Pictorial on how to repair your broken seat springs

[Diesel Giant]

I just finished up my pictorial on how to repair your broken seat spring. I also changed the format of the maintenance page so it loads much faster.

http://dieselgiant.com/mercedes_diesel_maintenance_tips.htm

Hope this will encourage you to do it yourself!

Enjoy!

[coachgeo]

Perfect timing for this thread.

Thank you!

[coachgeo]

hmmmmm.. apparently the seats in a 300SD remove differently. I got the 4 bolts out and seat is going nowhere. Will do a search and report back here.

[Pete Burton]

coach, if your seats are like mine they have a sliding mount for the seat belt clip. It's stiff enough so that after removing the 4 bolts and pulling the seat towards the dood opening, it feels like something is really holding it down. Don't ask how I know

[1985 300SD Sady]

yes, I just did this 2 days ago on my 300sd and you have to remove the plastic clip on the trasmission hump (back seat foot area) there is a 10mm bolt under that that needs to be removed.

Also, the wiring harness is much easier to remove when the front of the seat is in the up position, and the seat is as far back as possible.

After I removed my seat, I stuffed it with pool noodles. For $.50 I got a brand new feeling seat!

[coachgeo]

Originally Posted by 1985 300SD Sady

yes, I just did this 2 days ago on my 300sd and you have to remove the plastic clip on the trasmission hump (back seat foot area) there is a 10mm bolt under that that needs to be removed.

Got that. Been struggling for hour or so now with the rest. I got so much stuff taken apart yet the seat wont seperate from the frame that attaches to the floor, nor can I get the wiring harness disconnected.

Did you only pull the black seat mounts off of the floor and not take the seat itself off of these mounts? If so do you have access to all of the insides of the bottom seat this way?

Also, the wiring harness is much easier to remove when the front of the seat is in the up position, and the seat is as far back as possible.

Up position? you mean most verticle position or? How do they unplug? I cant see how they do at the moment. Maybe after moving the seat upright it will make since.

As to my search earlier. I found no threads on the removal of these seats.

Can I install the seats from my 300D into my SD? They are fine

[Austin85]

This is a project I must get to...
Q 1: I loosened up the front bolts on my 300D and the right side one noe is not tightening....Looks like the hole it screws into is somewhat stripped.
The bolt looks fine and tightens on the left side ok..
Does anyone have a fix for this????

Q 2: You repaired only 1 spring...Was 1 broken spring enough to give you noticeable difference in your seat? Mine sags quite a bit and I figure there are probably 6 or more broken ones....(I may go with the pool noodle fix...)

[TX76513]

Originally Posted by coachgeo

hmmmmm.. apparently the seats in a 300SD remove differently. I got the 4 bolts out and seat is going nowhere. Will do a search and report back here.

You can remove the bottom seat cover without unbolting the seat and messing with the electric harness - much easier! Other than replacing the entire spring box this is the best way to repair broken springs. While seat noodles are a good fix - they don't last long

[DieselAddict]

From my experience, repairing the springs may not be enough to level the seat. In my '82 I had one broken spring and I repaired it by inserting the ends into a vacuum hose segment which I wrapped in another, bigger hose which I secured with a hose clamp. As long as the two ends fit well and they don't separate, the vacuum hose will hold them. I also stuffed some carpet padding under the springs on the left side of the seat, but it still leans to the left! I think the problem is with the material that's on top of the seat right underneath the leather/MB tex. It's been compressed too much over the years by some fat ass. What's the best way to get to it?

[1985 300SD Sady]

Originally Posted by coachgeo

..yet the seat wont seperate from the frame that attaches to the floor,...

There is your problem, you are unbolting the wrong bolts! Just simply unbolt the entire frame that bolts to the floor.

Originally Posted by coachgeo

Did you only pull the black seat mounts off of the floor and not take the seat itself off of these mounts? If so do you have access to all of the insides of the bottom seat this way?

Up position? you mean most verticle position or? How do they unplug? I cant see how they do at the moment. Maybe after moving the seat upright it will make since.

As to my search earlier. I found no threads on the removal of these seats.

Can I install the seats from my 300D into my SD? They are fine

I mean that the bottom part of the seat was as far up (towards the headliner) as possible. This allowed me to access the wiring harness much easier. There are just three plugs, the outer one (towards the door) is about 12 prongs and the whole plug just pulls off. One nearer to the tranny hump is only 4 prongs and pulls off. And finally one that is loose that is only 2 prongs that you have to squeeze the sides of the connector to get undone.

After that, the seat comes out, and you cane access the bottom of the seat enough to stuff noodles in there. I think it may be hard to access the actual springs this way though.

In someones experience, how long will the noodles last before they need replacing?

[Diesel Giant]

I have never tried the noodle idea. Does anyone have any pics of this in action?

[TX76513]

Originally Posted by Diesel Giant

I have never tried the noodle idea. Does anyone have any pics of this in action?

There is a very good pictorial here in the DIY at begining of forum. It's a fantastic idea and does work well - but longevity is limited, and that's only because pool noodles are not made of the highest quality material.

[Diesel Giant]

Ahh I see. I will check it out.

[Mike J]

Originally Posted by TX76513

You can remove the bottom seat cover without unbolting the seat and messing with the electric harness - much easier! Other than replacing the entire spring box this is the best way to repair broken springs. While seat noodles are a good fix - they don't last long

I have the new spring frame, and a new seat pad.
Started to remove the seat, but backed away until I understand better.

I assume I will have to remove the entire seat to replace the spring frame?

I need more support for my big ole butt!