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  #1  
Old 01-11-2003, 01:31 AM
asiamood
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Driver seat leaning towards center of car

My 1988 300E driver seat is leaning towards the center of the car. The armrest is pushed down in a permanent angle as if the previous owner was putting alot of pressure on it over the years.
Could this be seat spring box that is causing the backrest to lean to one side? The seat is very springy with little support on the bottom.

Any ideas?

Thanks

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  #2  
Old 01-11-2003, 01:51 AM
Kyle Blackmore's Avatar
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Yes it looks like you have a broken spring or maybe the frame has broken.My 300D's driver seat is low on the outside and twists my back, it seems to have a broken spring,but the whole seat doesn't sit that way just the bottom.On my Mustang the seat frame was broken, I stripped the upholstery off and had a friend weld it back together.
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  #3  
Old 01-11-2003, 10:52 AM
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I think you must have a broken frame for the whole seat to lean like that.

Normally, with a few broken springs in the seat bottom, the seat back will not shift. In order for the seat back to shift, I think the frame would have to be broken.

Previous owner must have been REALLY large.



Ken300D

P.S. No offense meant if this has been a car passed down from family member to family member -
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  #4  
Old 01-11-2003, 11:25 AM
asiamood
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Ha ha. Just bought it a few months ago. Previous owner unknown. I wonder if it is possible to repair a broken frame?? Or would it be better to look for a junkyard replacement...
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  #5  
Old 01-12-2003, 09:54 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 700
switch the seats!

i did this in my car cause the the driver seat had bad springs, they still held, but unevenly, so I switched the seats, driver with passanger, now I'm comfy maybe one day I'll find a replacement for the bottom of it and have two good seats

xp
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  #6  
Old 01-12-2003, 03:33 PM
asiamood
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Thanks for the tip. I didn't know that driver and passenger seat were interchangeable. If so, this could be an interim fix until I take a look at the seat frame.
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  #7  
Old 01-12-2003, 10:07 PM
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xp190 - do you mean swap the entire seat -or- just the seat base? Or did you mean swap seat "innards" - cushion & pad?
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  #8  
Old 01-13-2003, 10:24 AM
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This is a problem on my SL as well. I had the seat cushions out to inspect, and the incredibly solid metal frame looks fine. So I have yet to find the real problem.

I should have considered that the previous owner may have been quite large...
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  #9  
Old 02-01-2003, 09:45 PM
asiamood
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So I finally got around to pulling out the driver's seat to see if I can determine why the seat is leaning towards the center console of the 300E. I could not see any cracks in the frame back. Of course the spring box is shot but I'm gonna give Phil a call for a replacement. If I place the seat on the garage floor it definitely leans to the right (picture one). If I place a one inch piece of wood under the inner bottom of the frame (picture two) then the seat looks nice and even. It appears that the inner frame bottom may be bent.
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  #10  
Old 02-01-2003, 09:46 PM
asiamood
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photo of seat with wood underneath.
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  #11  
Old 02-01-2003, 10:48 PM
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Could be a problem with the lift motors underneath the seat - one of them may have temporarily jammed, allowing the motors to get out of synchronization. We have this problem on one of our cars, haven't yet gotten around to getting it fixed.

-anthony
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  #12  
Old 02-02-2003, 12:06 AM
asiamood
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That is an excellent analysis as nothing appears bent or broken with the seat frame. Thanks for the input!
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  #13  
Old 02-02-2003, 12:10 AM
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asiamood

Quick question, since you have the seat out, are the driver's seat body mountings the same height left and right?

Haasman
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  #14  
Old 02-02-2003, 12:28 AM
asiamood
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I was looking closely at that and the floor mounting areas DO appear to be the same height.
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  #15  
Old 02-02-2003, 12:34 AM
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This is getting very interesting. OK, the the seat track attachment points appear to be on the same level on the body. So what makes the right seat track shorter than the left? (OK or visa versa!).

I have seen this before in a 300SD and a 300D What's the cause! Thanks for this thread.

Anybody?

Haasman

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