P80 seat base cover replacement question

[scot850]

I have watched Robert's video on the subject, but I have hog rings and pliers so going the old school route. I have one question though. There are 2 wires that run across the seat that run between the front to back wires. I took photos when dis-assembling, but can't figure out if the ends of the cross wires which have a hoop in them are to be hog ringed to the front to back wires. I'm almost certain they are not and Robert's video is not clear on it. I would think if the hoops were tied to the front to back wires they may pull the wires out when the seat is sat on.

In my defence, I could not see where the rings were fitted in this area as they were tight down and only cutting the old rings revealed the end hoops but by then it was impossible to say where they were and if they had hog rings in.

Seat hog rings

The picture above shows the hog rings in place for the front to back wires, but I just can't tell if there was a ring through the cross wires where the seam is to the left of the picture.

HELP!

Neil.

[Herb Goltz]

Sorry, I can't help with your question, but I have one for you: I have essentially the same car, and with mine every time the driver's seat gets moved it trips the SRS light. I can't see anything wrong with the wires external to the seat, so I am assuming it's a problem inside. Do you happen to have pictures of where the airbag wiring runs?

[SonicAdventure]

Scott, what is the year of your car? There were a lot of variance in the P80 chassis related to seats. 93-97 is one (850's), 98 is its own thing and then 99-2000 is another due to airbag changes.

I did this job on my 98 drivers seat last summer. I think the side to side wires are not connected to the front to backs, but don't the side to sides have loops at both ends? I looked back through my photos and I can't zoom in enough to see. The primary function of the side to side wires is to anchor the middle of the seat to the cover while the front to back prevents it from shifting. The hog rings around the perimeter on the bottom are really what hold the cover in place on the seat frame.

[scot850]

Thanks for replying guys.

Seat is back in the car with repaired cover in place. I went the route that if the cross wires were hog-ringed to the front to backs, there was a danger they could pull the front to back wires out when my big ass sits on the seat. Now feels a whole lot better than when the car was bought. Seat stitching was re-done and had to replace the seat foam from a spare seat as it was split front to back and the wires were pulled out for the hog-rings.

Car is a 2000 V70 base. Differences as listed by Sonic Adventure, but the differences are not too huge to prevent some cross swapping of parts from the 98 spare seat to the 2000.

Seat base foam can be swapped only difference is the 98 used 5 tensioning springs at the rear of the seat base foam and the 2000 had only 4. Oh, and the seat heater connector under the front of the seat on the 98 includes 2 pins for the seatbelt warning light. The 2000 has a separate wire. The 2 connector pins can be carefully popped out of the connector on the 98 and then transferred to the 2000, or added to a 99-00 connector if used on an earlier seat

Seat heater unit is the same and connects the same way under the seats.

Now to Herb's question:

The seats both have a GREEN connector under the front of the driver's and passenger seats. The cable is the orange one that is cable tied in a few points under the seat and needs to be disconnected from the clip at the front on a 99-00 as the cable is fed through the 2 'tongues' of leather at the rear of the seat base cover,, as is the heat back-rest heater cable. If I recall the airbag orange cable feeds through from under the seat back and up into the upper seat back cushion. On the 2000 seat I have, the seat backs can be folded forward flat by lifting 2 small black levers on the rear of the seat and pushing the seat forward. This feature was not on the 98. Possible points on a 2000 seat for damage I would check for are:

1) Check the plug is pushed fully home on the bottom front of the seat. The GREEN connector with the orange cable.
2) Check under the seat that the orange cable has not become caught on something and has been chaffed.
3) Fold the seat back-rest forward and check the cable has not been damaged where it goes from lower seat base to upper. If all this is good, then there may be an issue with the airbag or in the seat back itself.

If sitting on the seat sets the SRS light off, then I would suggest the cabling under the seat may be the issue or at the back. You can check the wiring more easily by removing the 2 front seat mount bolts, and the inner bolt at the back and loosen the one that fits at the outer rear of the seat and you can then carefully rotate the seat back using the last bolt as a pivot point. This will give you a better view of what you are dealing with.

Hope that helps.

Neil

[Herb Goltz]

Thanks Neil-- that is a wealth of information, with some great tips on where to start-- I didn't realize that the driver's seat folds forward too-- certainly a strange "feature" given that for the car to be useful, it needs a driver! I do use the passenger side functionality all the time when transporting bulky loads like lumber...

[scot850]

It is amazing how even after all these years I still find stuff on the cars I didn't know was there. But also you constantly learn that every year the cars can have subtle differences. I know abscate has the 'Ba$Tards' thread, but having had Volvos for over 40+ years, they constantly 'evolve', and some of the low run vehicles or run out models can have bits that were left lying around thrown at them, so you are never sure what you get. As a teenager I had a 68 Volvo 123GT that had been built but not used by the PO as a rally car. Twin shocks all around, uprated motor, 4 speed trans and not overdrive, changed rear diff ratios. Car went really well, but the dealer refused to sell me parts unless I brought the old one in as the car had so many oddball parts in it. And that was not necessarily the PO throwing stuff at it either! Eventually the dealer gave me the microfiche unit to use when I came in as they said I knew more about those 'old cars' than they did! Fortunately we had a great dealer and good relationship with them.

Anything else either add to the thread or PM me if I can help I will of course.

Neil.

[FLXC90]

Basic tenet... If the "stay"(the wire) sits in a groove in the foam, such as to hold a cross seam and the cover tucks down into the groove, then hog ring it down, that will hold the cover in place and keep it from shifting or bunching.