W123 Seat repair with Pool Noodles PIC'S
 

You know, pool noodles, those long brightly colored foam things everyone is floating around the pool on.

There has been lots of discussion on this and in another thread someone asked for pic’s. I did the passenger side of my 240D this weekend, so I snapped a few shots along the way. Basically, just take the seat out in one piece and shove the noodles in. Time required: maybe two hours with little kids around. Degree of difficulty: Hey, I did it! Cost: $1.44 per noodle vs. $250 for new spring box!

1. Front bolt locations.
2. Remove plastic trim at rear.
3. Rear bolt location.
4. Extra bolt to side rail.
5. Removing the seat.
6. Looking at the springs.
7. Stuffing the noodles.
8. Almost done.

My springs were not broken; I was just adding needed additional support. Works great!

Clay

More pic's
 

The rest of the pic's. You will know you are done when your hands are tired. Wear gloves. The springs will only let you shove the noodle in so far, so it kind of evens itself out automatically, depending on the quality/tension of the spring in question.

Clay

ps. Great time to collect that spare change, dog hair, and general clean up :rolleyes:

pps. Almost forgot, you have to remove the side rail from the rear hump and slide it out of the seat belt thingy.

Clay,

Thanks for posting this, esp. with the pics. Need to do this soon myself and was wondering how they worked. :o

Keith

Awesome... how do they feel now?

They are like 1000% better
 

Look at this thread
[http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=117973&page=1&pp=15]
Basically my seats were all springy, though not all the way to the floor. The covers and pads seem to be in good condition. They are now very firm, which is good for me. Before the repair the drivers side was listing slightly toward the door and I think it still is. I'm going to give it another go next weekend and see if I can't shore up that side a bit more. Also going to do the rear, maybe green noodles next :P

Go for it, you will like it!

Clay

*edit* Approved by SWMBO! and you know how sensitive her little behind is :eek:

Clay,
I think I was the one asking for the pics, and man do I appreciate your time and effort to document that. Sooo much help for those of us that it helps to SEE things first. Your seat looks really clean too.
Thanks,
Jimmy

My pleasure
 

Git 'er done Jimmy.

Hey, I learned how to post pic's along the way!

Clay

WOW, that's awesome!
I'm going to try that.

Danny

Note from Deborah, ya' know Clay's SWMBO
 

Clay doesn't know I'm typing this, but I suppose he will see it, always checking his replies. Anyway, this noodle thing made a huge improvement in my bottom comfort, but let me tell you, I DID NOT COMPLAIN before the repair! SWEAR! :o :o

I wanted to add that finding noodles in March proved to be quite difficult, but I found some at Academy Sports for $1.47.

I do drive the C220 and really like it, especially around town - pulling in and out of parking spaces, etc. is a dream (GREAT STEREO!). BTW my other car is a 2000 Chevy Suburban which I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE, but mostly on those big road trips with the VT and the kids - we have 2 darling daughters although I realize that this kind of stuff is why they DON'T want women posting. :rolleyes:

I do really enjoy reading the forum stuff and hope that you all continue to be witty and keep me reading!!! ;) ;) ;)

Thanks for reading my reply.
Deborah

Good info Deborah, as my SWMBO said they were $4.50 at Walmart. She would have no clue as to her "bottom comfort" in the wagon as she would not be caught dead in it! :grim:

Thanks Cgryphon!

I saw a couple of noodles in a store, remembered seeing this post, and was sick and tired of my broken spring seat bottom.

30 minutes after I got home I had two pool noodles stuffed in place and it is SO much better! Thanks for the post and the photos...made the job easy!

Chuck

Cant wait to try this --- anyone did this with electric seats? Any changes in the procedures that should be known up front :confused:

Yeah I am going to do this soon to my front seats (especially driver seat) sometime in the next month or so as well, as they are pretty low down when you sit...not really uncomfortable or anything, but they do sink. I have a sheepskin on it that makes it like sitting in a really comfy sofa/chair...:D Firmer would be nice though. I'm guessing the only additional steps with the electric seats will be to disconnect the wiring as well, plus this gives me an opportunity to fix the disconnected adjustment cables from the motors, which all work, but simply "spin" when I do some of the adjustments....do these have to be replaced? or is there a way to get them working again.....

"pool noodles"?? Huh, I saw a swiming pool once in a motel, here in the PNW pool noodles are in short supply :D

I did the pool noodle thing today
 

I put some in my drivers seat. One of the zig-zag springs along the left side busted. I cut the spring on the other side in the same place so everything would be equal side to side. I stuffed 2 noodles along each side which may be too much. The seat feels too hard. I'm going to remove one from each side see how that feels.

