rear seat removal, '04 Cavalier

I need to get the rear set out of our '04 Cav. The book says to press a
retainer with a screwdriver, and then lift the seat. I see the retainer
mechanism, but it's not clear where to press. Regardless,, I've pressed
on every surface I can find, without result.

Any clues would be appreciated. Among others, is the retainer supposed
to snap open, or do you have to keep pressing it while you lift the
seat?

Thanks

"George" wrote:

> I need to get the rear set out of our '04 Cav. The book says to press a
> retainer with a screwdriver, and then lift the seat. I see the retainer
> mechanism, but it's not clear where to press. Regardless,, I've pressed
> on every surface I can find, without result.
>
> Any clues would be appreciated. Among others, is the retainer supposed
> to snap open, or do you have to keep pressing it while you lift the
> seat?

Took a while to find some decent drawings, but here they are.

http://parts.nalleygmc.com/images/pa...28MJ15-012.JPG
http://workshop-manuals.com/chevrole...ge-2023006.png

Flat springy retainers attach to the cushion, and the "elbows" go down into
slots until they latch in place. (Second pic shows a notch in the clip that grabs
the edge of the slot). Push a flat-blade screwdriver under (or just against) the
forward-facing tab, push the clip towards the back of the car (like prying the
evil villain's finger's off the edge of the 1000 foot cliff), while lifting that end
of the cushion. Repeat for the other end.

"Sanity Clause" > wrote

> Took a while to find some decent drawings, but here they are.
>
> http://parts.nalleygmc.com/images/pa...28MJ15-012.JPG
> http://workshop-manuals.com/chevrole...ge-2023006.png
>
> Flat springy retainers attach to the cushion, and the "elbows" go down into
> slots until they latch in place. (Second pic shows a notch in the clip that grabs
> the edge of the slot). Push a flat-blade screwdriver under (or just against) the
> forward-facing tab, push the clip towards the back of the car (like prying the
> evil villain's finger's off the edge of the 1000 foot cliff), while lifting that end
> of the cushion. Repeat for the other end.

**** Additional ****

http://workshop-manuals.com/chevrole...ge-2023005.png

Bottom half of that pic seems to show that there *may* be a "fixture" of some type
that the retainer goes into, with possibly a flat hole in the front for the screwdriver?
Hard to tell without seeing it in person.

Whatever... you get the general idea.

On 5/19/2014 1:53 PM, George wrote:
> I need to get the rear set out of our '04 Cav. The book says to press a
> retainer with a screwdriver, and then lift the seat. I see the retainer
> mechanism, but it's not clear where to press. Regardless,, I've pressed
> on every surface I can find, without result.
>
> Any clues would be appreciated. Among others, is the retainer supposed
> to snap open, or do you have to keep pressing it while you lift the
> seat?
>
> Thanks
>

What I'd try first is to grab the seat cushion at the rear and lift up.
The front of the seat pivots on the retainers.

On Mon, 19 May 2014 22:35:07 -1000, dsi1
> wrote:

>On 5/19/2014 1:53 PM, George wrote:
>> I need to get the rear set out of our '04 Cav. The book says to press a
>> retainer with a screwdriver, and then lift the seat. I see the retainer
>> mechanism, but it's not clear where to press. Regardless,, I've pressed
>> on every surface I can find, without result.
>>
>> Any clues would be appreciated. Among others, is the retainer supposed
>> to snap open, or do you have to keep pressing it while you lift the
>> seat?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>
>What I'd try first is to grab the seat cushion at the rear and lift up.
>The front of the seat pivots on the retainers.

Thanks - that worked. Even with it out, I don't see how you'd do the
latch release thing. I don't doubt it works, but I don't get it.

On Mon, 19 May 2014 23:20:07 -0700, "Sanity Clause"
> wrote:

>
>"Sanity Clause" > wrote
>
>> Took a while to find some decent drawings, but here they are.
>>
>> http://parts.nalleygmc.com/images/pa...28MJ15-012.JPG
>> http://workshop-manuals.com/chevrole...ge-2023006.png
>>
>> Flat springy retainers attach to the cushion, and the "elbows" go down into
>> slots until they latch in place. (Second pic shows a notch in the clip that grabs
>> the edge of the slot). Push a flat-blade screwdriver under (or just against) the
>> forward-facing tab, push the clip towards the back of the car (like prying the
>> evil villain's finger's off the edge of the 1000 foot cliff), while lifting that end
>> of the cushion. Repeat for the other end.
>
>**** Additional ****
>
>http://workshop-manuals.com/chevrole...ge-2023005.png
>
>Bottom half of that pic seems to show that there *may* be a "fixture" of some type
>that the retainer goes into, with possibly a flat hole in the front for the screwdriver?
>Hard to tell without seeing it in person.
>
>Whatever... you get the general idea.

Thanks. Just for google-completeness, I still don't get it. I did get
it out, due to some unknown combination of pushing on the latch and
lifting at various places on the seat. But, even with it out, I'm not
sure. There is a divot where you say, which looks meant to accept the
screwdriver blade. And, without the seat in the picture, if I press on
that divot, the clip detaches cleanly from the floor bracket. Ha, I
thought. But, after I put the seat back in, I tried pressing there
again ... and got nothing.

So, I got it out. If I had to, I think I could probably do it again. I
don't know how.

On Tuesday, May 20, 2014 1:47:38 AM UTC-10, George wrote:
> On Mon, 19 May 2014 22:35:07 -1000, dsi1
>
> > wrote:
>
>
>
> >On 5/19/2014 1:53 PM, George wrote:
>
> >> I need to get the rear set out of our '04 Cav. The book says to press a
>
> >> retainer with a screwdriver, and then lift the seat. I see the retainer
>
> >> mechanism, but it's not clear where to press. Regardless,, I've pressed
>
> >> on every surface I can find, without result.
>
> >>
>
> >> Any clues would be appreciated. Among others, is the retainer supposed
>
> >> to snap open, or do you have to keep pressing it while you lift the
>
> >> seat?
>
> >>
>
> >> Thanks
>
> >>
>
> >
>
> >What I'd try first is to grab the seat cushion at the rear and lift up.
>
> >The front of the seat pivots on the retainers.
>
>
>
> Thanks - that worked. Even with it out, I don't see how you'd do the
>
> latch release thing. I don't doubt it works, but I don't get it.

My assumption is that your manual is wrong. It might be for a different model but if the retainer is like the drawing, it's designed to release only if the the seat is tilted forward. I've had seats that are released by lifting out the front edge of the seat but this ain't one of them.