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Well, after going through the post on this subject and folks who offered response to my post regarding the seat heater, many thanks for the feedback. After a bottle of BV Rutherford and 10 advils, here's a tip. If you want to pull the seat out, have at least two pairs of T-40 and T-50 handy. And, in hindsight, a Torx key set is very indispensible due to tight spots.
I have non-power seats. It's easier to unbolt the seat with the tracks on (need T-40) instead of loosensing the four 12mm nuts that hold the seat to the tracks. Need also to unscrew the knob that controls the recliner to take the plastic trim out. Have to use a 3mm standard screwdriver to pry out plastic cover of the recliner knob, and you would need either a T-25 or T-30 key to loosen the screw that holds the knob. Then, you would need a T-40 key to loosen the screw that holds the seat belt to the seat frame. Now you can lift the seat out and be careful because you can really scratch or ding the panels, window, or paint of the car. Would be a good idea to have another pair of eyes to guide you as you lift that seat out.
Got that monstrosity in my apartment. Would be a good idea to have shop towels, if you have carpet or hard wood floors, before you lay the seat on the ground due. Need T-50s to unbolt the highback. There are two bolts per side and make a mental note which one is which. Those were a pain to unbolt looks like the bolts had locktite on the threads! Yup, the tips of the T-50 head got mangled even though I had one hand on the head of the wrench to eliminate wobble. Got them unbolted, finally! Gently lay the highback forward so that you won't pull the highback heater wire. It has a black plastic cover. Huzzah, another obstacle, the upholstery staples (evil, made of thick gauge wire, appear to be same thickness as barb wires.) that pinch the seat cover together. Would need two pliers, one has to be a long nose for tight spots. Follow the wire and you'll see the heater pad. That pad is glued to the lower back cushion. Well, the wires were in good condition. So, I checked the length of the wire. Behold and lo, I noticed a puncture on the wire cover. Got a blade to open up the wire cover. Guess what, one of wires was cut by the upholstery staples. Got the car used, looks like previous owner had a section of the seat re-upholstered, left side bolster. Viola, easy enough, spliced and taped the wires. By the way, I also replaced the plastic bushings the hold the headrest to the highback frame since my headrest was not working/staying in the upward position. Since I had no idea of what I have been getting myself into, I decided to access the bushings through the back side of the seat's highback. I was able to twist the two bushings 180 degrees and pulled it out along with the headrest. Played around to see how it works and installed the new bushings. Spent $57/USD since it's a dealer item. The saabsite has them as well. Will need a rubber mallet or a clenched fist to tap the bushings down to the frame, gently. (I think this is the only time that it would be acceptable to raise your fist in anger.) The right hand bushing has to pass through a second slot. Slide the headrest and do a 180 degree twist and listen for a faint click sound. Hope, I did right. Reinstalled everything. Oh yeah, I did not re-use those upholstery staples. I used the wire ties at every 1.5 inch intervals. Since I was out of black wire ties, used all the black ones when I re-wired the home entertainment system (Blackhawk Down never sounded so good), I went for a multi-colour approach: yellow, red, and blue!
Also, re-greased the seat tracks. Q-tips or chopsticks work well to get the old grease out. I used NAPA syl-glide. The seat tracks have a white plastic bushing that facilitates the slide of the tracks. The bottom of the tracks have holes about 0.25 inches apart. I applied the grease through those holes and worked the slide back and forth.
Since I had the seat out, I decided to play around with the driver side seat belt since I have been noticing the slow as mud retraction. Pryed the plastic panels out and WD-40'd the spring-loaded wheel. Good idea to have a shop towel to catch the excess lubricant. I guess it's just wear and tear but the seat belt does retract with some speed/ease.
The seat belt, headrest, and heater now works but my back is still sore. Perhaps, I serve myself a double of Macallan 18 and call in sick!
posted by 69.226.187...
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