HOW TO: change seat cable C70 front seat

here is a guide to changing the seat cable in a C70. models from 1998-2005.
when the seat will no longer recline forward by the release handle on the side of the seat, this is due to one or both of the cables breaking inside the seat.
it may seem quite a difficult job but with some patience and a little time it can be changed at home saving on garage bills.

before you start order new cable from volvo (under £10) as they may not have it in stock the same day.

tools needed:

14mm socket , extension bar and ratchet
flat blade screwdriver , 1 x small and 1x medium
torque drive set.
pointed nose pliers, normal pliers, side cutters
torch

1 firstly you need to remove the seat from the car, this is held in with four 14mm socket size bolts. the bolts have plastic covers over them which need to be removed first. the outer front and inner rear plastic cover will slide off in the opposite direction to the seat rail. a small amount of pressure with a small screw driver will aid this task. the outer rear plastic cover will remove by prying it gently towards the centre of the car. you also ned to remove the seat belt lower rail at this point. there is a small plastic cap that has to be removed to get to a small torque screw inside the plastic housing at the rear of the seat belt rail. once this cover is removed the 14mm bolt needs to be removed then the seat belt rail will slide towards the rear of the car and free from the seat (place on rear seat out of harms way). if your seats are electric move seat to forward most position then remove the two rear seat bolts, then move seat as far back as you can. again if electric seat you need to disconnect the wires under the seat, none electric seats also have a wire to disconnect for the seat belt srs system.
unplug these wires again a small screw driver may aid the parting of the plugs,plugs to undo are two white ones and a grey one, a retaining clip for the wire may also be attached to the lower seat and needs prying from the seat. now you can remove the two front seat bolts. the seat is now ready to be removed. caution seat is heavy so don't lift it on your own if you have any back problems.

2 its a good idea to place the seat in a well lit area to work on it and also dry. place two towels on the floor to protect the seat and place it on the towels with the head rest face down so the under side of the seat is pointing upwards.

access to the inside of the seat is easier if its in a reclined position but due to broken cable it won't recline. if you take your torch and look inside the lower opening you will see a small round bar that points inwards that has a clip and wire attached, this is the ends of the cable that release the seat, you can use a screw driver to push these which will unlock the seat so it will recline, once this is done it is easier to get to the clip that holds seat covering on.

if you have electric seat you will need to remove switch's and the plastic seat edging cover, this is done by remove small torque screw from back of the plastic and the front is a push fit so will come off, if not disconnected already there is a green plug to undo to remove the switch's and panel out of the way.

3 with the seat now reclined you have to get into the seat which is done by seperating the outer cover which is normally out of view at the base of seat back rest, it is held together with a snap fit plastic clip that runs full width of the back rest, this can be fiddly to seperate but gently prying with a screw driver will start the seperation process, then run screw driver along the clip till its all apart. next you need to pull the cover from over the side lower edges, don't be rough but it will be quite tight to get off. it will pull off though thus giving the outer cover some give to the front of the seat, pulling the outer cover partly up the seat it will open a small pocket in the back of the seat inside which contains a plastic shaping board, this slides out easily. you can now see inside the seat at the back but don't force the outer cover up yet, inside there is an elsatic strap with a clip on both sides that you can reach in and unclip which takes a lot of strain of the cover, now you can pull the outer cover up just enough to give you plenty of access to get to the broken cable.

4 take your time to note how the cable is run in the seat and how its located, make notes if your not good at remembering these things,

5 depending where the cable is broken is what parts will still be in place, more than likely its broken near the release handle as in my view its a bad design how cable sits there.
use the torch if need be to see where it all connects before you undo it, start by prying small metal clip from the round bar on either side, the inner clip is hard to get to if electric seat as there is a motor located near it, i just filed away some of the plastic above the bar to make access easier, can't be seen later on as covered by outer cover. the cable is held in position by locating blocks, these are a snap fit and to remove use a small screwdriver to push one of the side lugs inwards while pulling with pliers and the clip will pop out of its locater. feed cable back through the now left hole. one of the cables is held in position mid seat by a cable tie that needs cutting. now repeat the process to undo the loacting block near the release handle, once they are all undone you have enough play to feed the S shaped rod fixing from the release handle that holds the cable to it. your seat cable can now be removed fully.

to fit the new cable

first make sure you have the cable the correct way round when inside the seat as one side is short and the other long, put the S shape end through the retaning hole towards the handle (may be tight fit and need to pull through with pliers). locate the S shape bar into the handle, now fit the retaning block into place near the handle, you can now thread the cable into place on both sides but this time you can locate the holding blocks before connecting the cable ends, this is also a little tricky and your pliers and a screw driver may be needed just to locate the blocks.

attaching the ends of the cable to the seat release bars can be done by sliding them over the bar and each bar has a notch cut into them, the end then needs pulling so the smaller part of the cable loop snaps into these grooves, this is tricky and again pliers and screwdriver can assist you to lacate these.

and thats it you should now be able to check the seat operation works once again.

now re cover seat with reverse of undoing it, starting inside by attaching the elsatic straps again into there fixing points, insert the plastic seat former, then pull cover back down , over the side supports again that where tight earlier and finally pulling the plastic clip so it locks back into itself, this will need some pressure to pull cover back over enough but its not to hard.

refit switch and cover if you removed these then just fit seat in reverse of how you took it out job done.

sounds hard but should take no longer than 1 hr even to a novice, around 20 mins to a good diy mechanic.

i must thank wobbly dave for his help as he had done one before me and his guidence was very helpful he has some pictures also that he may add to this.

any members who want help with this i will gladly assist if you bring the car to me.

Hey - I know this might be a necropost, but do you still have the photos associated with this repair? I'll have to do this repair on my own C70 (a 1998 T5, 310.00 km, still running great :)). I couldn't find the photos, neither in this thread nor the other thread where yopu asked for advice regarding this repair before attempting it.