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rear seat removal, '04 Cavalier

I need to get the rear set out of our '04 Cav. The book says to press a retainer with a screwdriver, and then lift the seat. I see the retainer mechanism, but it's not clear where to press. Regardless,, I've pressed on every surface I can find, without result.

Any clues would be appreciated. Among others, is the retainer supposed to snap open, or do you have to keep pressing it while you lift the seat?

Thanks

Reply to
George
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Took a while to find some decent drawings, but here they are.

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Flat springy retainers attach to the cushion, and the "elbows" go down into slots until they latch in place. (Second pic shows a notch in the clip that grabs the edge of the slot). Push a flat-blade screwdriver under (or just against) the forward-facing tab, push the clip towards the back of the car (like prying the evil villain's finger's off the edge of the 1000 foot cliff), while lifting that end of the cushion. Repeat for the other end.

Reply to
Sanity Clause

"Sanity Clause" wrote

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Bottom half of that pic seems to show that there *may* be a "fixture" of some type that the retainer goes into, with possibly a flat hole in the front for the screwdriver? Hard to tell without seeing it in person.

Whatever... you get the general idea.

Reply to
Sanity Clause

What I'd try first is to grab the seat cushion at the rear and lift up. The front of the seat pivots on the retainers.

Reply to
dsi1

Thanks - that worked. Even with it out, I don't see how you'd do the latch release thing. I don't doubt it works, but I don't get it.

Reply to
George

Thanks. Just for google-completeness, I still don't get it. I did get it out, due to some unknown combination of pushing on the latch and lifting at various places on the seat. But, even with it out, I'm not sure. There is a divot where you say, which looks meant to accept the screwdriver blade. And, without the seat in the picture, if I press on that divot, the clip detaches cleanly from the floor bracket. Ha, I thought. But, after I put the seat back in, I tried pressing there again ... and got nothing.

So, I got it out. If I had to, I think I could probably do it again. I don't know how.

Reply to
George

My assumption is that your manual is wrong. It might be for a different mod el but if the retainer is like the drawing, it's designed to release only i f the the seat is tilted forward. I've had seats that are released by lifti ng out the front edge of the seat but this ain't one of them.

Reply to
dsi1

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