I'm headed out to Claremore, OK for a diesel get together with the MBZ.org group this week so I want to get the seat as comfortable has possible so I don't end up with saddle sores!! I'll post some pictures tomorrow night.

Unfortunately going to OK means missing the PA get together....what were the chances of both events happening on the same date!!

I did this yesterday to my 300D. I could forego some of the steps listed here because they apply to W123s without height adjustment. I didn't even take the seat out completely, I just undid the bolts at each corner, lifted the seat up just a little bit, and stuffed a pool noodle under there, while scraping some skin off of my hand, which must mean I did "something" right. I'm not sure if I stuffed the pool noodle in there like the photos show, but there definately is some improvement, although it still lists to the left side a little bit. I even found a bit of foam in there from someone else's previous attempt to firm up the seats, I left it in there because it was in the back of the seat box, and I needed it in the front. I'm probably going to go back and reposition the foam tommorow and wrap part of it up with an old T-shirt so rear passengers won't find green foam on the rear floor! :o
-Joe

P.S. If $1.30-1.40 is too much for you, I saw some pool noodles at Dollar Tree for a dollar, or less. Save yourself 30 or 40¢+ for something else. :P

Well, I went back and repositioned the foam, and this time, my hands were unharmed... without gloves! This time, I took the seat completely out, and I got it back in. The only little quirk the seat has now is that when I raise the lever on the side to adjust the seat height, it raises up all on its own with no input! I'm not in the seat when it does that though. To get it back, I have to pull up a little harder now and push back a little harder, and it goes back down like it should, and stays there. It feels a lot better now.
-Joe

For those of you who are considering the pool noodle seat repair, get your pool noodles soon. Summer is ending, and the pool noodles are on sale at Wal-Mart for 50 cents each. I got a couple and put them in the back seat, and the passenger side seat.
-Joe

Timly post;
I will be out in the AM shopping for Pool noodles at WMArt...

This will be for the drivers seat in my '85 300D.

One noodle along the front of the rear seat bottom did the trick for me.

Exactly what I did. :D

Great idea! The drivers seat in my 240 could use a little help. Thank you for the info/pics!

Cheers,

Bill

On to the SDL
 

Funny this thread would make it back, as I just got done doing this treatment to my “new” ’87 300SDL this weekend. Should have taken a few pic’s. It’s not really any harder than the W123, except access is very tight when packing the noodles in.

My Steps: Not by the book, just through experience and observation. Your mileage may vary…………

1.Take out the lower bench on the back seat. This will give you lots of room to work without having to totally remove the front seats from the car.

2.Move seat all the way forward and up to access and remove rear bolts.

3.Remove the black bar attached to the rear hump that secures the seat belt thing and slide out to set aside. The plastic covers over the bolts are a bit*h to get off. They are clipped on with a plastic thing that fits under the washer that you can’t see. Move cover toward rear of car while prying gently from the back of the cover, at least that worked for me.

4.Move seats all the way to the rear and tilt up front to access the front bolts.

5.Remove the plastic covers over the bolts, just pull straight forward and then up.

6.Loosen the front bolts just enough so you can reach under and pull that carpet ramp thing off of the bar so you can see the wiring hookups. The carpet is just held to the bar with a “C” shaped plastic thing. You may have to remove the front seat bolts all the way and tilt the seat back to get it off.

7.Now you can see the electrical connections, there are three “blocks” and one wire for the seat belt warning sign. Remove each block carefully while trying to hold the carpet out of the way, prying gently and swearing. If you still have the front seat bolts attached this may be easier. There is also a removable wire tie to open up.

8.Once the seat is free, just let it tilt into the back and ‘rassle it around to get it up on the shelf where the back seat was and you can see the bottom. Use pads underneath so you do not break any of the plastic trim.
8b.Pick up loose change, vac and clean.

9.Look at all those motors and gears! I love my 123’s simplicity more every day!

10.Figure out what you want to noodle and how to shove them in. All parts are sharp and will cut you!!!!!!

11.I cut two pieces of a fat noodle (4” diameter) that I found to 120mm long for the front corner springs. I cut diagonal lines to match the coil of the springs and shoved them in there like post supports. The rest, I just shoved regular noodles into the Z shaped springs. I did use a few wire ties here and there to make sure nothing shifted during flight.

