Driver Seat Won't Sit Up

[CycloWizard]

I have a 1990 Acura Integra LS with a lot of miles (and even more wear and tear) on it. Recently, the driver's seat has stopped sitting upright. The angle at which it leans back has become progressively worse over the last few months to the point where, as of yesterday, it is propped against the back seat. This makes driving difficult. I noticed that when I pull the release lever for the seat, it will not sit up all the way to the front like a regular seat would. Instead, its entire range of motion appears to be shifted backward by almost 90 degrees at this point.

To clarify: the most upright position that the seat will maintain now when I lean against it is resting against the back seat. It will also not lean forward beyond the vertical position when I pull the release lever.

This second piece of information indicates to me that there must be some sort of internal ratchet that allows the seat's angle to be adjusted. The sprocket seems to have rotated about 90 degrees towards the back of my car, resulting in the current state of affairs. I've taken just about everything apart on this car at some point but never played around with the seats. Has anyone taken a seat apart before? If so, does my assessment sound correct, and how tricky is it to fix?

I'll also throw out a shameless link to another thread about this car that is totally unrelated but that the guys here might enjoy:
Converting an ICE car to a plug-in electric

 

[CycloWizard]

Hopeful bump?

 

[CrackRabbit]

Replace the seat from a junkyard, that is about the only thing you can do.

 

[CycloWizard]

Originally posted by: CrackRabbit
Replace the seat from a junkyard, that is about the only thing you can do.

Yeah, hopefully it won't come to that. I'll open it up tomorrow if I have time and see if I can salvage anything, otherwise maybe I'll install a desk chair or soemthing for the time being. I have to make a 700 mile round-trip road trip next weekend, so I'll need some back support at least.

 

[mooseracing]

Take apart the side look at it and see if you can see something wrong.

If you can try to fix it, if you see nothing wrong maybe you pick the seat up then mount a bolt into the bracket for the seat to rest on. Make sure if you wedge somethign in there its safe and isn't going to come out so while cruisng down the highway your seat back drops to the floor then somehow causing an accident

 

[CycloWizard]

Originally posted by: mooseracing
Take apart the side look at it and see if you can see something wrong.

If you can try to fix it, if you see nothing wrong maybe you pick the seat up then mount a bolt into the bracket for the seat to rest on. Make sure if you wedge somethign in there its safe and isn't going to come out so while cruisng down the highway your seat back drops to the floor then somehow causing an accident

Yeah, that's sort of what I was thinking. I have been propping it up on long trips by sticking a bag of clothes behind it, but that doesn't do much for me in the long run.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Just an FYI, I would strongly caution against driving the car with the seat like that. It's incredibly unsafe if you get into an accident. You need to have the seat properly there in order for the seat belt to work correctly.

If worse comes to worse, you might be able to simply switch the driver and passenger seats (if the mounting points will still line up). Yes, that will put the controls on the wrong side of the seat, but it would give you a functional seat with a firmly-supported backrest and would be much safer than propping up the current driver's seat.

ZV

 

[Dudewithoutapet]

What he ^ said. Be careful bro.

 

[CycloWizard]

Thanks guys, hadn't considered that. I went out to my car and fixed it up pretty well by putting up the back seat and putting my big toolbox (which had just been taking up space in the trunk). It happens to fit between the back seat and the driver's seat perfectly, so now I'm well supported and back upright. I'll have to bust out the repair manuals and figure out a long-term fix, but this is certainly much better than what I had going.