How do I remove the front seats from a '93?

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aclawson

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We've got a '93 MTX here that hasn't moved in a few years and we'd like to clean it up and get it running.

The first thing I want to do is pull the seats out, but there's a problem. Whoever used the car last shoved the power seats as far forward as they'll go, and while all the other seat functions work (albeit weakly), the forward/back does not.

It's so far forward that I can't really get at the nut holding the inboard seat rail to the car, near the shifter. Is there some trick to pulling these seats? The car has a beautiful black leather interior infested with spiders and mold and we really don't want that.
 

sperold

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Sometimes you can get the seat to move by sitting in it and helping it along by pushing back on it.
It could be the switch which requires taking off the side plastic on the seat bottom. Take a look underneath the seat and see if the wire harness is still hooked up, sometimes a rear passenger can force things under the seat that breaks the wiring.
All of these are fairly hard to do (except the pushing back part).
 

aclawson

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I've tried pushing back as hard as I can while holding the button, but it didn't budge a millimeter.

There is one connector I can see that isn't attached, but I couldn't find anywhere to plug it in.

HWHKN
(I have no idea why this is upside-down.)

I'll go investigate again.

[Edit] Yeah, everything seems connected except the cable pictured. We even pulled a plastic cover out of there that seemed wedged in such a way as to maybe prevent backward movement of the seat, but haven't been able to budge it anyway. [/Edit]
 
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93rev2sev

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That connector is probably for the "auto-lock" feature that was on the gen2 ATX cars.

As far as moving the seat, it'll be tough if the switch is broken, but you'll have to jumper it at the connector. I'd use a 12V-14V drill battery. You'll need to experiment to find the right wires. Make sure you have about a 10 amp fuse at the end of one of your jumper wires to protect the motor.
 

Art5

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I had that problem before, I used, I think 10-11mm socket and unscrewed seat cushion from the frame(it was kinda hard too) and then I could easily get to those bolts to take the rest of the seat out of the car.
 

notbange

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when I got my 92, it had sat for several years, and the seats were frozen on the rails. I had to soak the rails in pb blaster, and beat the back of the rails with a hammer while holding the forward/back switch to get it to break free. I still can't move it all the way forwards so only I can drive it. My fiance is too short for it.
 

aclawson

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I had that problem before, I used, I think 10-11mm socket and unscrewed seat cushion from the frame(it was kinda hard too) and then I could easily get to those bolts to take the rest of the seat out of the car.
This sounds like the plan, to me. Tomorrow we'll do that. Is it possible there are photographs of the hardware that holds the seat cushion on? I don't actually know where the screws are, and though I'm sure I can find them it never hurts to get directions.
when I got my 92, it had sat for several years, and the seats were frozen on the rails. I had to soak the rails in pb blaster, and beat the back of the rails with a hammer while holding the forward/back switch to get it to break free.
I guess it's good to know this can work, too, but wouldn't the PB Blaster just get all over everything?

I'll post some of the photos and a little backstory for the car to keep this more interesting...

I always thought Taurus SHOs were awesome and I encouraged my brother to buy one when he was 16 or 17. He got a pretty awesome deal (forget what it cost) on a very shiny and well-kept looking '93 in green. The previous owner seemed like a cool guy and he'd done some suspension mods like chassis braces and new springs and struts (Eibachs and Tokicos, I think).

My brother added a SHOShop Y-pipe and Borla catback to the equation, and busted the crap out of his transmission. While replacing that he added a Quaife differential and lightened flywheel/new clutch.

At this point, things started going downhill abruptly. The rear brakes seized on multiple occasions, the radiator system began to leak, the water pump also probably began leaking, and ultimately the crankshaft position sensor probably went, and the car just died one day and never came back.

He could wave a wad of cash in a mechanic's face and they'd tell him they just really didn't want to work on his car, so the car was garaged and replaced as a DD by a 2005 Focus. That was seven or eight years ago, and the car hasn't moved under its own power since.

We've taken a look at the engine and concluded that it's pretty screwed, so that'll need replacement, but because of the cost we want to worry about that later on and focus on low-hanging fruit right now, like reconditioning headlights and wheels, and cleaning the interior.

Some rodents got into it at some point while the intake was apart (and we still haven't located the end-tank for the intake) and really did a number on it. Here are the photos of the crap jammed in there:

EHkS2

I recognize my photos so far have sucked and I apologize. I promise I do know how to take a picture correctly. I just blame the dark and my iPhone for everything.

As you can see, barely, there's acorns and crap jammed in there. That nonsense makes its way all the way into at least one cylinder, and also some of the valves are destroyed for some reason, which I wasn't able to photograph, but I can try that again tomorrow.

The interior is covered in some very fragile and thin surface mold that doesn't stick at all, and it crawls, but other than that it should be easy to remove and clean everything once the seats are out, and then we can just bag that stuff until it's ready to go back in the car.

I think we can pull it apart and get it cleaned, repaired, and repainted for not a horrific amount of money if we're clever.
 
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aclawson

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Hey, I just wanted to check in and say we attempted to unbolt the seat as suggested but it seems to be attached with some pretty heavy stuff, instead of the 4 bolts I assumed would be there.

Anyway, I grabbed the Chilton manual out of the garage and we got the seats removed, so all is well.
 

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