12.Reverse order to re-install and repeat on passenger side. Keeping the seats in the car worked well and I did not have to worry about breaking anything taking them all the way out. They are heavy!

The process was much slower than on the 123 and took me the better part of the day. I did the back seat bench as well. Despite my training on the 123 and wearing gloves where I could, my hands still look like I was trying to put a cat in a bag. However the results were excellent!

Good luck,

Clay

Clay;

Q: 1st time today I checked to find bolts on my '85 300D. Front 2 are bolts, but in rear can't find bolts. What I do see is phillips head screws that look like they hold seat to a track.

NO BOLTS....
anywhere....

Lift up on the height adjustment... then put the seat all the way to the front... you may have a double slide arrangement sorta like good tool chest drawers which will come all the way out supported... which will hide the rear bolts until you move the seat all the way forward... it may still be hard to get a straight shot at them with the ratchet. And be sure you don't mess up the heads.. I had a real job with air chisel getting one out lately...

Look at the pic's (#2,3 and 4) on the first post of this thread. Leather is right, you must have the seat forward and all the way up to see the rear bolts. Remove the plastic covers at the rear of the rails and you will see the bolts.

Clay

I was wondering for a few years what those handles were on the outboard sides of the front seats in my 79 300D. Nothing happened when you pulled up on the handle because they were seized. If necessary, you need pull up on the side seat handle and force the seat forward (the seat will raise at the same time) to reveal the 2 rear bolts attaching it to the car body. 10mm head.

I put 2 3 inch pool noodles in each front seat, tossed the horsehair and replaced it with foam and scrubby-pad-type upholstering material and a short section of pool noodle on the left and righh hand side. Also shoved some of this into the back for lumbar support. The back seat got the same padding and 2 pool noodles.

I use to feel that my behind was almost draggin on the street while behind the wheel. Now I feel like an old man in a lazy boy, or even a kid in a booster seat. Way easier to get in and out of the car now and more enjoyable.

Works Great!
 

Thanks for the posting. I 'stuffed' the front seats of my '84 300TD last weekend and WHAT a difference! I used heavy work gloves and prevented a lot of cuts, if not lacerations. Oh yeah, I found @ $10 in change. I highly recommend this repair and thank the person who posted the info. :beerchug: :beerchug: :beerchug:

Fried Noodles?
 

Thanks for the idea and postings. I recently stuffed my 82 380 SEL and the improvement is 100%. The driver's seat still leans slightly toward the door, but I may stuff another noodle on that side to try and correct it.

My only other concern is about a potential fire. Does anyone know if the heated seats pose a potential fire hazard?

WILL I END UP WITH FRIED NOODLES?:eek:

take the seat out or not?
 

Adam- I have a 1983 300D with height adjustment. Is that what you have? Should I take the whole seat out or just reach under there and stuff? Thanks. Lance

The little strips of foam are coming out of my seat.. I guess I need to rebuild my seats soon...

Take them out to do it! I promise.........

Another thread with pics.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=118949&highlight=noodle

Surprised to see this thread make it back to the top!

Some have commented on a concern that the pool noodles will deteriorate over time. I had my back seat out this weekend looking for MIA kid toys and observed 0 cuts, splits, crumbling, dust, etc.

This is after ~ 2.5 years total, with more than one year in Mexico (HOT!) and two little girls bouncing all over the place. Maybe the grease from lost French fries is conditioning the noodles? Maybe the Academy Sports noodles are OEM? :P

As a side note, pool noodles come in 2 sizes, bigger and smaller. I used the bigger ones on the outside edges of the seat and cut them to a taper towards the seat back. Then placed the smaller ones next to the big ones. I was replacing both front seat bottoms at the time, so i removed the green horsehair crappy pads and replaced with zip tied pieces of used carpet topped with that "memory foam" and stuffed out with that polyester spun foam from Wal-Mart. This made it run way over budget at about 20 bucks, but it was worth it, Now my front seats fell better than my old living room recliner.....hmmmm....maybe I should pool noodle the recliner.

Short story, this is one fine, cheap, and easy project with results you really can feel!

I noodled my mother's 300D the other day, and *BOY* what a difference it makes! It doesn't quite have that "factory new" feel, and if you try and stuff too many noodles into it (like I did.. I got a tad overzealous), it can be incredibly firm.. but it certainly helps.

Put it this way, the driver's side seat was so low that when I sat on it, my entire left side sank to the floor (practically), I always slouched towards the door due to a broken spring, and I could barely see over the wiper blades. Alas, I couldn't even see the MB star! After noodling it, I was so high up that it felt like a new car, and I could see the hood star without any problems!

