Hi all,

Has anyone got any experience/pics/diagrams regarding the removal of the seat back, or indeed general dismantle-age of the HSE electric seats.

I have a bit of a wobbly drivers chair, which feels like there is something a bit iffy with the lift mechanism, so was planning on replacing the bottom frame, once I am confident that I know how how to split it from the back

I have tried some searching, but so far only seen bits about the seat base.

Ta muchly...

Ian

No experience of the seat back. However, removal of the seat base cushion gives excellent view and access to the base frame and runners which is likely where your problem lies. Just a thought... (especially before you actually spend money!)

Bob 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

In a recent issue of lro magazine there was an article on removing seats for re trimming.
I will dig it out and see if it has anything in it that may be of use to you.

Hi,

The issue definitely relates to the seat lift mechanism, somewhere in the rear left corner.

I'm guessing that there's either wear in one of the pivot things or maybe some damage/twist to the frame because when the seat is on full lift there is no free play.

On anything below that, the seat can be rocked forward/right a little, but if you install a custom made spacer at the rear of each rail (ok, a short bit of 18x18mm wood) then lower the seat until these are 'gripped' then all the play is removed.

Via the magic of ebay I have got a brand spanking new seat base/frame for a v.sensible price, so it's just a matter of a little research before pulling stuff apart

This sounds a bit like the common problem mentioned on here before where the seat moves a little. If it is then Land Rover issued a notice to dealers to disconnect one of the cables, twist a few times then connect. This puts a little offset into the seat and stops the movement. I know mine does this. Silver 2009 HSE

If I understand the mechanism correctly, then adding a little offset in the driver to the runners should help reduce movement in a forward/backwards direction by taking up the slack.

I think my movement is in another plane, as the seat runners and for/aft mechanism is all very solid, so I am sure it relates to the lift mechanism.

When the seat is at full height, everything is solid, as it seems that each of the 4 lifting legs has rotated to full extension.

At anything below this, when you hold the top of the seat and try to rock it, feels as if the rear left leg is lifting slightly, or is no longer securely anchored.


Hmmm, maybe I should double check the mountings from runners to frame and frame to floor in case something is just a little loose when it's not being held 'square' by the lift mechanism...

I have found the magazine article but it is mostly about removing the seat base and retiming it. There are a few basic pictures showing how to remove the seat from the car that covers which bits of trim/ bolts need removing and unplugging electrics, which is probably no use but if you would like a copy let me know.
I am no expert but reading your posts it sounds like you are going about it the right way in tracking down the problem,as if it is tight at the top and bottom of travel i would think it has got to be motor related.

Thanks for looking Tim

I guess it'll be worth while doing a photo record of what I find when I get a chance to wave some spanners about.

Tinytim is there any pictures showing how to remove rear seats? Thanks 2014 SE Loire Blue SD4 Auto (MY15)
Gone - 2011 GS Baltic Blue, Retrofit Electric Leather, Side Steps, 19"SC's, Roof Rails, TT Sat Nav Mod, Retrofit Premium Audio, Retro fit 2013 Xenons with DRL & Sig Strip (Clutch at 47k)
Gone - 2007 GS Narvik Black, Privacy Glass, 19" SC's, Side Steps,Roof Rails, Roof Spoiler, Lamp Guards, Retrofit Electric Leather (Clutch at 115k)
Gone - 2007 SE Santorini Black (Clutch at 120k)
BT IID (best money ever spent on a car)

A photo record of what you find is a good idea and would become a useful future resource as more and more cars fall into the owner repaired category. Good luck with your spanner waving.

JimNI, unfortunately the article only covered the drivers seat.

Looks like I need to get a selection of Torx spline bits before I go too far.

That's all a bit modern. I'm only just getting over the shock of a LandRover with metric nuts...

Hi Spagley / Ian

Are you still looking for help re seat backs?

I've just completely stripped down an HSE Leather seat and removed both the seat and seat back.

