I'm reposting from the Interior forum hoping that this will more visibility. Mods, I hope that's ok.


I need some help figuring out a seat recliner problem.

Drivers seat from an 89 IROC is always reclined in the furthest rearward position. It moves freely back and forth, but will not stay in any position except fully rearward. The mechanism handle moves fine and returns completely to its resting position under spring tension exactly as it should, but it doesnt seem to actually control anything.

I pulled the recliner mechanism out and inspected it. The inertia locking feature seems to work fine, and releases as it should with the small handle on the back of the mechanism. The recliner handle, however, still seems to do nothing except move up when I pull it and move back down under spring tension.

I assumed that I had a bad recliner mechanism and ordered a used recliner on ebay that the seller claimed had been tested and was good. The part came in today.

The "new" part seems to be exactly like the one I just pulled out of the car. I installed it and I'm getting exactly the same problem. The seat only reclines all the way and does not lock in any other position.

So, I can only think of three possibilities here:

1. Both parts are bad and the seller of the ebay part was full of crap.

2. Neither part is bad, but there is some other factor at work here that I'm missing.

3. I'm ignorant as to how these seats function. I just bought the car last week, and haven't owned a 3rd gen in 20 years. I would consider this a remote possibility.

Can somebody point me in the right direction? This is getting very frustrating. I cant stand driving the car with the seat all the way back.

 

I need to clarify my last post a bit. Should the drivers side mechanism function exactly as the passengers side does?

When I stated that the drivers seat was in the fully reclined position I may have been incorrect. It is stuck about half as far back as the passenger side will go. The passenger side will recline pretty much until it's resting on the back seat. Should the drivers side recline that far back as well? If so, its stuck somewhere in the middle of the range and will neither recline backward or forward with either recliner mechanism.

The passenger side functions exactly as it should. The handle releases the seat back to recline and adjust backward or forward as needed.

 

Both sides should function the same. I have owned several thirdgens and noticed this seems to be a common problem. I haven't tried to diagnose or fix it yet, but I suspect the issue is somewhere in the recliner mechanism. Last time I had my seats apart to reupholster I noticed the plastic inside the mechanisms looked very worn out.

 

Thanks for the response. I have another recliner on the way. It tested good while I was on the phone with the seller, so lets hope the third time is the charm. I can't see how it could be anything else causing this problem.