406 ESTATE 1998 REAR SEAT RELEASE BROKEN..please help!

[tomocarper]

Hi people, new to the forum, desperately looking for some advice

I have just bought a 406 LX D estatle on a 98 R plate..
lovely car except the very thing i wanted it for i cant have as the rear seat release catch is broken (drivers side)
it looks like its been mangled at some point and basically the entire plastic button you press in and its plastic surrond is loose and can be pulled out...underneath i can see the metal which houses the mechanism but see no way to get in other than a cutting the beack seat open?

i dont know if i can attempt to remove the back seat with the seat stuck up, can i access the bolts etc?

is it a new rear seat job and smash this one out? tbh its only rarely i want the seats down so im not too bothered about a permanent fix a bodge job like releasing with a coathanger etc would be fine??

finally does anyone know if a rear seat from a regular 406 saloon would fit in an estate or are they different sizess/
thanks a lot guys, any help would be brilliant

adam

[HimBigChief]

If there's usually a button then that should indicta ethat you should be pushing down onto a lever of some sort. Nothing there you can stick a large flat blade screwdriver on and open it that way?

[tomocarper]

yeah...usually you push the button in to release..cant get my head in to shine a torch in to see whats going on really. i`ll have to have another poke around i guess,

thanks for your reply, appreciated

[steve_earwig]

I'm not really up to taking my car to bits just now but I think you should be able to get to the lock if you take the wheel arch trim off. Surely you can see all this on the other side, or didn't they all come with split rear seats?

Saloon seats isn't going to happen I'm afraid.

[mjb]

I'm not really up to taking my car to bits just now but I think you should be able to get to the lock if you take the wheel arch trim off

You mean to unbolt the back of the hook that the seat locks into? Or are D9 estates different?

[steve_earwig]

I'm not sure what's behind the panel, feels like it's welded onto the body but I can't tell without pulling the panel off and I'd be willing to investigate to help but I'm up to my armpits in work just now (car full of cement...) There's also two screws that hold a cover over the lock itself that might yield access to the lock mechanism itself but...

[tomocarper]

thanks for the replys, i`ll have to have a proper look tomorrow..altho it does seem the hook is welded not bolted but i may be wrong