Driver's Side seat stuck up high - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Hound · #1 10-16-2006, 07:21 PM

Posted this on MBworld and figured I'd post it here as well just incase...

Hey guys, need some help with a problem that I've been having that has taken a turn for the worse. Ever since I got my car back in april, the driver's side front seat power works no problem, but, when i go to tilt the rear section down (im 6'7" so i have to drive in the back seat as it were lol) the left side would go down but the right side was intermitant at best, but i just left it where i needed it and delt with it. Yesterday when moving the seat forward to make it easier to work in the back seat, when i went to move it back, I could no longer lower the right side down, so now my seat sits up 2-2.5" higher and I end up hitting my head on the sunroof

My question is this, does anyone know how I can fix this myself or with some help? And if so do you have a writeup or link to one??? Thanks, for any and all help as I cannot drive the car really right now

Bigpete123 helpfully suggested that he thought that it might be the swich itself, but Im pretty well convinced that this is not the case, simply due to the fact that the left hand side of the mechanism (the arm that appears to open and fold in on itsel to make the seat tilt down at the rear) works just fine nice and quick with no jerky movements, yet the right hand side mechanism seems to be perminatly stuck in the upright position... Could this be a gear or loose connection perhaps?

Gilly · #2 10-16-2006, 09:20 PM

You've got one motor to adjust the rear up and down, but 2 "jack screws" as they're called. One is driven direct off the motor, the other is cable-driven, sort of a HD version of a speedo cable. What needs to be done is the seat removed and both jack screws driven to the upper limit. Then the cable either replaced OR if you're cheap you can remove the cable, remove the metal shield on one end, then the outer plastic sheath can be trimmed maybe 1/2" or so, then the metal shield reinstalled and the cable put back on. Seen this alot. Lot of fun to fix.
Gilly

Hound · #3 10-17-2006, 12:54 AM

thanks for the reply. How hard is it to take out the seat?

Gilly · #4 10-17-2006, 05:13 AM

Depends on YOU, not the seat. Myself, on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being a hard job to do, I'd give it a 3 or so. MB seats are usually pretty heavy too, so a bit to heave out of there.
Gilly

Bigpete123 · #5 10-17-2006, 11:41 AM

Yeah, it's not terribly hard at all. I have instructions in a PDF document on how to remove them. Hound, email me at

pierps -at- gmail dott com

Sorry, I don't want to increase my spam, so forgive the cryptic email address. You basically have to position the seat properly to get at five bolts, then you simply unplug a bunch of stuff and the seat comes right out. Yes, they are heavy!!

Gilly · #6 10-17-2006, 06:37 PM

Since your fore/aft adjustments work, yeah you should be able to get to the bolts OK. Lot's of wires. I do those after unbolting because you can tilt the entire seat back to get to the wire connections easier. Plus if you unplug them first you won't be able to move the seat electrically to get to the bolts. You'll want to adjust it back to get to the front bolts and front to get to the rears. I think there is a slider rail on the side of the transmission/driveshaft tunnel you need to pop the cover off and remove a bolt back there too. I can give details on how to shorten the outer sheath on the drive cable if you need it, or you can order a new one. The inner metal shaft is fine, it's sort of like the outer plastic part lengthens somehow with age, pretty weird. So the inner part comes disengaged from one end over time.
Gilly

Hound · #7 10-18-2006, 05:53 PM

thanks for the replies guys!

Pete you've got mail

Gilly, that would be great If you could send me those details, I'm going to do this tomorow so hopefully you will see this msg before then if not no big deal, I'm doing this with my grand father who Is very handy and so I'm sure we can tackle this NP

Gilly · #8 10-18-2006, 09:00 PM

Sure. Once the cable is removed, decide which end to shorten. No big decision process, "one side or the other" theory works fine. Remove the inner cable, pulls right out. On the side you want to shorten, first you need to remove the metal end. Drill the small dimples out that hold the metal end to the cable sheath so you can pull the end off. The just slice maybe 3/8" or so off the plastic sheath using a single edged razor or something comperable. Put the metal end back over the sheath and you should be able to just crimp it on with a pliers, or use a hammer and center-punch and put a few dimples in it like the factory did. I'd stick a pin punch into the sheath to help brace the sheath for the center punch if you intend on doing it that way. Look at the other end when placing the metal end back on so you know the outer sheath is inserted a proper amount into the metal part.
Gilly

Gilly · #9 10-18-2006, 09:05 PM

Hound
Also just thought: When you remove the seat, try to raise the rear as far as it goes (unsure the position of the rear screws right now). The "motor" driven side should be the one to go up all the way, the cable driven side won't be up all the way. Remove the end from the motor first, then use a drill chucked up to the inner drive cable and raise the other side so they are both as high as they go. You can also just use a small screwdriver on the cable-driven side and rotate the inner part to jack that screw all the way up, but it's a bit of a tedious process, but I've done it w/o too much emotional scarring..........
OH, after you shorten the outer sheath, just grease the inner cable a bit and put it back in the sheath, should be obvious.
Gilly