Broken Rear Bench Seat Recline Mechanism

[Nate]

Hi folks, I’m hoping someone can help me. The recline release mechanism on our Cali 2 seater rear bench seat has broken (2017 T6). Having taken the rear seat cover off I can see that the cable is no longer attached to the driver side lever arm (not sure at this stage if it’s just fallen off it’s broken) I can’t however obviously see how you get to the cable to repair/ replace it as it runs inside the square tube of the seat…

Does anyone know how to get to the cable (I think it may be the upper Bowden cable?). I’m assuming the mechanism needs to comes out the bottom somehow….? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[WelshGas]

Hi folks, I’m hoping someone can help me. The recline release mechanism on our Cali 2 seater rear bench seat has broken (2017 T6). Having taken the rear seat cover off I can see that the cable is no longer attached to the driver side lever arm (not sure at this stage if it’s just fallen off it’s broken) I can’t however obviously see how you get to the cable to repair/ replace it as it runs inside the square tube of the seat…

Does anyone know how to get to the cable (I think it may be the upper Bowden cable?). I’m assuming the mechanism needs to comes out the bottom somehow….? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Any use?

Google

 

[Nate]

Thanks WelshGas, that does help. I think it’s part 5 on the diagram that I need. Looks like I can order the part so there must be a way of replacing it. I’m just not sure on how to get to it. I’m wondering if the seat back needs to come off, but I can’t see an obvious way of removing it…

 

[KGCali]

Thanks WelshGas, that does help. I think it’s part 5 on the diagram that I need. Looks like I can order the part so there must be a way of replacing it. I’m just not sure on how to get to it. I’m wondering if the seat back needs to come off, but I can’t see an obvious way of removing it…

Have a read here, you need to be a member to view the photos so here's a copy and extract from the T6 Forum post...

7. Now you need to work on the backrest, so put the seat back to seat mode.
8. Remove the rear trim panel by pulling up each side firmly to remove the clips. These are the same challenging clips as the B-pillars and other annoying panels. Oh, you have to lever out the black bits around the seat belt exit, or possibly do the next step before the whole thing comes off, I think.

[GUIDE] How to remove a T6 California double rear bench/bed covers and retrim

Ever wish you never started something? Well, this is a candidate for it. I didn't take as many pictures as I used to, as I'm familiar with tearing down seats now, but this had some new challenges. Removing the covers should be easy but they are simply not made to be removed, compared to all...

www.t6forum.com

 

[KGCali]

Thanks WelshGas, that does help. I think it’s part 5 on the diagram that I need. Looks like I can order the part so there must be a way of replacing it. I’m just not sure on how to get to it. I’m wondering if the seat back needs to come off, but I can’t see an obvious way of removing it…

Also just found this VWCC post which has more detailed info ...
Thread 'How to remove the rear panel of an Ocean SE bench seat' https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/how-to-remove-the-rear-panel-of-an-ocean-se-bench-seat.27214/

 

[Nate]

Thanks KG Cali, I appreciate the help. I’ve actually already taken the back off. When I say ‘taken’ what I really mean is ripped the back off. We were in France on the first day of a 2 week holiday when the mechanism broke and the bench was in bed mode. We were a bit stuck as we’ve got 2 kids and needed to fit car seats… We spoke to a UK dealership and they suggested taking the back off to see if we could free the mechanism (they did warn us the cover was likely to break which it did). That’s when we realised that the cable wasn’t attached.

The guides you’ve found look like they’ll help me to fit a new seat back though.

If anyone has the same broken recline mechanism problem, it’s worth knowing that you can use a small flat head screwdriver to prise the clip (you need to lift the seat bottom up and forwards to get to it) upwards (into the seat back) to release the side that’s broken while at the same time pulling the release handle to release the other side. It’s a bit fiddly but we managed to get the bed up and down that way for the rest of the holiday. Just need to get it fixed properly now…

 

[Nate]

I’ve attached pictures of the clip mechanism that allows the seat to move between Bed and seat. I think the cable pulls the clip upwards off the pin. It looks like it then runs inside the square seat section upto a hole where it attaches to the lever on the back of the seat (which is then attached to the seat pull by another cable). I think the seat back may need to come off the base to be able to slide the mechanism out of the square section to get to the cable. just need to work out how now.