problem of the day... Ever since obtaning the car, I felt that the driver's seat did not go back quite as far as it should. I felt just a bit too close to the pedals. So tonight I ran the seat all the way forward, and upon examination, found an old ball point pen that had been mangled into the right track (the black track mounted to the floor), as well as about 37 cents in coins. After clearing the debris and feeling quite pleased with myself, I went to slide the seat back to its new expanded position. And now the problem... only the left side of the seat moves (about an inch or two). The right side doesn't budge, doesn't even make a sound. It is stuck in the full forward position.

Subsequently, I have read a few posts that describe how to pull the seat to replace a cable. Sounds scarey. Are there any other ideas out there? I hate to think I did this to myself. The seat had been working fine. Short of a permanent solution, is there a way to release the seat manually? I currently have it "tilted" all the way back... barely functional.

I have found that a similar problem can be fixed by trimming the metal housing on the end of the cable. This allows the cable to go stick further in and thus engage the gear. This can be done without removing the seat, you just need to identify which cable is not working. You can cut the thin metal housing about a 1/8th inch with a dremel tool. You can cut either end, the effect is to lengthen the cable relative to the outer covering. (There have been previous posts that describe this procedure).

You probably need to loosed the seat and use the excellent description given in the other posts to get the two tracks lined up again.

Dear Philip,

May this find you well. I do not understand, how one can work on these cables, without removing the seat, especially when the seat is all the way forward.

Further, if my memory serves me correctly, on the end of the cable, that goes into the drive motor, there is a flared metal housing. This is clamped against the motor, by the bracket, when the screws are tightened. Even if one trimmed the end of the flared housing, a shim will have to go between the bracket and the flared housing, to push the housing closer to the motor. If no shim is inserted, the end of the cable will be loose, as the bracket would be hard to bend (to move its edge closer to the motor cluster). Moving the flared cable housing closer to the motor, will not achieve anything, as the end of the cable closest to the drive gear, is held in place by another fixed-position clamp.

Thus, while I, too, have read posts about trimming the end of the cable sheath, it is not clear to me, how this will do anything other, than to make a bad situation worse. I have found, though, that reversing the cable - putting the end that went into the motor, into the drive gear - was useful.

The basic problem, with the front-to-back drive cable, is that it is 1/8" too short. The only cure for that is a longer cable. Absent that, using the less-worn end can help. If that doesn't a new cable seems to be needful. Shortening the housing can only work, if there's a way to snug the housings at both ends, to keep them firmly against the motor and drive gear, respectively. I don't recall seeing a set screw or clamp, that can be adjusted, to keep the end of the cable housing snugged against the motor or drive gear housing.

Yours faithfully,

spook

If

I have done this twice. The last time I had the seat back all the way and tilted it so the front was as high as possible. I loosened the bolts that hold the seat to the track, unlooked it, and tilted it over enough to access the cable. I then trimmed the metal housing and put it back on and it has worked ever since. Maybe it is superstitious behavior, but I haven't had a problem since.

Dear Patwa,

Good p.m. and may this find you well. So long as you remove the negative battery cable clamp from the battery terminal, and put the clamp into a plastic bag, you will be in no danger. Doing this, ensures that no power reaches the airbag sensor, which is under the driver's seat. That means you cannot accidentally trigger an airbag deployment, by banging the sensor, or dropping a tool on it.

Once you have the seat out of the car, fixing the problem - a worn drive cable - is relatively simple. I set forth below a procedure.

Hope this helps. Post back, if you hit any obstacles.

Yours faithfully,

spook



Procedure for Repair of Drive Cables on Power Seats.

I. SEAT REMOVAL.

A. ☞ DEATH DANGER WARNING. To avoid accidental triggering of an airbag - the sensor is under the driver’s seat - remove negative battery cable clamp from the negative battery terminal, and put the clamp in a plastic bag, to ensure that no power can flow to the airbag sensor. An airbag deployment at close quarters can kill; even if it does not, it will be expensive. If an airbag deploys, the sensor must be replaced. That will cost about $1,200.

