removing seats to clean

[CieraSL]

OK, this may belong under Interior Care, I'm not sure. Mods, if you feel the need to move it, please feel free to do so. OK, so here's my question. How hard is it to remove front seats in order to clean under them? The car in question is a 1992 Honda Civic LX that my parents purchased about 2 weeks ago as a run around car. There are 4 bolts that bolt the seat to the floor, and there is a cord under the seat that has a black wire cover over it. It does not have power seats - they are manually moved by a lever. What is that cord underneath for? Can I unclip that without any fear? Anything I should be careful of? I can take the center console apart, so having that in the road won't be an issue in getting the seats out of the car. I've never pulled seats out to do a cleaning before, but in this car, I think it really needs it. Any tips would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

P.S. Expect a writeup on the Civic probably Tuesday evening sometime.

[cnfowler]

Re: removing seats to clean

Shane, remove the four bolts, unclip the wire harness (if it does indeed go to the seat), and go to town. Does the car have power lumbar support? That's the only thing I can think of other than heated seats since you already mentioned they are manual seats, not power. Nothing to be feared. I highly recommend removing the seats to do a complete job. Just don't forget to use Locktite when reinstalling the bolts. When you pull them, you'll see it on the threads of the bolts. It's rare to see seats and seatbelt bolts not have Locktite.

Colin

[CieraSL]

Re: removing seats to clean

Pardon my ignorance, but what is Locktite? What does it cost, and where can I buy it?

EDIT: No, the seats do not have power lumbar support. Nothing on the seats is power. What is that one wire for?

[JohanD]

Re: removing seats to clean

Pardon my ignorance, but what is Locktite? What does it cost, and where can I buy it?

EDIT: No, the seats do not have power lumbar support. Nothing on the seats is power. What is that one wire for?

Locktite is a liquid that you put on the threads of screws and bolts. When it dries it really secures the screw in place. There is blue Locktite that can be removed by hand tools, and then red locktite which is stronger and requires power tools. The cost is pretty low, maybe $5-$10, and can be bought at most hardware stores.

As a side note this also works great as a form of plumbers tape as it fills all the gaps. I use this to make air tight connections on my paintball gun.

[CieraSL]

Re: removing seats to clean

Locktite is a liquid that you put on the threads of screws and bolts. When it dries it really secures the screw in place. There is blue Locktite that can be removed by hand tools, and then red locktite which is stronger and requires power tools. The cost is pretty low, maybe $5-$10, and can be bought at most hardware stores.

Can you buy it at Lowe's or Home Depot? What area of the store should I look in?

[cnfowler]

Re: removing seats to clean

Shane, what JohanD said.

The one wire is your seatbelt sensor.

Read this:

http://hondaswap.com/body-exterior-interior-cosmetics/how-remove-install-seats-92-95-civic-119568/

[cnfowler]

Re: removing seats to clean

Can you buy it at Lowe's or Home Depot? What area of the store should I look in?

You should be able to find it at one of those. I'd go to the fastener section first and ask one of those guys. The blue locktite is recommended since the red locktite is considered permanent.

Colin

[JohanD]

Re: removing seats to clean

Can you buy it at Lowe's or Home Depot? What area of the store should I look in?

Yes, lowes or home depot should have it. I would go with the blue, as cnfowler suggested.

[CieraSL]

Re: removing seats to clean

Shane, what JohanD said.

The one wire is your seatbelt sensor.

Read this:

http://hondaswap.com/body-exterior-i...-civic-119568/

Thanks! That really helps!

[cnfowler]

Re: removing seats to clean

No problem. I look forward to the pictures when you're all finished.

Colin

[Tuck91]

Re: removing seats to clean

Obviously with the front seats out you will also be able to clean underneath the seat better as well as the surrounding area. Should be interesting to see how dirty it is.

[the_invisible]

Re: removing seats to clean

This has probably been mentioned, but the cord underneath is for the seat belt sensor.

There's no airbag sensor, electric motor, or heated seat on this year of the Civic. When working with a seat with an air bag sensor, disable the airbag system before unplugging any of those plugs.

One thing that seems to be quite common is that the thread in the bolt hole would strip if the bolt is not inserted properly during the installation process. I find the seat anchor line up with the threads quite easy, but I always read on the internet that people strip the bolt holes while tightening the seat anchor. That's something to be careful with. Always tighten it with extremely little torque to ensure the anchor bolt is seated properly with the thread.

Cleaning is very straight forward otherwise.

[CieraSL]

Re: removing seats to clean

Obviously with the front seats out you will also be able to clean underneath the seat better as well as the surrounding area. Should be interesting to see how dirty it is.

It's kinda nasty. I pulled the center console apart fairly recently just to see if I could (), and there was what looked like corn flakes and cheerios under there. Yucky stuff. I haven't really done any cleaning on it yet, so I'll get some good before pics. The rain channel in the trunk is nasty too. Nothing Meguiar's can't handle. The reason I want the seats out is because there's some old gunk down in there that I don't think I'll be able to get if I leave the seats in. I have crevice attachments for the vacuum, but I need to really be able to get in there. I'm looking forward to it. This will be my first time pulling an interior apart, so this writeup may be a little more extensive. Fun stuff!

[Nappers]

Re: removing seats to clean

Looks like you're going to have fun with that Honda. Kudo's to you asking, better to be safe than sorry.

I believe, and already mentioned is more than likely the seatbelt sensor. Unplug and remove the seats

Loctite can be found at most if not all auto stores, hardware stores and Walmart carries it as well. It's really cheap too, 5 bucks or so. More than likely it's "blue" loctite and just put a drop or so back on the bolts and torque them down when you put the seats back in.


Can't wait to see the finished product!

I used APC+ and Quik Out Aerosol can for interiors and some terry towels and a bucket of water for rinsing!

You can scroll through these threads I did on interior work if you haven't already.....

Dodge 2500.....

2005 Dodge Neon.....

I like interior work.

Keep us posted!

[G_S_DB]

Re: removing seats to clean

One note about Lock-tite. I read that you should never touch the tip of the tube to the metal of the bolt. The article talked about a chemical reaction between the ions that would render the liquid in the tube ineffective. It sounded like sound advice, so just maybe just somehthing to keep in mind.