Back seat won't fold down. | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Back seat won't fold down.

Jeffery Stewart

New Member
Joined
December 13, 2009
Messages
8
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1
City, State
Wilmington
Year, Model & Trim Level
1996 explorer xlt 2WD
Hey Everyone, New to the site. Problem--1996 explorer xlt 4 Door--rear seat wont fold down. The smaller seat folds down but bigger one doesnt. When I press the release lever it seems like it unlocks by the lever but the center wont unlock and the seat wont fold down. Thanks for your help Jeff (wilmington NC)
 



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Your going to have to grab a flashlight & crawl under to have a look see. Have someone else release the lever while you investigate the mechanism. It is a simple operation, shouldn't be too hard to see what is causing the jam up. Might be something has fallen and is blocking it from folding, maybe a bar came off.
 






Welcome to this forum! I've moved your thread into the Explorer-Ranger Interiors section. I sounds like something might have fallen inside. A flashlight, and a mirror might help you see what is preventing it from folding down.
 






Thanks for your response gmanpaint-- Is there a cable involved or is it just a simple unlocking device? Jeff
 












Backseat problems still

Need more help. I checked under the seat with flashlight and mirror and checked everything I could and the seat is still hung up in the center. There is nothing blocking the seat that I can see. When I press the lever the seat releases right by the lever but the middle wont move. Is there any other way to get the seat down? Can I remove the backseat to see what is wrong? How do you remove the seat? Thanks ahead of time Jeff
 






The seat has a few bolts holding it to the floor. It takes a few minutes to remove it with a socket set. Depending upon the model, some vehicles have Torx head bolts while some will have hex head bolts.
 






Any fix? Mine is doing the same thing, 1996 xlt, Im trying to put a radio in, but i need to fold the back seat down to pull the rear panel off, nothing is blocking anything.
 






Back Seat

When you depress the side lever, there is a thin cable under the seat that releases the center locking mechanism. The cable over time must get stretched and cant release the center lock. To overcome this, in the center rear post on the rear seat on the floor, the thin cable goes to a little black wheel--if you help release the wheel with small flat screwdriver ie pushing up on the wheel while someone is pressing down on the side lever the seat will release. The small black wheel has a small indentation for this purpose.I actually unbolted the seat and leaned it forward to see it, but it can be down in place. If any more questions please ask. Thanks Jeff
 






see my reply

See my reply under rear seat lever. I fixed my 95 Limited and didn't spend a dime, just a little time.
 






The problem is that the cable that allows the left bottom of the 60 seat stretches. Take the seat out and find the lever with the cable. Use needle nosed pliers and remove the cable from the notch on the roller wheel. Slide the wheel off. Cut a new notch between the 2 existing notches. ( use a dremel tool) Re-install the wheel and put the cable into the new notch you made. I didn't trust the plastic so I epoxied and instant steeled the cable to the wheel. So far mine works great. Takes about 45 minutes if you're handy.
 






EXPLORER REAR SEAT won't fold down!

The problem is that the cable that allows the left bottom of the 60 seat stretches. Take the seat out and find the lever with the cable. Use needle nosed pliers and remove the cable from the notch on the roller wheel. Slide the wheel off. Cut a new notch between the 2 existing notches. ( use a dremel tool) Re-install the wheel and put the cable into the new notch you made. I didn't trust the plastic so I epoxied and instant steeled the cable to the wheel. So far mine works great. Takes about 45 minutes if you're handy.


I have a 1996 Explorer and thanx to this thread, I spent the afternoon pulling the rear seats out to find that little BLACK WHEEL I think Jeff mentioned was the culprit!

I tried to find it without removing the seat, but my efforts were futile not really knowing exactly what I was looking for. Ours had a plastic cosmetic cover over it so we could not see the pulley while the seat was still in the vehicle. Now that the seats are out, I can easily see the little black wheel.

Once the seat was out, it was an easy fix.

I removed a star bolt that held on the plastic cosmetic cover and easily had access to the little black pulley. (see image and video links below)

With needle nosed pliers, I stretched the cable to see how much slack it now had, then I Dremeled™ a new anchor point into the pulley and just moved the cable's factory anchor-stay end into the new hole. Quick, easy, and works like a charm now! (I put a little hot melt glue on it too, just as an added precaution).

To make life easier for others looking to fix this same problem, I've posted some photos on-line and a YouTube video. (links are below)

Good luck to others sharing this problem.

Brian

here are a few of foto links:

http://www.beatlemaniaalumni.com/IMAGES/EXPLORER/REARseat01.jpg
http://www.beatlemaniaalumni.com/IMAGES/EXPLORER/REARseat02.jpg

FIX photos:

http://www.beatlemaniaalumni.com/IMAGES/EXPLORER/BRACKET.jpg
http://www.beatlemaniaalumni.com/IMAGES/EXPLORER/FIX.jpg


YouTube link showing my repair:
http://youtu.be/Ey84DueibLE
 






Simple fix for rear seat fold down 1996 Ford Explorer

http://www.beatlemaniaalumni.com/IMAGES/EXPLORER/REARseat01.jpg

The plastic guard shown in the picture: tear it out! Use whatever you want. In order to make the seat fold down, once the plastic guard is out of the way: press both levers on the right hand side of the car. Pull the seat a couple of inches forward. Using a stick about one inch thick push down on the round thingy that prevents the seat from folding. There are two such round parts attached to the cables. The one further back is the one to push.
This fix is not elegant, since you may destroy the plastic guard getting it out. But, this solution will work by one person and will not be dependent on the cable stretching. And requires no repair as such.

I had to pull the foam rubber pad out from under the seat cover before I could get at the plastic guard. You may have to use a hex wrench to back the bolt out that holds the plastic guard in place.
 






http://www.beatlemaniaalumni.com/IMAGES/EXPLORER/REARseat01.jpg

The plastic guard shown in the picture: tear it out! Use whatever you want. In order to make the seat fold down, once the plastic guard is out of the way: press both levers on the right hand side of the car. Pull the seat a couple of inches forward. Using a stick about one inch thick push down on the round thingy that prevents the seat from folding. There are two such round parts attached to the cables. .

Do you push the stick from UNDER the seat, Mike, or from above in between the seats?
 






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