Got around to changing the seat frame out the other day and here is how it's done. First of course you have to get the seat out of the car.
Remove the nuts from the front of the seat and fold the seat back forward. Use the wrench to remove the remaining nuts from the rear of the seat.
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After you remove the four nuts you now have to remove the seatbelt from the side of the seat. Prop the seat up at the back and remove the bolt on the outside of the seat with a T-50 torx socket. While you have to seat propped up you will also want to remove the wiring connection to the bottom of the seat. It simply clips in and pushing on the tab along side of the electrical connector will release it.
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You should now be able to remove the seat from the car.
Now that you have the seat out, the most difficult job is at hand. The switch that is at the front of the seat, if not removed properly will break and you will be looking for another. I know this as it happened to me. I was fortunate to be able to find all the parts to pop it all back together again. The tiny springs inside the switch would be REALLY easy to loose. The rep from Lear at Mecca told me that a lot of dealers break them when they remove them from the seat.
When removing the switch, pull it straight out from the front of the seat (A) just until you feel and see the switch disengage from the mounting bracket. When the clips on the switch are clear, it is then required that you slide the switch to the right (B) so that it does not get hung up on the bracket that it is mounted in. The switch will break of you remove it incorrectly so do this with caution and you should be alright.[attachment=3]
After the switch is removed and the electrical connector removed, you then have to remove the nuts at the back of the seat that the clips from the seat back clip into when the seat is put back to the driving position after having been folded forward. After removing the nuts it is necessary to remove the plastic pieces behind the nuts. Be aware of the position of these nuts as they are specific to either the left or right side and the side that is up when you take them off must be the side that is up when you put the seat back together.
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You will now have to unclip the leather cover from the seat frame. Along the four sides of seat you will see that the leather cover is held on with plastic clips that are stitched to the cover. Remove the clips from their attachment points.
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At this point you are now ready to remove the leather cover from the bottom cushion. Carefully peel back the cover and remove it. It is fastened on to the bottom cushion with Velcro but it comes off quite easily.
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Now that the leather cover is off the bottom, you can remove the bottom cushion. It's not fastened at all and it will lift right off of the frame. All that is left is to get the seat back off the frame.
To get the seat back off you need to simply remove the clips that hold it in place at the bottom. I simply inserted a small screw driver as illustrated below and flipped them off. They are easy to remove.
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Now that the clips are off, all we have left to do is to remove the seat back. Simply pull the seat back bracket at the bottom outward to clear the pin and repeat it on the other side. I found it easier to fold the seat forward it this point so I could support the seat back.
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Well that's it. All that you are left with is a seat frame. On the left in the picture below is the old one. At the right is the new one. Reverse the procedure and enjoy your new seat.
I don't know though if there really was anything wrong with my old seat frame. When I was disassembling my seat, the nut that held the plastic piece in place that the seat back clips into wouldn't come off. The bolt that it was attached to was loose. The bolt is a main bolt on the frame assembly that held the pivot that allowed the seat to raise up and down. The bolt being loose would explain why my seat felt as loose as it did. All is well now and the new seat is working great.
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