If someone like ME can do this, anybody can. I suggest anybody who has a sagging seat, tired tush, or sloping side to run out, grab a few dollar store noodles, and fix those seat springs. Your butt and back will thank you!

Found my noodles at the dollar store today and was trying to unbolt my first victim. The bolts in the front of the seat came out easily and the ones in the rear won't even turn. What would be the best tool to use to get those suckers to turn and come? Should I put WD-40 on them? I was using a ratchet-screwdriver handle combination and not sure if that's too little torque.

So what wrench should I use and/or lube to get that thing to turn. There's no rust to be seen but she's an old girl.

I find that a standard 3/8" ratchet with a 10mm deep socket works well for both the front and rear bolts in the W123's I've unbolted seats from. Most of my 3/8" ratchets are all of 8" from end to end.

The only trouble I have pulling seats is usually due to the height adjustment being frozen from grit, grime, and age. I swear it had to have taken me an hour of kicking and cursing my driver side seat to get it to move forward when I wanted to replace the seat. I bet the neighbours were wondering why I kept getting in and out of the back of my car and kicking the back of the front seat with both legs as hard as I could.

I may just try pool noodles on the rear seat bottom if needed when I replace all of my seats with a matched set in the future. Not too many people will ever be in the back, unless the wife and I go to the drive-in movies. :cool:

Instead of WD 40 use PB Blaster. You won't be disappointed.

Cheers,

Bill

I use one of those "impact drivers" with the Philips head which seats very will into the fastener then a wack with a hammer. Always does the trick and fits down through the rail just right.

Anybody tried welding the broken seat springs?

Depends entirely on the steel the springs are made from, as well as the skill of the welder. I'd have a heck of a time welding a tiny spring. Of course, you'd have to temper it correctly when you were finished, which means quenching it in oil.

I'm seeing either a spring that loses it's spring, and just sags, or one that ends up so brittle it fractures easily unless it's done right. I'm not saying it's impossible, but surely it would take a craftsman to pull it off.

Success! What a difference $4 can make! Good thing I just had my tetanus updated! I didn't realize a spring was broken and it cut the top of my hand. Otherwise, the only difficult part was loosening the bolts on the back part of the seat. That was mostly due to my not having the correct tools. I'm off to K-mart to get me a nice socket set! That just sounded really dumb, but they do carry Craftsman now... I'm almost too tall for my car now! The shorter people probably REALLY love this noodle stuff! - Lance

after reading from the beginning, first I had to finally look up swmbo (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=swmbo) which now makes perfect sense, and now I'll definitly have to do this mod too. I just got a 300D for my girlfriend but the drivers seat sags uncomfortably to the left and she wants a very firm seat so I believe i will be stuffing it to the gills with the things!

Works great, sure beats paying for those silly little Mercedes repair pieces of foam on eBay!!!
Thanks for the idea.

Cool. Ill try and remember this in an event I ever encounter a problem like this :)

Single guy comment, right John?

Go for it on the noodles, works great.

In another post I mentioned that I had my seats out a few weeks ago. No change in the noodles over the 2.5 year period. No breaking, no crumbling or bits around. Some have mentioned that this could happen, but I'm not seeing it. Last 1 year plus has been in blazing hot Mexico.

I did this on the power seats on the SDL also. More to work around installing them, but works great there also.

Good luck!

Clay

Pool Noodle Repair
 

I noodled the drivers side on my 1985 300dt about a month ago. Big improvement. I will be working on passenger seat soon. I am interested in finding out how these do after two or three years. Let me know. Thanks.

Well I haven`t gone the pool noodle route, sounds kind of Micky Mousing
things together. now Iam not criticizing anyone going that route.

It is more work to do, but the passenger side seat bottom spring box
will fit on the drivers side. you will have to take the seat apart to do this,
but it will be back to original. usually the pass side doesn`t get as much
use. I have one now I got from P N P.

As far as those strips sliding out the back of the seat as "THE DON"
mentioned, pull the seat cushon/cover off and pull them back into place
and hot glue them in place.
Did this on my SD when I reupolsterd it, learned the hard way on the 300D.

Charlie

I did mine a year ago and it has been pretty hard but slowly I have broken it in better over time ... it ain't real great though. I noticed a seat fix on Hunters special order parts list .... http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=183654 ...... has anyone ever tried one of those?

I drove from Denver to LA shortly after doing the pool noodle fix. Way too hard for my liking. My spine was sore for days.