97 recliner bolt

My recliner bolt must have broken as I was drving my seat went straight back good thing I had a good grip on the wheel. lol..

Does anyone know if the 97 was covered under the recall? if not about how much does it cost to have Ford repair it? Can the bolts be purchased and installed yourself?

Thanks

damn that sounds dangerous. how fast were you going?

WHOA! Glad to hear your ok. Not sure if the 97 was covered, the dealer did mine when I came in for something else.

I was going about 60 or so.. luckily I had a good grip on the wheel. usually when I am driving home from work I am just palming the wheel..

Your lucky. My recliner lever broke off, not th ebolt, so my deat is basically stuck in it's usual upright position unless I rig something to pull the bolt out and move it around. It hasn'tbeen a big deal, unless I need it for camping mishaps where I would need my seat for some reason, but those are rare, haha.

I thought I read a while ago that my problem would not be covered and a dealer wanted $75 or more for the whole recliner unit. However, your problem is a little more difference/serious, so it might be covered. Let me know if you find something out. Do a search.

Thanks. I did do a search and called a few dealers. 97's are not covered. and they quoted me the same price for the recliner unit.

Well after more research all I needed was just the bolt. The fun part was acording to Ford there part number for the upper bolt for 1995-1997 does not exist. So we tried looking at 1998 and newer found part#F87Z-7862649-BB , this is called the "Tubular Frame Kit" it comes with two bolts one black and one silver in color. I used the silver one as it had the same threads, the kit also comes with a spacer to replace the plastic gromet. the total work time was less than 15minutes including removing the broken bolt. I just used a pair of vice grips and threaded it threw. the part from my local Ford dealer cost me $3.58 with tax. so it is a cheap fix, if all you need is a new bolt.

I have a recall on my 1998 for the driver seat recliner bolt. Recall number 03S04. I have yet to get it done, but it sounds like i should get it done soon. hehe Glad that nothing happened to you though.

Yeah I would get it done for sure.. The recalls start for the 1998. no clue as to why 1997's are not included but oh well. $3.58 for the part and 15minutes not to bad.. just glad it was not costly.

Has anyone repaired the Drivers seat that can help me out with some insight?

It's just a matter of removing 4 bolts and replacing the recliner unit if it has failed. Fairly easy to find at a junkyard. A little more involved if you have to extract a broken bolt. The driver and passenger units are the same, just mirrored.



The 2 circled, and the allen bolt, and another one hidden until you slide the seat fabric/leather up to reveal it. Remove those and replace the assembly.

Part number of the original one is shown also...