I wanted to add armrests to my cloth GS seats so the backs need to be changed, because there are no fixings in the original cloth seats. I dont know yet whether I'll try to add the electrics.

Let me know. I've taken some photos to help me reassembling.

Hi Pete,

I actually tackled the strip/rebuild at the weekend, so the job is done now, just been too busy /lazy to add words and pics to the thread


If you have any other pics or comments, then may be good to post them, as there seems to be little info on the seat innards lurking about.

Right - here goes...

Recline the seat and remove the headrest, then tilt the seat forwards, so hopefully it's the best shape to get out of the door later on

Seat squab. With the seat moved up & back the two 10mm bolts at the front can be seen and reached with a socket. Move the seat up/forward and the two at the rear are also easy to find.
While at the rear, have a good grope around because there's three lots of cables clipped to the bottom of the squab that will prevent it being lifted out!
With those free, the squab will lift almost enough to get your hand in to release it's plug from one of many (many) multi way connectors. At this point I thought I was having a time warp moment, stripping down a line printer, given the selection of motors and controllers




Next thing to come off was the side trim. Once the squab is removed it's easy to see the Posi screw at the front and the teeny Torx at the rear (why?) With those removed, you can get to the big Torx to remove the seatbelt.
I left the cables connected so the seat could still be moved about while finding the best position to get to everything else.




The front trim was a bit of a puzzle, as after feeling it up for a few minutes, there was no sign of any screw fixings, but it was not keen to just unclip with gentle wiggling. With a torch, a mirror, and a bit of contortion, I could only find 4 springy metal trim clips, so the only to get this bit off is with controlled violence. Not pleasant as it feels right on the edge of breaking something!
But, with that removed you can get to the 'big plug' that connects the seat assembly to the car's loom.

TIME TO DISCONNECT THE BATTERY!!!
Not sure if this it 'essential' but it seems a sensible precaution, given that there is an airbag and seatbelt pre-tensioner thingy, and by this stage an excuse to go indoors for a cuppa doesn't seem like a bad idea anyway...

Unscrew the small bolt at the front of the 'big plug', and the connector will separate, which is all you need if removing the whole seat and runner assembly from the floor.




But... As I am leaving the runners in place, and removing the lift bits and above, there's a lot of things to disconnect, so the seat half of the big plug can be unclipped, then the individual coloured connectors can be removed as needed (once you work out that you need to slip a small screwdriver down the side of each to release it's retaining clip.



From here it's just a case of unclipping numerous cables and connectors, which are all colour coded and individually keyed, so I think you need to try 'quite hard' to connect stuff back up the wrong way.

After that it's just a case of getting to the four mounting bolts that hold the lift mechanism to the runners, then the seat can be lifted and wiggled out through the door, leaving it all looking quite tidy inside




Removal of the back from the base is remarkably painless (once you find the small posi, and small Torx (again why the mix?) that hold on the inboard trim panel). There's just 4 large Torx bolts to remove, then the whole back just lifts back/up away from the base.




From here it was just a case of unbolting bits from the old frame and bolting them onto the new.

Well it should have been, but then I discovered why the frame was cheap...

There's a fixed plate for the front of the squab and the bracket for the forward limit sensor is in a different place, so by my thinking it's the frame for a right hand seat from a left hand drive, not a right hand seat from right hand drive.

But after a 5 minute conversation with Mr Hacksaw, and about 30 mins drilling out two very reluctant rivets, it had been transformed into the right frame for the job




With the old lift frame removed, there is no indication why there should be any any play in the mechanism, nothing damaged/cracked/broken, so I can only assume that it's wear in the pivots on the rear/left leg that are allowing the unwanted movement.




The good news is that with the new lift frame in place the drivers seat is as solid as it should be.

Also as a bonus, the electrics all work and the airbag doesn't deploy when you turn on the heaters


Anyone need a some motors or frame bits? These are now surplus to requirements...

Spag

Great write up, I am sure this will be useful in the future.