B. Preparations

1. Cover the inner face of the passenger door panel with a sheet of cardboard. Cover with cardboard, the rocker panel section at the bottom of the door opening and the plastic strip on the interior of that rocker panel section (the door threshold strip). This will protect them against damage. A power seat is heavy, bulky, and unwieldy.

2. Next, remove the plastic covers over the back end of the seat tracks. They are held on by lugs on the tracks, which fit into recesses in the covers. Pull back to disengage the cover from the lug, and then pull up. With a bit of wiggling, they should come free. Be especially gentle, if it is cold, when you do this. Old plastic is always brittle, and cold plastic is even more brittle. Remove the cover on the front door-side track (single Torx-20 screw).


C. Seat Removal

1. Loosen, but do not remove the four seat bolts.

2. To remove the seat belt anchor bolt, unscrew the cup-holder at the front of the seat (a single Torx-20 screw). Rotate the cup-holder upwards, to expose the seat-belt anchor bolt. Remove it. This bolt will be tight: be prepared to use muscle on it. Remove the seat belt from the seat.

3. Remove the four seat bolts.

4. Pull the seat as far back as possible, then move it forward 5mm/ 1/5". That will allow the seat track lug to disengage from the "keyhole" in the floor plan.

5. Carefully lift the seat out of the car.

II. CABLE REMOVAL

A. Position the seat bottom-up on supports (with towel or blanket to protect the upholstery), such that the leading edge of the seat is closest to you. The "leading edge" is that which is against the back of the driver’s or passenger’s knees, and thus the edge closest to the windshield, when the seat is installed.

B. Find the seat motors, a three-unit cluster, mounted towards the seat’s leading edge.

C. To the right of the motor cluster, you will see a black steel bracket, with a “D” shaped hole in it. The round side of the “D” faces the seat’s leading edge .

D. On the underside of that bracket, on the left side of it (i.e., the side closest to the motor cluster) you will find six, 8-mm, hex head, self-tapping screws. These six screws secure the bracket to the motor housings.

E. Use 1/4" socket tools. You will need an 8mm socket, a 4" or 6" spring flex shaft, and a ratchet. Starting from the screw closest to the seat’s leading edge, remove these screws. You can insert the spring flex shaft through the “D” shaped hole to access some of the screws. Note: there is no need to touch the screws at the other end of the black steel bracket, that closest to the seat track.

F. When you remove the screws, you will notice a slight gap (3/16", 3-4 mm) opens up between the bracket edge, and the studs on the motor housings, from which you removed the screws mentioned in (E). Do not be concerned. You will close this gap, when you re-install the screws.

G. You can now remove the drive cable end from any of the three motors, by pulling the black plastic cable housing straight towards the “D” shaped hole in the steel bracket. The end of the drive cable is not secured to the motor housing by a set-screw. You will see that at the motor end of the drive cable, the bright metal cable housing is slightly flared. This flare in the cable housing allows the black steel bracket to snug the end of the drive cable housing, into the motor housing opening, when the bracket’s 6 mounting screws are tightened.

H. If the seat tracks are not aligned, you can align them as follows.

1. Remove the drive cable from its opening in the seat track drive motor (the middle one in the cluster).

2. Supply power to the seat, from a 12-volt battery (or portable 12-volt source) through leads with insulated (red and black flexible plastic), spring-loaded alligator clamps. The wire from the positive pole of the battery/source should go to the spade terminal, for the red wire on the grey connector and the wire from the negative pole of the battery/source should go to spade terminal for the black wire on the grey connector.

3. On a passenger-side powered seat - which does not have “memory” - use a carpenter’s steel framing square (16"x24"). Place the short leg of the square along the outer edge of one of the tracks, with the long leg extending parallel with the leading edge of the seat, until it (the long leg of the carpenter’s square) extends past the track on the other side of the seat.

