Seat Latches

[ledzilla]

Is it a common thing for the latches of the seat backs to lock up? The seat backs in my 79 won't secure into place.

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[1985crownvicltd85]

Hopefully someone can answer this, because I was curious also, my 85' tudor does the same thing.

[ledzilla]

Yeah, I don;t want to do anything to make it worse, and aside from my dad's 67 Mustang I haven't touched fold up seats in a coupe since maybe 1992. It almost seems like the latches on the seat backs won't reset all the way to connect to the part of the latch on the seat bottom. But, it's been hard to tell given I'm having trouble really getting a good line of sight on what's happening. Thinking maybe I need to lay down on the back seat and dangle my head in the footwell to see anything.

[Mainemantom]

I do remember having the locking seat back freezing up / not locking. I had to lubricate the pieces to free them up.
That was MANY years ago so I am going by memory. Spray lubricant using the long tube that attaches to the nozzle. Shoot up between the upholstery and the mechanicals to see if you can free the parts up.

[gadget73]

I'd expect its just a rod running through a metal plate in the back. A bit of rust or petrified grease would jam it up pretty easy. Likely no big deal to fix, lube it and fool with it, or pull the seat back off for closer inspection. The back panel has push clips on it and if you're gentle with it you can open it up without much fuss. You'll feel where the rear panel is seperate from the rest of the seat. A plastic pry bar or trim removal tool in there will open it up.

[Mainemantom]

If I remember with one car I did separate the seat back from the bottom. Turned the seat back upside down and worked with the latch to free up the jaws of the lock. The upholstery might have to be pulled up a little bit on the side. Not a hard job.

[ledzilla]

Ok, so I was poking at it a bit last night. So, there's the latch piece on the seat back that moves with the lever, and then there's the stationary latch piece on the seat bottom. Examining the driver seat, the latch piece on the seat back seems to move just fine, doesn't appear stuck or to have any movement restrictions. It appears as though maybe there is some restriction in overall travel in order to get the two latch pieces to secure into a locked position. It's kind of hard to tell because everything seems to be within a bracket that obstructs the view.