2010 - 2014 Front Power Seat Removal

[gbhrps]

I had the occasion today to remove the front passenger power seat, to remove whatever was under the leather seat cover that was bunched up and ruining the seat’s appearance.

For those wanting to remove your front seats, or replace the seat heater pad or power seat switch, the steps are rather easy. I’m posting the process to help prevent someone breaking the lower seat side moldings that hold the seat switch.

First run the seat all the way to the rear. This allows access to the front two anchors. There are two plastic moldings on each rail end. The upper one protects the end of the rails that the seat slides on and doesn’t need to be removed. The lower large molding at the carpet has to come off. It is a push fit that has a hidden clip. You need to pull the molding off by rocking it side to side to get it to unclip.

Underneath each is a 14 mm bolt. Remove both and run the seat fully forward. Repeat the floor molding and bolt removal for each rear anchor point.

Disconnect the battery to prevent accidental firing of the side air bag in the seat back.

Lay the seat back against the rear seat to access its bottom. Now unclip each of the 5 wiring harness connectors to the seat. Each is a different colour and shape so they will only go back together in the correct pattern. The larger of the two yellow connectors has a spring side that is black. Pull the black slide towards the floor as you pull down on the connector to disconnect. All of the others have a push button that must be pressed as you pull the connectors apart. Compress the plastic pins on the backside of the fastener that holds the main seat wiring harness to the seat frame, and pull it off. If you break it, simply ziptie it back in place on reassembly.

Lift the seat out of the car.

The lower side molding comes next BUT the power seat switch comes with it. The power seat buttons do not need to be removed! Once the molding is off the seat, the switch comes apart on the moldings underside.

The lower seat molding must be removed in the proper manner or you will break it. It is attached to the seat frame in 3 places. Start at the back where the molding takes on a circular shape over the hinge for the seat back. From the lower side of the molding at its rear, you’ll see where you can insert the blade of a screwdriver and separate the very back of the molding. Once free, lift the back end of the molding up slightly to get it to clear the circular seat back hinge.

The middle of the molding has a plastic plug that seats inro a hole of the seat frame. Simply pull the molding away from the seat about where the seat switch is located to pop it out. Now slide the entire molding forward to get its front attaching point to slide off a one inch long steel blade of the seat frame.

Push the button on the connector to the seat switch to disconnect it.

Reassembly is just the reverse.

What I found under the leather seat cover, once I unclipped it from the front and side rails, was a pink spray adhesive that had bunched up into a roll and was pushing the leather up and puckering. Once removed, the seat covering returned to its factory condition. A cheap fix that took perhaps an hour to do.

[Legacy777]

Thanks for sharing the instructions and info!

[GREGGLF]

“Now unclip each of the 5 wiring harness connectors to the seat”.

 

As one of those connectors is connected to the airbag in the seat, I was
told by a mechanic to disconnect the battery before unclipping the wiring harnesses
to avoid exploding the airbag.