Hi,

My TT passenger front seat has just started to be a right pain and will not fold forward when lifting the little black lever. I can use either side lever and it mainly does not work, however if I use both levers at the same time it always folds!

Clearly there is a problem wirth the mechanism, maybe there is adjustment somewhere in the seat

Please can someone help me ?

If anyone has info that will show me how to open up the seat so I can have a look that would be great as I can't see how this is done without potentially breaking the seat...!

Thanks

Pete

 

Hi,

Just an update - I have been playing this morning and found that it seems there must be a connection betwen the left and right side levers, this makes sense as there will be a catch each side of the seat and both must release to allow the seat to swing forward.

I would point out that both levers do move when either side is operated, but clearly there has been slack introduced somehow meaning that the opposite side is not lifted quite far enough to clear the catch so the seat will not operate unless both lifted manually.

As a temporay measure, I have edged some plastic in the inside ctach to keep it open so not I can operate the single lever when entering the car to allow the seat to swing forward; not ideal as for safety reasons both catches should be engaged while driving, but I suspect the costs in resolving this will be far to high for this bodge to be removed!

So any further help in enabling me to correct thid would be most appreciated....


Thanks

Pete

 

Hello Pete,

I know this is an old thread, but I'm fighting this same issue and haven't seen an answer...just purchased a 2006 TT. I use the backseat all the time so it's a royal pain. Did you ever figure something besides propping one of the latches open.

I've seen some suggest to push back on the seat and then hit the latch, but that doesn't do it...and it seems like there must be something that can be done to fix this.

Thanks,
Tom

 

Hi ..

I also respect this is an old thread - but have hit the same issue with my drivers seat.

Did you solve this ?

Thanks for any info ..

H.

 

Reviving this thread - I've got the same problem as well with my passenger side seat. Anyone figured out how to take the seat apart?

If not, I'm going to pull out my drivers seat this weekend because it's not heating up. While I figure out how to repair/replace the heat element, I'll try and figure out how to get to the latches, see what's needed to repair/replace what's broken on my passenger seat, and will share that info here.

 

Hi .. I still have the problem intermittently.

As there are latches on both sides of the seats .. if one doesn't work, using the other seems to make it work. Strange.

I'd be interested to see what you discover in your adventure.

Cheers

H.

 

It took me a while to get around doing this for fear of breaking something (which did happen) but I finally have my passenger seat latch working properly. The fix itself is SUPER simple, and I wish I would have done this sooner. You can actually fix this problem with the seat in the car, but I had mine out to figure out how to best accomplish this.

Fortunately, the part that broke is a relatively basic thing and was easily remedied.

After inspecting the mechanism that allows the seat to tilt forward when you pull the lever up, there are 2 possible causes:
1. the tilting lever may have come off the dowel which prevents it from engaging the other lever
2. the screw to the bar is loose (this was my case)

Overview:
the black plastic levers on either side of the seat make contact with a silver lever through a dowel. When you pull up on this lever, it engages the silver lever via the dowel like a cam does, and raises it. That silver lever is connected to a long solid rod that runs to the opposite side of the seat, which is then connected to the silver lever on the opposite side. As you raise the black lever, it raises the silver lever which rotates the long rod, causing the opposite lever to rotate, and raise the other black lever.

It's actually a very simple setup and is easier to understand by observing it in person than read about.

Fix:
in my case, when I'd pull up on the black lever, I could see the bar rotating, but not engaging the other lever. So I got my allen wrench and tightened the screw. While it was snug, it wasn't tight. After tightening the screw, I could see that the lever was now moving, and I could now tilt the seat.

But it was only working on one side - meaning the other lever wasn't working to tilt the seat. I checked how it functioned more, and could see that with one lever, when it was raised, it fully engaged the silver bar. But on the other lever, it only engaged it about 3/4's of the way.

I then loosened the screw on the other side of the bar (the one that was originally tight), raised the working lever a couple of times, then re-tightened the screw. After that, both levers fully engaged the silver levers and allowed me to tilt my seat forward.

