Seat jammed

[Dippydog]

Found out yesterday that the drivers seat on my 960[it's electric]has "jammed" in position for fore and aft movement.Try moving the seat forward and the inner side[against the transmission tunnel]will move forward just a fraction while the outer side[nearest the door]doesn't move at all so the seat "twists"try moving it backward and the inner side will return to the original position "squaring" the seat up again but that's the sum total of movement.While the seat as it's set is ok for me so in that way I'm not too worried I'm told such a fault is now a MoT failure point[glad it's only just gone as I had the car tested last month!] I've felt under the seat as best I can and can't feel anything that could be jamming the outer seat rail,any suggestions before I see if I can get the seat out for a proper look underneath?

[Vintoni]

Mine has the same problem. The mechanism works on two cables, one on either side. One has snapped and therefore the seat only pulls on one side. I had it all apart to try and replace the cable but it's a nightmare and so I gave up. Luckily mine is jammed in the furthest back position and I'm quite tall so it's not really a problem for me.

It's been like this for a while and has never failed an MOT or even been mentioned as an advisory.

[griston64]

If you got together and swapped seats you would both have a working drivers seat

[Dippydog]

France might just be a tad too far just to swap a seat though To be honest until last month when the car was tested I didn't know they tested the fore/aft movement of the seat[only that it wasn't allowed to move fore and aft freely without "locking" into place.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Dippydog

France might just be a tad too far just to swap a seat though To be honest until last month when the car was tested I didn't know they tested the fore/aft movement of the seat[only that it wasn't allowed to move fore and aft freely without "locking" into place.

The argument is that if someone else drives your car they should be able to set the seat so it's safe for them. My argument is that i'm the only one insured to drive one of mine, granted there is someone on the Volvo as well but she's emergency use only.

That said, if memory serves, on the 760 they use proper shafts to drive the seat backwards and forwards - so much for progress!

Our friend in France has explained the problem, your other alternative would be a replacement 960 seat base (you'd probably have to buy the whole seat but if it was the wrong colour you could just swap the base) and you may also be able to pick up a working one with knackered leather cheaply.

[Dippydog]

As it's not long ago gone through the test I've the biggest part of a year to sort it[like your car LS the 960 is only insured for me to drive]so I'll see about pulling the seat out when the warm weather returns to see if I can sort it and if not then look for a replacement seat.

[john.wigley]

Does any replacement need to be electrically operated, 'D.d'?

If your existing seat should prove not to be repairable, and you need to replace it, could you not do so using a manually adjusted version? I'm assuming here of course that it would otherwise fit!

Might not manual seats be more widely available, and possibly also cheaper to source, than electric ones? If you are not overly concerned about maintaining originality, and if it is not an MOT requirement to replace 'like for like', that may give you another option?

Regards, John.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by john.wigley

Does any replacement need to be electrically operated, 'D.d'?

If your existing seat should prove not to be repairable, and you need to replace it, could you not do so using a manually adjusted version? I'm assuming here of course that it would otherwise fit!

Might not manual seats be more widely available, and possibly also cheaper to source, than electric ones? If you are not overly concerned about maintaining originality, and if it is not an MOT requirement to replace 'like for like', that may give you another option?

Regards, John.

I might be wrong on this John but i was under the impression the 960 had electric seats on all models, not sure if a manual 940 seat would fit but then there's the airbag system to consider.

If the replacement doesn't have the right airbags then that will throw a fault on the airbag system and the SRS warning light on the dash which is also an instant MoT failure or was. Presumably still is.

[gpl1968]

This happened on my 940.
The motor that drives the seat fore and aft has two flexible driveshafts that run in sleeves to the gears on the seat rails.
The driveshaft has a square section that engages with the motor and gearbox at the other end and the problem is that it isn't long enough so it slips out of the rail end and loses drive on one side of the seat, the right hand side in my case.
The solution is to is to disconnect the driveshaft from the motor and insert a short length of narrow rod, about 1/2", into the motor end to take up the slack and stop the driveshaft from slipping.
I used a torx bit in a 1/4" ratchet socket driver to disconnect the sleeve.
It's a fiddly job as there isn't much space under the seat nut it fixed the problem. Just make sure that the seat is square on the runners before you start.

[Dippydog]

An interesting work around I'll have a look see if that's the problem and maybe try that.
No JW having a manual seat wouldn't bother me as there's only me drives it[apart from tester at MoT time]but as LS points out maybe they're all electric and given as he also points out there is the airbag question to take into consideration.
But thanks to all for replies.