Squeaking driver seat: Any suggestions?

[N-Wing]

I did a search and did not find much.

So my driver seat squeaks. Not a little, it's quite a bit. Any thoughts? I am going to pull the seat out tomorrow and see what I see as it's out of service for the winter anyway. Just wondering if anyone had any experience with that.

 

[ky650]

Mine just started and it's driving me insane because its near my left ear. It just popped up after doing a full leatherique cleaning/conditioning and I was wondering if perhaps something had been lubricated in a way that was causing the sound (leather on leather rubbing together?). I spent a few minutes trying to push the seat cushions around along with the seat and couldn't really replicate it or find a specific part of the seat it was coming from.

For reference it's a 91 with 70k miles thats garaged.

 

[kertong]

When I first got my '91, it creaked and groaned to my dismay - I thought the body was worn, or the suspension bushings were old and dried out, etc.

The more time I spent in it, I realized it was all coming from the driver's seat. I traced it down to the leather padding right under my left thigh, where it met the lower side bolster. I applied some leather conditioner generously in the area where the two leather surfaces meet, and voila - all rubbing/squeaking/groaning sounds went away! Much relief.

Hopefully your squeaking is something simple like the leather surfaces, not internal or rail related. let us know what you find!

 

[N-Wing]

The project.

I did not believe the noise was related to leather squeaking. It sounded like metal on metal or hard plastic on metal. It was in the seat under the left thigh to center (similar to a post above). I never took a seat out so I figured today was as good a day as any. This is what I found:

1. Removal is as easy as stated. Simply slide the seat forward all the way and remove the rear bolts (under the caps) and then slide the seat rearward and remove the front bolts (14mm socket for reference). Next lift the seat a little and angle in toward the passenger side, remove the seat belt (remove the round cover not the whole plastic piece as it's a pain to get back on...), then get under neath and unclip the seat wire (and wire clip). Note on re-installation: Make sure the seat belt is not twisted, mine was and I had to take whole seat back out (not that it's a huge deal but wasted time none the less).

2. Once I got the seat out I sat in it an still heard the noise -Good, problem is confirmed to be the seat. It was an odd creaking. Definitely not leather rubbing noise which would bother me much less.

3. I wanted to get the bottom of the seat off so flipped it over and removed the 4 plastic clips under the front part of the seat (they pretty much break so be ready with more. I got a pack from the local True Value that worked fine for my re-assembly). Once those are off there is some velcro which is pretty easy to get apart. This is what it looks like apart.

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4. Once I got the seat off I cleaned it out but nothing struck me as out of place (there was a coin which may have been the culprit and BTW, tons of change under the seat and rug). I placed the cushion back down on the seat and didn't hear anything sitting on it again. That was pretty much it. I noticed one thing which was that the middle clips shown below, did not appear to have been clipped into the seat base. It didn't appear to be causing anything but felt it should go where it belonged.

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5. As preventative maintenance I lubricated the seat rails (I used some 3-in-1 oil which hopefully is reasonable) and I threw some duct tape down on the sides of the base incase some of the metal cushion-harness-points might be striking the aluminum (you can see that in these shots).

6. Now those damn clips. Let's just say they did NOT cooperate and I had to get a bit crafty... I could not get the holes to line up or get the clips to catch so I actually took some thin twine and used it to help me pull the clips through. I used the butt end of a hammer handle to really provide direct pressure. It was still a major pain and once I got the first one in, I pulled to hard on the second and broke the string. I was not about to undo the one I got on so I only have 1 buttoned down properly.

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This appears to have solved my problem. I'm in New England so there won't be any driving any time soon. Again, I am not sure if it was the coin (I don't think so as it was in the back of the seat not in the squeak location), or the plastic clips not being connected (I don't think so as it was not squeaking prior to my pulling the one through) so simply some dirt or misalignment. In the end though, no more squeak and I could not be happier. Not a bad little project. Only took about 15 minutes to get the seat out with no instructions other that reading there were four bolts, the seat belt, and the bottom connector. The hole process was about an hour an a half. She is another step closer to perfection...

 

[tof]

What a timely article. My NSX squeaks when cold but the location of the squeak is hard to pin down, at least for me, and the squeaking doesn't correlate to engine speed, road speed, suspension activity or anything else...except it MIGHT correlate with my moving my legs around as I work the pedals. Hmmm.