I've been searching the threads on this and other sites but to no avail. The cabling is attached properly, all motions and movements are identical to operation on the driver's side. The seat just won't budge on the rails. Folding, raising, & lowering are all ok.

When I push the seat, it seems to grab on the left rail and the right rail moves a fraction of an inch indicating the jam is on the left.

Anyone have a fix for this?

 

Exact same issue on another 2005 cabrio. Seat was in the slid forward mode to allow access to the rear and now the left rail will not budge, stuck all the way forward.

I could tell that the release was letting go of the left rail somewhat when pulling up on the release lever as that side could be moved forward and back a few millimeters but then no movement at all with the lever released.


I went as far as to disassemble it: right rail moves freely but even with the locking fingers removed from the left side teeth, that side still wont move. I'm under the impression now that I'll have to hire someone to use a cut off wheel to surgically remove the left rail.

 

Found this link--hope it helps. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the link. (Un?)fortunately, the cable is intact!

 

Wow! Great photos! Sounds exactly like my problem, except the seat is slid back. I wonder what is hodling that left rail? I thought pulling the cable would 'convince' it, but it's quite tight.

 

For me at least, it's not a cable issue, definitely something jammed in the runner mechanism.

 

I agree. Mine stuck after a visit to the car wash. Maybe a little piece of equipment got dropped down there while they were cleaning the interior. It sure feels like a bit of something is wedged in there and the design of the rails prevents you from seeing anything. I straightened out a coat hanger and ran it through from the front, but I could be going right past something....

 

The cable operated slide memory device is not related at all: when it operates it acts against (pushes down on) the same pivoting finger plate that the seat track release lever does, so with it and the fingers removed, there must still be something foreign inside there acting to lock the track. I'm not giving up, when I have more I will post back here.

 

Ok I've made some progress, I'm pretty sure now that the failure is in the rack and not a foreign object. If you look at the first photo I posted, looking inside the rail where the fingers go, you might notice that two of the openings look different, well they are, and that's the problem. I'll endeavor to post photos and a proper description of the issue later today, right now I have to go surgically remove two metal teeth.

 

Well, embarrassing as it is, it turns out I was tragically wrong, there was nothing wrong with the slots I pointed out above, nothing, those were just the two teeth that made it down into the rack, perfectly normal. I thought it was something wrong with the spring, and that I'd have to drill and extract the teeth from above.

So the way it works is there are 5 spring loaded teeth all vying for a hole to call home in the bottom of the rail (see photos below). Each finger of the pivoting finger board engage a slot in one of the teeth, and when pivoted up, pull the teeth up out of the rack below.

The fault on my seat was a bent bracket that cradles/holds the pivot point of the finger board: this bend allowed the finger board to move out of position far enough for one or two teeth to slip out, which in turn dropped down into the bottom rail, locking it. Leaving the finger board to look like it was still working but actually only operating some of the teeth. I did take notice of this bend before, but I didn't know at the time that is was not normal.

The solution is to bend the bracket back, then before re-inserting the finger board, you have to find a way to push the teeth that are now too low back up enough to expose the slot for the finger to engage. I found a right angle pick or an unusual long handle hose pliers that I had worked for this, they could just be worked in under the rail.

Photos:

Teeth engaging the bottom rail:


Bent driver's side rail, side view:

Unbent passenger side rail, side view:


Bent driver's side rail, back-side view:

Unbent passenger side rail, back-side view:


Bent in two planes, up and to the side, driver's side, end view:

Unbent passenger side, end view:


Tools: unbolting the seat from the rails required an low profile torks bit, took a bit to gas station and had it cut down, then used a 1/4" socket (bit of paper towel wedged in with the bit to hold it in) a flex head 10mm ratcheting gear wrench with 1/4" drive adapter, the lowest profile I could manage, but it worked very well. Also the odd hose pliers I found I could force up under the rack and push the teeth back up with.



So anyway, hopefully this will help someone, if I had just recognized that bend as a fault earlier, I could have saved my rail. What caused the bend in the bracket in the first place I have so far not been able to work out.

 

Three Fat Tigers - Your right on the money - Unfortunately the last"finger"
was stuck so tight I could not get it up -the seat rail was over the front bolt to remove the rail from the car - but the fix - I ended up drilling
out the two screws that hold the bracket down - I could then "walk" the rail until I cold get the bolt out - once I got the rail out - I replaced the
torx screws with allen heads and bolts on the top side - bent the bracket
up and viola - back as good or better than factory!!

but your picts and process were the only way I figured this -
fantastic layout - Thanks much saved me big bucks!!

 

I used a TORX Bit with a 1/4 inch ratchet wrench to take off the seat; the seat was stuck in the forward position. Once off, I hit the rail with a hammer (on the short end in the direction I want it to slide) and it unstuck. There were chucks of glass stuck in the rail from a previous owner. Cleaned it out then reinstalled, works like new.

My rails were not bent as in the previous picture.

This was a pain but this post made it easier for me - thx.

 

Hi I know this a old post but I have a 2005 R52 Mini Cooper convertible base. and my seat is stuck in the back position... which means that I can't get to the screws in the back because the seat rail is over the screws... can you explain to me why or should I say what would cause the rail to become bent?

 

Three Fat Tigers i cant see your photos about this issue, can you renew it ?

 

Here are some better pics of the actual rails: 52109152079 52109152080

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...e-anymore.html






I went to google images and i cannot see his old pics.

I did find an old thread with the seat disable PDF also. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...working-4.html