Rear seats won't go down and I really really need them to..

[Volvon]

In winter I was trying to put the rear seats down but the lever on the left hand Rear passenger seat just sheared off because it was frozen. The smaller side of the rear seats goes down but the big part doesn't. I'm doing a B & Q run tomorrow for a kitchen worktop so I'm goosed if they can't go down.

Any ideas on how to make the seat release? I have tried brute force but now I think a more scientific approach is necessary.

Any help greatly greatly appreciated.

[Baffler]

If you push back the upholstery around the lever you should be able to get your finger or a screwdriver in there to release the catch.

[Volvon]

Originally Posted by Baffler

If you push back the upholstery around the lever you should be able to get your finger or a screwdriver in there to release the catch.

Superstar. Flat babe screwdriver in, lever back, clunk, job done. B & Q run was a success 1800 mm sheets of wood fit in the back of a saloon. Very happy.

A note though, it wasn't the cold that made it snap, it's was lots of tiny shards of glass from when my rear windscreen was smashed had work themselves in and behind the release mechanism stopping it from moving forward, once I cleaned them out the screwdriver trick worked. Unbelievable the amount of glass that gets Everywhere when a window is broken. If only i'd have known to clean this area my lever wouldn't have snapped. Well autoglass should have done it actually they say they Hoover up all the glass. But when I put the seats up there was tons of glass under them aswell. Not very thorough autoglass..

[btsam]

Originally Posted by hyvää

Superstar. Flat babe screwdriver in, lever back, clunk, job done. B & Q run was a success 1800 mm sheets of wood fit in the back of a saloon. Very happy.

A note though, it wasn't the cold that made it snap, it's was lots of tiny shards of glass from when my rear windscreen was smashed had work themselves in and behind the release mechanism stopping it from moving forward, once I cleaned them out the screwdriver trick worked. Unbelievable the amount of glass that gets Everywhere when a window is broken. If only i'd have known to clean this area my lever wouldn't have snapped. Well autoglass should have done it actually they say they Hoover up all the glass. But when I put the seats up there was tons of glass under them aswell. Not very thorough autoglass..

hear you there bud, my stepfather owned the car from new before i bought it off him - he had the rear window smashed at some point

i thought i'd cleaned out all the bits of glass from the boot and behind the side carpets etc when i gave it aclean after i got it, there was loads floating around!

then last week i had the boot ligths off and my drive got sprinkled with even more bits of glass!

well done on the b&q trip

s

[DWM]

hyvaa just in case I saw this and thought you might be interested.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VOLVO-V40-S40-...item1c12bcb28d

[Volvon]

Thanks DWM, bit pricey though so I'll give it a miss. My money is better spent elsewhere at the moment. I'm going to led as many of my lights as I can as I am sick of bulbs blowing both interior & exterior including side markers.

[DWM]

Originally Posted by hyvää

Thanks DWM, bit pricey though so I'll give it a miss. My money is better spent elsewhere at the moment. I'm going to led as many of my lights as I can as I am sick of bulbs blowing both interior & exterior including side markers.

I know the feeling... tried to make myself opt for LED too but my inner luddite/conservative told me to keep it original.