halfrican Posted April 17, 2005 Report Share Posted April 17, 2005 Hello All, This weekends project is to try to "re-tweak" the rear seat back of my STS after the dealer worked on it and left it "loose" on the passenger side. Already asked dealer to fix they said that it was "normal". I am not happy with their answer and thus am trying to resolve myself. I have removed the rear seat bottom cushion and the bolts that retain the seat back at the bottom, but cannot figure out how to release the top of the seat back. Are their clips, or screws that must be removed? Does it matter that I have the "rear seat passthrough" option? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance, Half Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted April 17, 2005 Report Share Posted April 17, 2005 I had my 96 rear seat out last week to replace the 6 by 9 speakers on the rear deck. There are two studs the stick into the trunk with 10 mm nuts on them. You need to go into the trunk and remove the nuts, if it is the same as my 96, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halfrican Posted April 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2005 Scotty, Thanks for the quick reply, I have looked all over the trunk, can't seem to find the studs? Where exactly did you find them? Half Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted April 17, 2005 Report Share Posted April 17, 2005 Mine were straight ahead, you need to pullout the decorative piece. Mine had 4 or 5 thumb screws that you needed to remove. In the upper left and right corners you will see studs, if it is the same as mine... The studs also hold in some plastic 'pans' used for electrical relays also.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halfrican Posted April 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2005 No such studs on mine? Anymore ideas? Thanks again, Half Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDWRIOR Posted April 17, 2005 Report Share Posted April 17, 2005 Half, The rear seat back in '98+ Seviles (and '00+ Devilles) is held in place at the top edge by four large spring clips. The clips are attached to the seat back, and they snap into slots in a steel panel that runs horizontally behind the seatback. The clips are disengaged by prying down on them from above with a suitable tool (a long, thin flat blade screwdriver will work), while working down through the thin gap between the seat back and the front edge of the carpeted "package shelf" trim panel. This can be a challenging job. Exposing the clips requires pulling forward on the seat back and peering down into the gap from above while kneeling on the seat bottom, which you should temporaily replace to support your knees. It also helps if you have bright light shining down from above through the rear glass so that you can see what you are doing. As you look down into the gap, facing the rear of the vehicle, you should be able to see each clip. Release each one by prying down on the left side of the clip (that is your left, when facing the rear of the vehicle) with the tip of the screwdriver blade. An extra challenge in performing this job in Seville models is the presence of the folding rear head rests. These need to be folded forward to expose the gap you need to work in, but when they are folded fully forward, they spring back to the fully rearward position! I have found that you can hold the headrests in the full forward postion with your chin while you work to release the seat back spring clips. However, in my opinion it is easier to first remove the head rests, before attempting to remove the seat back. You can do this by removing the front cover of the upper, outer seatbelt retractor on each side; the cover is removed by grasping it firmly and simply pulling it forward and off of the retractor (the cover will stay captive on the belt). With the cover removed, the metal shaft for the folding head rest will be exposed. Assuming that the head rests have never been removed before, a strip of black vinyl tape will be wrapped around the shaft, covering a C-shaped wire spring clip. Remove the tape as necessary and carefully remove the spring clip, taking care not to lose it and wearing eye protection. With the clip removed, the head rest simply slides off the end of the shaft. The only hard part of this job is reinstalling the front covers of the belt retractors after the seat back is reinstalled; the presence of the seat back makes realigning and reattaching the covers difficult. So, if you take the step of removing the head rests, try to remember to reinstall the head rests and the retractor covers before you reinstall the seat back. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halfrican Posted April 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2005 Half, The rear seat back in '98+ Seviles (and '00+ Devilles) is held in place at the top edge by four large spring clips. The clips are attached to the seat back, and they snap into slots in a steel panel that runs horizontally behind the seatback. The clips are disengaged by prying down on them from above with a suitable tool (a long, thin flat blade screwdriver will work), while working down through the thin gap between the seat back and the front edge of the carpeted "package shelf" trim panel. This can be a challenging job. Exposing the clips requires pulling forward on the seat back and peering down into the gap from above while kneeling on the seat bottom, which you should temporaily replace to support your knees. It also helps if you have bright light shining down from above through the rear glass so that you can see what you are doing. As you look down into the gap, facing the rear of the vehicle, you should be able to see each clip. Release each one by prying down on the left side of the clip (that is your left, when facing the rear of the vehicle) with the tip of the screwdriver blade. An extra challenge in performing this job in Seville models is the presence of the folding rear head rests. These need to be folded forward to expose the gap you need to work in, but when they are folded fully forward, they spring back to the fully rearward position! I have found that you can hold the headrests in the full forward postion with your chin while you work to release the seat back spring clips. However, in my opinion it is easier to first remove the head rests, before attempting to remove the seat back. You can do this by removing the front cover of the upper, outer seatbelt retractor on each side; the cover is removed by grasping it firmly and simply pulling it forward and off of the retractor (the cover will stay captive on the belt). With the cover removed, the metal shaft for the folding head rest will be exposed. Assuming that the head rests have never been removed before, a strip of black vinyl tape will be wrapped around the shaft, covering a C-shaped wire spring clip. Remove the tape as necessary and carefully remove the spring clip, taking care not to lose it and wearing eye protection. With the clip removed, the head rest simply slides off the end of the shaft. The only hard part of this job is reinstalling the front covers of the belt retractors after the seat back is reinstalled; the presence of the seat back makes realigning and reattaching the covers difficult. So, if you take the step of removing the head rests, try to remember to reinstall the head rests and the retractor covers before you reinstall the seat back. Good luck! Wow! Sounds like a ton of fun (not), guess I don't have a choice if I intend to "re-tweak" the seat back on the passenger side. It appears that the techs probably bent or broke the seat back frame while trying to repair the rear seat pass-through release button that was broken off. I appreciate your insight! Thanks again, Half Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halfrican Posted April 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2005 Decided that any project worth doing, is worth doing in the middle of the night! I succeded in removing the back of the rear seat using the "chin" technique described by RDWRIOR. It wasn't a ton of fun, but it wasn't the most difficult exhibition of skill I have every accomplished. Couldn't identify exactly what was causing the passenger side of the seat back to stick out, but it appears to be better than before. It's still not as tight as the driver's side, but I guess I will have to live with it for now. Once again, thanks to all that replied, your help is greatly appreciated. Half Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted April 17, 2005 Report Share Posted April 17, 2005 Thanks RDWRIOR, for the information, Half, I hope I did not put you in and out of the trunk too much.... Its amazing that these things change so much at times... Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halfrican Posted April 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2005 Thanks RDWRIOR, for the information, Half, I hope I did not put you in and out of the trunk too much.... Its amazing that these things change so much at times... Mike Scotty, Actually I'm on my way to my Chiropractor right now! Just kidding, actually it was nice to see where everything is back there, might save me some effort later on down the road. Thanks again, Half Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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