some one hit the switch while you push it in.Or you can buy the cable and replace it.You can buy the hog rings at a upholstery shop or at the dealer.

Good luck let me know how you make out.

 

Once again thank you for your advice. Seems like something I can definitely do and will try. Is there some place I can go for some more detail? If removing the upholstry and then reconnecting the wires is all that needs to be done then this should not be a difficult job while it will be a time consuming job.

If you can share a more detail description of the process then I will be more prepared.

I did change the coolant of my car and that was as easy as you had described.

Regards

 

Start by cutting the 4 hog rings at the bottom seam where the front and back meet.Both of the sides wrap around plastic hooking on tabs on the plastic.Carefully pull up on the leather exposing more hog rings.Cut them and peel up more till you can see the motor from the back side.You will also see elastic on both sides with a hook that will need to be unhooked at the top of the pocket on the back of the seat.To remove the lumbar handle unscrew till it stops then push in and unscrew more.Repeat till it unscrews all the way.Once you gain access to the cable use a mini torch to heat up the outside part of the cable at the metal sleeve at either the motor side or transmission side.Have someone move the switch either tilt foward or back and you should fell it fall into place.That should work for a while.Then tilt the seat all the way foward and then all the way back till it stops to recalibrate it.
Hopefully this will help you get it done.
Let me know how you make out.

P.S. You will have to buy hog ring pliers to install new hog rings.

 

Hi Tech,

I finally got to work on my car and got the problem fixed. My back now has support.

Your directions were awesome, they worked the first time.

Regards.

 

No problem any time im glad I could help.

 

My backrest did the same thing -- it's stuck all the way down, and when I try to return it, the motor engages for only a second. Then, like a dummy, I thought if I cycle it all the way down, maybe it'll cycle back up. not!
Anyone have any success fixing these?
Thanks

 

Maybe I am not able to understand your problembecause you have exactly the same problem I had (already discussed in this thread)and guess what I followed the instructions step by step and it worked for me.

You may also try this link for more detailed instructions: http://www.volvospeed.com/

Good luck. It is much cheaper than a dealer or mechanic.

 

Thanks! After I typed my reply, I scrolled down and found your success! Thanks for the link with pictures, too.

 

I have a question -- when replacing the cable, what about the end by the driver's door? The cable I bought (used the part number from the volvospeed guy link that was placed in the post, has pictures...) does not have the white thingy on there. Do I have to swap that onto the new cable somehow?

Guptash, did you buy the new cable, or did you heat the end as suggested by Mr Tech?

Thanks for any and all help!

 

After careful examination, I have found my error, and just got my seat back together and it works great! Thanks to this forum for putting this here, thanks to Tech for explaining it in a way that made the project sound do-able, and thanks Guptash, for the link that showed those detailed pictures!

 

Thanks for the link to volvospeed with the pictures, I will order the cable from the dealer this week and probably tackle the repair next weekend

 

Without this forum I would have probably either taken it to a dealer or replaced the seat. 1 hour and I got it fixed. Sure as hell beats driving around with a seat in the reclined position forever.

Thanks all!