I think loosening the screw allowed the rod (which I believe is keyed) to re-seat itself correctly on the silver lever allowing it to fully engage.

Caveat:
The hardest part about getting to the fix was not knowing how the plastic cover comes off. After spending quite a while poking around the seat (with the seat off the car), I came to the conclusion that it must be press fit into place. So I pulled on it and it came off. But I did break off a piece of expanding plastic fingers.

From inspecting the back of the cover, you'll see there's a push pin that spreads out the expanding plastic fingers. I never noticed the push pin before because it blended right in with the rest of the plastic. There's also another pair of pressure fingers that hold the cover to a nut. But those alone aren't enough to hold the cover snugly.

For those attempting this, be aware that when you push the plastic pin in, don't push it all the way. There's a notch on the pin which I believe relieves the pressure on the plastic fingers allowing you to pull it out without breaking the plastic fingers. If you push it in too far, it might get lost in the seat. You'll have to go out and buy some new ones. Probably pretty cheap anyway.

Because I broke mine, I had to use a non-permanent glue.

Onto some visual aid:

1. Pull out tilting lever and reclining ****. Push in pushpin. Then pull cover off. Do this on both sides.



2. Pics of the backside of the cover. Finger tabs I broke because I didn't know there was a pushpin:


3. Cover removed showing tilting mechanism:


4. Check both screws to the rod. Tighten as necessary. Also, check the black lever are seated correctly on the dowel


5. Picture of black lever seated properly on the dowel:


6. Ready for re-assembly. Note the plastic arms that hold onto the nut:



You won't need to do this if you didn't break the plastic fingers associated with the push pin:
7. I had to use some non-permanent but strong holding glue. Go2glue (found at HomeDepot) is excellent stuff. Dries clear, bonds strong, but can be removed if needed.


8. Apply a bead along the back seat cover where the side cover rests


9. Tape it in place for 24 hours until it's fully cured:


After doing this fix, I can easily tilt my passenger side using either lever perfectly. Hope this helps you guys out there!

 

Hi Fabric8, weird I recently bought my girlfriend an Audi TT 190, and tonight she informed me her drivers seat wouldn't lift, got straight on the internet, and found this thread, and your recent post, Photos very helpful, feel confident to try it, many thanks, I hope I have same success.

 

Hey fabric8
Thanks for the instructions on fixing the seat latch, the photos are missing though. Is it possible to put them up again.

I have had a go at pushing in the pushpin, but it doesn't go in. How much pressure did you apply?

Thanks
Rob

 

Rob, I fixed the links for the pics.

When I took mine off, I didn't realize there was a pushpin, so I just yanked it off thinking it was just snug. Because I yanked it off, I broke the tabs/fingers that the pushpin expands out. I did the same thing on both sides. It wasn't until much later I realized I broke them. If I had done one side at a time and inspected the part, I may have been able to prevent the other one from breaking, but because I broke both, I actually never got to see what the tabs/fingers look like.

So I'm only guessing that you should be able to push the push pins in to relieve the pressure on the tabs, since that's generally how these pushpins are designed. I can't imagine Audi built this part with a one time use pushpin where you can only push it in, and not be able to pull it out.

If that's the case, the only other clean way to get it off would be to try and pull the pushpin out using a hook-tool from the back, but that'd be pretty hard since you can see what you're doing. Otherwise, you could drill a small hole in the center of the pushpin, screw in a screw half way into it, and pull the screw with pliers and the pushpin should come out with it. But that would leave a little screw hole on the push pin. But maybe you can replace it for cheap at the dealer.

I'd give pushing the push pin one more really good push hoping it frees up. Hopefully it doesn't break the tabs.

Keep us posted. I'm curious to hear how you'll get it out without breaking it like I did. In the end, whatever way you accomplish to do it, it'll be worth it to be able to recline the seats again