Seat Squeak Help

I have the same problem- I put a piece of folded paper in between the two plastic parts that were rubbing, and the sound went away. Every once in a while the paper falls out, but i just stick it back in and it's good for another month.

 

I know how annoying those squeaks can be...

Take the time to sit in the rear passenger seat while someone drives to nail down right where the squeak is coming from. Then, at the very least, take the seat out of the car and turn it upside down much of the seat is exposed when it's upside down. It's real easy to take the seat out. There's just the 4 bolts which are 12mm in size, I think.

I've been wanting to write it up for awhile on how to take seats apart but haven't had the time yet. Let me offer a few thoughts which hopefully, will ease any trepidation....

The plastic pieces that cover the rear bolts behind the seat just pop off. You can do this with your fingers. To remove the piece closest to the outside of the car, pry the piece to spread the two sides out. This will release the small claws. In other words, grasp the piece from underneath with your fingers and pull in opposite directions. The plastic piece up against the drive liine hump pops off by similarly prying it apart. But pry up and down on this one. A short extension on the 12mm socket helps in removing this bolt.

Remove the rear bolts first, then slide the seat backwards and remove the front bolts. Place some rags around the ends of the rails where you removed the bolts from and tape them up. This is so you won't scratch the car when you removed the seat and it allows you to put the seat down when it's halfway out of the cra to take a break or reposition yourself. Wrapping these makes it a lot easier than when you try to just take the seat out, knowingt that you can't put it down or you'll scratch something.

Flip the seat over and see if you can lubricate or tape up or do whatever it takes to get rid of the squeak. If it's uunder the material, the bottom of the seat back or the rear of bottom cushion are mere clipped to the springs. You can pop these off with your fingers to view more of the seat.

If the squeak is related to the outside plastic trim, it is a pain to remove it. But, here's how: I should note that no one has found a good way to do this. The Toyota Repair manual doesn't spell it out... You can do this one of two ways: The first is with brute force and just pull on the front end of the plastic piece until the plastic clip slides out of the metal slot that holds it. The plastic piece is still attached at the rear of the seat but you'll be able to swing it away from the seat and do what you need to do the get rid of the squeak. Remember to pop the side of the plastic piece outward first to disengage the clip that pops into the metal frame about 1/3 of the way down the seat... I find that it also takes less force to get the plastic clip back into the metal slot.

The other way is to remove the Phillip's screw at the rear of the plastic trim. Then, the trick is to unlatch the plastic claw that holds the two plastic trim pieces together. The second plastic piece is the one that covers over the inside pivot point and the spring where the seat back meets the seat bottom. This is the clip from hell. There's no good way of unclipping this. I did find that the last time I took my seats apart, I found the easiest way of doing this: Pry the outside plastic trim away in the vicinity of the spring and look down inside of it (This is with the seat upside down on the workbench). Look around and see where the plastic claw is. The claw is on the small piece of trim that covers the inside pivot point. The outside trim has the female end. Insert a standard, average-sized screwdriver into the female slot from the inside trim piece side. Torque it to make the female slot bigger. Once it's large enough, the claw will slip out and the oustide plastic trim will just pop off the seat. The will be some deformation of the plastic clip, but it you take your time, it won't be detrimental. It all goes back together super easy...

The way that most people remove the trim the first time is to remove the one Phillip's screw that is holding the inside small trim piece in place. This will be obvious when the seat is upside down. Removing this screw is a PITA. You'll see what I mean if you try it... Once this screw is removed, people will just pry the two plastic pieces apart to get them off of the seat. This really deforms the plastic claw..

This sounds bad, but at least, take the seat out (It's easy) and have a look around underneath and hopefully, you can solve the issue without haveing to take the plastic trim piece off.

Cheers,

 

I would suggest taking it to the dealer.

After all, it's what you paid for. Right?

If they mess it up, make them fix it. Take digital
pictures of everything before taking it in though.

And don't let galaxee hear you call the techs goons. :mellow:

She might do some genetic modulation on you in her chem lab.

 

My 05 Prius had a real bad squeek. I finally traced it down to one of the rear seats. I noticed that I could pull the rear seats forward without pressing and releasing the locking mechanism for the rear seat releases to lay flat. I slammed the seats back into there normal position until they finally locked in, noise gone. I hope its that easy for you. The squeek drove my wife crazy until I figured this one out.
Sure hope it works for you.

Dave

 

Here's an acrobat file of the TSB Toyota put out for this a while back.

I've got the leather seats in mine and it's getting worse and worse, but I too am hesitant to take it in...I feel like plastic assemblies and interior parts are particularly vulnerable to breakage from disassembly and reassembly.

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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rest @ May 1 2007, 02:42 AM) [snapback]433106[/snapback]</div>

I think I'd address the issue in the TSB first before taking things apart on your own and freelancing the repair without a shop manual or any other information.

You probably already know this, but sometimes noises are difficult to track down; the TSB details the source of noise that is in the near vicinity of where you think *your* noise is coming from...I do not know, but to me the TSB would be a logical place to start.

Otherwise, there's lots of information online; isn't there a subscription service where you can download all the tech information on the Prius, or any other Toyota model...? I think you subscribe by either the day or the month and from what I remember, in a day you can cover a LOT of ground.

Honestly, and don't take this the wrong way, but I'm feeling like, if one is unable to find the information how an assembly goes together in the first place, then one is also likely to end up breaking something and potentially making it worse/more expensive to replace.

IMHO, plastic assemblies like this in automobiles are like puzzles, and extremely vulnerable to mistreatment. Either by the dealer...or by you!

Maybe it's just me, but I've broken my share of plastic tabs and fasteners when trying to do things like this with no information.

How about another strategy: find a more competent dealer?

 

So, you think I, specifically "don't know what I am looking for" when it comes to well done service on an automobile...? You may not be implying this, but it's what I'm inferring from what you wrote.

Oh, and you're an expert? Heck, you're the one who can't even figure out how to take off a plastic trim piece without begging for more information!

Your opinions are wrong, pure and simple. About me, and about the competence of dealer service personnel.

I think your negative attitude towards these mechanics is reprehensible; further, that your presuppostion of poor service is in fact a self-fulfilling prophecy.

 

sorry to read that you broke the piece.

As for removing the screw and taking both pieces off at the same time, this is how I did it the first time. This method actually torques the plastic pieces more with the possibility of deforming portions of the plastic parts that are visible once the seat is put back together again...

Cheers,

 

I had that exact same squeak, from the same plastic trim piece. I started getting the squeak only after the three-tone leather was put in. The remedy for me was flexing the seat back and forth many times (you'll notice it goes away with the seat flattened out backwards) and then heating and flexing the plastic a bit inwards.

~ dan ~

 

I'm glad I found this forum. I purchased my 2008 Prius a week ago and my passenger seat is squeaking! The symptoms are exactly as this thread describes it. It squeaks when it's cool outside and I live in San Antonio, Texas, so I hear the squeak in the early cool mornings.

I'm glad to have print out this thread and the TSB to show to the dealer, as the Toyota dealer didn't believe me. The Toyota Repair Service Shop has never seen/heard of this problem so I'm glad I showed him the TSB. I even showed him the pictures I found on this thread so thank you for posting that. Hopefully he can fix the problem as my car is definatley under warranty. My dealer and Repair Service is Alamo Toyota.

Any information or advice would be appreciated

 

There is a TSB that is specific to this issue. I just picked up a used 2006, and needless to say it has this squeak type noise that originates from the passenger seat. The TSB lists revised interior trim pieces that should address the issue. I'll try to locate the TSB so that I can post it here for everyone who is still under warranty and want to get this fixed.