4. Use the seat switch to advance the powered track, until it just touches the edge of the carpenter’s square. Both seat tracks are now aligned.

On a powered driver’s seat - which memory and its own seat computer - you may need to take the seat to a Volvo dealer, to get the tracks re-aligned, if the method set forth above, does not restore synchronous track movement.

I. Once the motor-end of the drive cable has been removed, you can remove the other end, from the track drive gear mechanism, beside the seat track. You can then replace the cable.

J. In some cases, you can restore function, by pulling the drive cable out of the black plastic housing and reversing the cable, i.e., inserting the end that was closest to the motor, so that it goes into the track drive gear mechanism. This may be worth trying, if the end of the drive cable, that was closest to the motor, is slightly rounded or worn, and if the end, that was closest to the seat drive mechanism, is not rounded or worn. While a slight rounding may stop the motor from turning the drive cable, slight rounding or wear does not seem similarly to affect the drive cable’s capacity to turn the track drive gear.

K. Once you have installed a new drive cable assembly, or reversed the drive cable in its housing, you should test the new assembly.

III. TESTING & RE-INSTALLATION

A. Using your hand, push the end of the track drive cable, into the motor housing, and hold it firmly in place. Use the seat switch to activate the motor. If the tracks (normally bolted to the floor) move smoothly and completely, forwards and backwards, you’ve restored the seat to good working order. You may want to lubricate the tracks with a spray grease (e.g., white lithium). If the seat tracks do not move smoothly and completely, forwards and backwards, check the tracks to ensure they’re free of obstructions (e.g., coins, dirt, debris, etc.) and not bent or otherwise damaged. Clear any obstructions, and re-test. If the tracks are bent, or teeth broken, the tracks will need to be replaced.

B. Reinsert screws into the holes at either end of the black steel bracket, and tighten them “snug”. REMEMBER: these screws are going into plastic, so brute force will strip the hole!!! Tighten the two end screws alternately (rather than doing one completely, and then the other). This alternate tightening will gently and evenly draw the steel bracket towards the motor cluster, pushing the ends of the drive cable housings into the motor housing openings. The four middle screws need not be re-inserted at this point.

C. Re-test any repaired drive mechanism, to ensure it still works through its full range of movement. If it still does so, insert and tighten the remaining four hex head screws. Go GENTLY: these screws are going into plastic studs on the motors, so it is easy to strip a hole.

D. Re-install the seat in the car, by aligning the studs on the seat track bottoms with the holes in the seat pan. When the seat is flat on the floor, move the seat, until the holes at the end of the seat tracks match the holes in the floor pan. Insert the seat bolts and set the threads into the holes, by turning the bolts by hand, counter-clockwise, for one full turn. You should hear/feel a slight “click”, when the thread on the bolt engages the thread in the hole . Hand tighten as much as possible, and then torque to 33 pound/feet (45 nM). Hand tighten and then torque the seat belt anchor bolt to 33 pound/feet (45nM).

Dear Spook,

Just doing a prelim assessment to determine if I want to go down this path. Couple questions:

1) You say to remove the seat belt anchor I need to "unscrew the cup-holder at the front of the seat" then rotate it upward. Are you talking about the whole console? I cannot find a "single" torx screw. Plus, I'm not sure what the cupholder has to do with it. (this is a '97 960, is there something different about it's layout that what the instructions were based on?)

2) I do not see how I am going to loosen the front right seat bolt. The seat is so far up, there is no clear access (unless maybe if I remove the console). Am I missing something?

3) Am I going to need a 12 volt source to test (part III step A)?

Thanks for your continued support.

Patwa

Dear patwa,

Good p.m. & may this find you well. On the driver's seat, there is a plastic part, beside the seat, between the seat and the door. I referred to this as a cup-holder. I should have referred to it as the power seat switch cluster bracket.

