[OffTheRails]

New to the site. I just retired, myself , and my 2003 Z71 Suburban , 266k mile. We are going to miss it; a lot of sport tournaments , highway miles and lots of beach time. Picked up a mint condition 2011 with 65k miles and hope to add many more memories. Our problem is the passenger side 2nd row bucket seat back folded down but I am unable to flip the entire seat forward nor return seat back to upright position. I guess the last time it was returned to the down position the latches didn't fully seat correctly. I am unable to release the seat to attempt to force the seat down so the latches seat properly and release the handles to function properly. I tried to plop on the lower half in an effort to seat the latches but no luck. Any suggestions ?

 

[OpalLacod]

Can you get a picture of the mechanism and cams where all the operating cables come together? I have a feeling you have a broken or bent piece since, in all their wisdom, the cam that operates the seats is usually plastic...

 

[OffTheRails]

Jacob , thnx for the reply. The under side of the seat is surrounded by a plastic housing. My '03 was wide open, everything visible and easily reached under the seats. . I will attempt to get into it further when time allows. Its probably a stretched cable or the latches didn't probably seat correctly. was just curious if this was a common problem. I will , if able , get a picture under the seats . Regarding their infinite wisdom : their making a headlight bulb replacement a project in itself : instead of just lifting 2 rods on either side of the housing and sliding the assembly right out on an '03, , an owner now has to get under and behind the fender well guard , pull the lower portion of the bumper out and off then navigate the housing off the vehicle. The hood feels like it should be on a small foreign car whereas the '03 had an insulated hood with some weight to it Progress? I D K. Guess it has to do with lowering the overall weight of the vehicle to maintain the EPA requirements for mpg over the years.. Like I said, I will continue to work on it. For now , all passengers must enter and exit 2nd and 3rd row from the drivers side. Thankfully all the kiddies are out of the house and on their own. Stay Safe, be well. Brian

 

[OffTheRails]

I will pull the 3rd row seats and , I think , the latching release arrangement might be the same. Will let you know. As soon as the weather clears .

 

[OpalLacod]

My 04 has totally different seat setups in 2nd and 3rd rows. Not sure about the newer ones...

 

[RayVoy]

My '05 had different latches as well.

 

[OffTheRails]

I will let you guys know what transpired when I get to it. Thanks for the replies

 

[OffTheRails]

The seat needs one of the cables to be replaced. l have to go on the web to find the part, local dealer said it's discontinued. One is now on order from gmpartsdirect but whether they have it or not remains to be seen , quite often an order is taken by an online service only to be cancelled when the discovery of the part not being in stock is realized. The saga continues.

 

[OffTheRails]

GMPartsdirect replied today ; order cancelled, item unavailable.
Going to try Suburban Cadillac of plymouth. Took my order and we will see how this goes.

 

[OpalLacod]

You can probably rig a new cable with a bike cable and the appropriate sized crimp. Just a thought if you get desperate. My seats actually broke the plastic cam, so I had to make each cable "manual" by adding a handle to each one.

 

[OffTheRails]

I will hold idea that as my plan B. Thanks for the idea. Not holding out a lot of hopeful my last order with Plymouth Cadillac , it seems to be out of stock most everywhere. Just finding it difficult to believe most of these parts places don't have a Cross-Fit reference guide to see if maybe a later model's part can be substituted for an early part of similar design/need. Thanks again.