My first step was to disconnect the battery. I’ve seen postings that the airbag system runs through the seat and it will trip an airbag alert if you don’t. I could find no evidence whatsoever that that is true but I did it just in case.
Important Note: All cars equipped with SIPS do have SRS wires running to the seats and it is imperative that the battery be disconnected. The seat should further be deactivated with the Orange safety.
I next removed the headrest. The headrest removal requires an assistant as the procedure is to depress the seat back, simultaneously, in two places while lifting the headrest out. Unless the headrest has been removed before there are no indentations that tell you where to push so it takes some trial and error to locate the exact spot.
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My next step was to remove all of the trim caps that cover the seat bolts, they just pry out, and then remove the four seat bolts with a 14 mm socket.
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From here it is a matter of removing hog rings. There are a series of hog rings across the front bottom of the seat, along bot sides of the seat and then the back “flap” of the seat. Once the back flap is undone a couple more hog rings are revealed that tie down the back ends of the side upholstery. As far as removing the hog rings I found the easiest method to be to grab them with a pair of pliers and twist them to loosen them up. At that point they can be worked out in one piece.
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Next I folded up the upholstery which reveal a series of hog rings along the side seams that hold the upholstery to the cushion. I pried those rings out along both sides and thought I was home free to remove the foam. Not so fast, there is another set of hog rings which hold the center panels in place. These were tough to get at but I found that taking the front set off first and then continuing to the rear set from the front was the easiest method.
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My seat heater problem was instantly revealed once the cover came off. If I had cloth seats I’m sure it would have burned a hole through the seat cover.
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Putting it all back together again is, more or less, the reverse of the teardown but I found a few tricks to make it easier. On the advise of others I used tywraps instead of hog rings in most places to put it all back together. When it comes to tywraps, long is good. I used 11” tywraps and for the center panels and the side seams. The center panels are the toughest to get to so I pre-loaded the tywraps and then just barely tightened them until all four were in place. At that point I got to them from each corner and pulled them tight. To cut off the ends I used some long nosed tin snips. This is a place to be careful if you have heated seats as it would be easy to snip into the heater mat. I followed the same procedure down bot of the side seams until they were secure to the seat cushion. Once each tywrap was tight I rolled it so that the “head” was into the foam rather than upward where it could wear on the upholstery.
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From here it is a matter of using the hog rings or tywraps to secure the edges of the upholstery. Once everything is pinned down the seat is ready to re-install. I hooked up all of the seat heater electrical connections that are under the seat before I put it back in the car.
The only trick to the re-installation of the seat is to get all four bolts started and then tighten down the two front bolts and the bolt toward the center of the car on the rear. The last bolt to be tightened is the door side rear.
I must say it was a success. The seat sits much better and the heater works.
…Lee