This bracket - usually made of plastic to match the car's interior color (colour) - is secured at the front and the back, with Torx-20 screws. The front screw is located in a "well" in the plastic; the rear screw is in "plain sight".

I usually loosen the front screw - it is not needful to remove it- using a Torx-20 bit, in a bit holder, that goes on a 1/4" square drive ratchet. If there's not room for that, I use the Torx-20 bit, and turn it with a standard ring (box) wrench. This is slow, but it work. You have only to loosen it, so that when you remove the rear screw, you can rotate the bracket upwards, exposing the seatbelt anchor screw.

This procedure should work on a 960. Even though I don't own a 960, I have worked on seats from 960s.

As to the front right bolt, removing the front center console (in which the radio lives), is not likely to help. Removing the emergency brake console likely will help. In the FAQs - under FEATURES, above - you'll find a procedure for installing a power passenger seat, in a car which was not so equipped. In that procedure, the steps to remove the emergency brake console are clearly set forth. Getting at that bolt - when the seat is full forward - should be possible. It will not be easy. No matter who does this repair, it will be needful, as the seat has to be removed, to fix the cable.

A 12-volt portable source will be useful. If you don't have one, run a length of common #12 electrical wire, from the positive post of the battery. Run another length of #12 wire from the contact on the seat power connector (the grey connector) to any point on the body, where there's bare metal. That will make a ground. You will then have power to the seat.

Hope this helps. All your questions were to the point.

Yours faithfully,

spook

Thanks. The cupholder comment had me looking at the other side of the seat. I thought I had to remove the seatbelt "clasp" bolt! Now I see what you are talking about.

Removing the E brake housing is going to be a given. My passenger seat heater switch is out (hoping just the bulb) as well as the bulb that lights the shift indicator. I was living with those inconveniences until I got around to it. Well, I guess now I'm getting around to it...

Thanks,
Patwa

Dear Patwa,

Good p.m. and may this find you well. I regret having misdirected you in respect of the "cup-holder". As to emergency brake console removal, if you run into any obstacles, not covered in the FAQs' powered seat installation procedure, post. I'll respond as quickly as possible.

Yours faithfully,

spook

Dear Spook,

I wasn't scared by the airbag, I was scared by your instructions! They look great. Very detailed, but I'm just a novice and the notion of pulling my power-heated-air-bag-launching driver seat is a bit concerning to me. I will review the instructions again, but in the meantime, do you really think that what I did (moving the seat all the way forward) was enough to pop the cable? Is there possibly a simpler answer to my problem?

Thanks,
Patwa

Dear Patwa,

Good p.m. and may this find you well. I provide detailed guidance, because everyone - who has not done this job - is a novice. Once you've done it once, you're an expert.

That said, I don't think you did anything, that caused damage. The debris in the track - plainly there for a while - jammed the seat, whenever it was moved back. That caused excessive wear on the cable end, as the motor turned it, but the cable could not move the drive gear. Your removing the debris, and the cable finally "giving out", was a coincidence.

You could take this to a dealer. They'll replace the cable, rather than reverse it. The cost will be about 1.5 hours of labor, plus the cost of the cable.

Alternatively, you can do it yourself. It will take you somewhat longer. You should be able to get the seat back into good working order. If the cable has been too heavily damaged, such that reversing it does not restore function, then it will have to be replaced. I do not know the cost of the cable unit. You need only replace the failed unit, not all three of them.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

spook

Well... I wimped out. Took it to an indy mechanic to have the seat repaired. Partly due to uneasiness with doing it, partly due to not knowing when I was going to have a few hours free to dig into it. First called a dealer. Quoted $600 over the phone without looking at it. Called indy next. He knew it was likley just the cable, so I went that route and I ended up paying a couple hundred. Labor only, apparently used the old cable. He did replace that shift indicator bulb while he was in there. No charge! All in all was the best alterntive for me at this time. Thanks for all your advice.

The really good news is the seat now has full range of motion. I no longer feel like I'm "too close" to the wheel.