Hi,

Got in the car yesterday (2004 ES TL) and hear a crack / snap side coming from the back of the drivers seat. Now it feels like I'm sunk too far into the chair and it's actually really uncomfortable. After a closer check it appears that the lumbar support has totally deflated as I can feel it flat and the rotation knob on the side of the seat no longer adjusts it. Is the lumbar support actually something that's inflated? I sat in the passenger seat to see what that felt like and it's definitely the lumbar area's that effected.

Other than putting a small regular sofa cushion behind my back while out driving I've no idea what to do. Seems a bit extreme to get a new seat plus I can't work out how to get inside the seat and check this support.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Andrew

The last time I looked inside a Mitsu seat it was just a flat strip of hard material fixed at either end. Possibly one end has come adrift.

Seeing your seat has a side airbag, pulling it out and apart will need details from someone who has done this, I'm not going to guess how to do it, beyond saying to disconnect the battery first.

I was going to suggest the cushion idea, that is what I did last time this happened to me, but you already thought of that. lol

Thanks for the info. Yes I'll get a cushion in it today as my backs knackered.

I do have the Ellery repair manual which told me to disconnect the powerseat electrical connection and the Seat belt electrical connection which was easy to do and I suppose that also covers the side airbag but then it says to remove the bolts and take the entire seat out. I don't want to be that drastic as I may still not be able to actually get inside the seat itself. Thought someone else here may have repaired one as they are pretty popular cars.

hey, my memory is very hazy of this, it was many years ago when i worked for Mitsubishi.
I was an apprentice there when the TJ's were reasonably new and there was a recall on the seat recliner hinge cracking under fatass drivers.
Dissasembing the seat was pretty straight forwards. the seat itself should be very similar (if not the same) as the TL
Once the seat is out, you remove the plastic trims off either side of the base cushion.
Then you unhook the fabric backing of the seat from the rear underside of the seat frame, there is a bunch of metal wires that have been squeezed into a ring. I used to use 2 pairs of needle nose pliers to grip and pull them apart. Some people just cut them, put if your careful and cheap, you can open them a bit and then reuse them.
From there, you undo the bolts in the side of the hinge and take the whole upper seat cushion off. (This is where i would replace the hinges and put it back together)


From there it should be a zipper at the base of the cushion, then pull the fabric cover up and over the foam.
For the lumbar handle, it should pull off a splined stub. If not, it may have a hidden screw or clip like on a window winder (I doubt it though)

edit: http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58214
Found elsewhere on the site, no pics working anymore though... :(

Yes, the seat back is easy to strip down, just hog rings and wire supports, but the TL seat has an airbag in the seat back and electric motor in the base to be dealt with when removing the seat and stripping it down. Any ideas on that?

Unfortunately i have never worked on a TL airbag seat...
Looking at a google pic, It looks like a start would be to gently push the fabric down around the edge of the airbag, looking for either retaining screws or metal push clips that lock it into its housing in the seat frame.
Some seats you remove the large plastic back capping off the seat first to access the mounts, but magnas dont have seats like that...

As for the electric motor, it shouldnt need to be removed to get the upper seat back off, but if it does need to be removed, it should just be some mounting screws.
Once removed the motor will come away from the gear mesh and out.

I'd hate to fiddle about with an airbag-equipped seat. I'd probably go to one of the autoparts shops or the Reject Shop and buy one of those lumbar cushions designed for cars. Some of them have an elastic strip to stop them drifting about. Heaps cheaper and less fiddly imho,

Many thanks for the additional replies. This is looking to be a time consuming job so will save it for a weekend when I don't need the car as something is bound to go wrong ;-)

It wasn't until 5 months ago that I did my first oil change so I'm not the most advanced car DIY person on the block but beats the hell out of paying to get it done though. I've just recently moved over from Canada where an oil change is 1/4 of the price compared to here in WA so no need to do it yourself.

I didn't think the airbag would be an issue though as the manual says to disconnect the powerseat electrical connection and the Seat belt electrical connection first before so was presuming the airbag would be neutralised. Probably not a good idea to presume though.

I have a lumbar cushion for now though so will hold out for a free weekend.

Cheers,

Andrew

Once the airbag in the seat is disconnected from the wiring harness DO NOT turn the ignition on as the SRS module will detect the airbag is disconnected and illuminate the SRS fault light on the dash. Only turn the ignition on once the airbag is reconnected.

Cheers