Encountering a power car seat that refuses to budge can be a frustrating experience for any car owner. Whether it’s a faulty motor or a jammed mechanism, accessing the bolts securing the seat can become a real challenge. This guide provides a step-by-step approach to manually maneuvering a stuck power seat for removal, especially when dealing with a damaged manual adjuster. While the term “winder tool for car seat” might evoke images of manual window cranks, in this context, we’ll be improvising with power tools to achieve a similar effect – manually driving the seat mechanism.
Essential Tools for the Job
Before you begin, gather these tools to ensure a smooth car seat removal process:
- Two Drills with Drill Bit Kit: These will act as your improvised “winder tools” to manually drive the seat mechanism.
- Philips Head Screwdriver: For removing plastic panels and securing screws.
- 6mm Allen Wrench: To tackle the seat track bolts, and potentially stripped ones.
- 18mm Wrench: Used for additional leverage on the Allen wrench to loosen stubborn bolts.
- Small Torch (optional): To apply heat and help loosen factory-applied threadlocker on bolts.
Step-by-Step Car Seat Removal Process
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Prepare the Seat Base: Begin by removing the front plastic panel that covers the base of the seat. This will expose the motor and drive mechanisms.
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Disconnect Motor Clips: Locate the “paperclip” style retainer that wraps around the motor top and sides, securing it to the black tubes housing the driveshafts. Remove this clip.
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Detach Driveshaft Clip: Find the clip behind the left side driveshaft tube (black tube). This clip, similar to a circlip, needs to be pushed back to allow the driveshaft to be pulled out from the motor gearbox.
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Extract Driveshafts: After removing the clip, carefully pull the left driveshaft out of the motor gearbox. Then, repeat for the right driveshaft, pulling it out to the right until it is free.
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Reposition Driveshaft Tubes: Move both driveshaft tubes forward and away from the seat. The driveshafts themselves should remain within the tubes. The goal is to reposition the tubes to create enough space in the footwell to operate the drills.
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Improvise with Drills as “Winder Tools”: This is where your drills come into play as makeshift “winder tools.” Mount approximately 1/4 inch of the square end of one driveshaft into the chuck of each drill. Set one drill to forward and the other to reverse.
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Manually Adjust Seat Position: VERY SLOWLY and carefully, while pushing the drill towards the seat to engage the gearing at the end of the driveshafts, rotate each drill individually. Observe the seat’s movement to determine the direction of travel. Start by moving the seat backward to access the front bolts.
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Access Front Seat Track Bolts: Once the seat is moved fully back, you should see two Allen head bolts exposed in the seat tracks at the front.
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Remove Front Bolts (and Drill if Stripped): Attempt to remove these front bolts using the 6mm Allen wrench. If, like in the original scenario, these bolts are stripped, you will need to carefully drill them out.
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Adjust Seat Forward for Rear Bolts: Reverse the drill directions to move the seat completely forward. This will reveal the four Allen head bolts located at the rear of the seat tracks.
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Loosen Rear Bolts with Heat (Caution Advised): (AT YOUR OWN RISK) If the rear bolts are tightly secured, use a small torch to apply heat to each bolt head. VERY CAREFULLY apply a small pencil flame back and forth for about 20-30 seconds to heat the bolt head and soften any threadlocker.
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Remove Rear Bolts: Insert the 6mm Allen wrench into the bolt head. For added leverage, place the round end of the 18mm wrench onto the Allen wrench. Slowly and firmly apply pressure to break the bolt loose. Repeat for the remaining rear bolts. With all track bolts removed, the seat should now be free from the floor.
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Tilt and Disconnect Gold Plate: Tilt the seat backward to access the underside. Locate a gold plate held in place by two Philips head screws. Remove these screws and unplug the switch harness connected to the plate.
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Disconnect Seatbelt Receiver Harness: Unplug the harness for the seatbelt receiver.
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Remove the Seat: Carefully lift and remove the now detached (and likely heavy) car seat from the vehicle.
Congratulations! You’ve successfully removed the stuck power car seat.
