Member Since: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Bramhall
Posts: 26702
Doubt it very much. More likely a service bulletin to be actioned "Upon Customer Complaint"
23rd Feb 2006 11:25 am
simon
Member Since: 11 Jan 2005
Location: Shropshire
Posts: 18296
A good dealer will let you know as soon as they believe it fixes the problem too
23rd Feb 2006 11:26 am
JaggedEdge
Member Since: 02 Mar 2006
Location: Essex
Posts: 2
I am a New User to the website even though I have had my first Disco 3 now since October 18TH and what a great car it is. My off raod course is due this sunday in Kent, anyone been on it and is it any good?
Just to follow the thread really. I have the same Sinking Seat problem, but Land Rover have replaced my seat base for me, no questions, although they seemed to imply that they had not heard of the problem before?. The rate of sinking has slowed but it is still happening. TBH it just seems like they have tightened the mechanism up!!!
Anyway the car goes back in this saturday to replace all the things they damaged when getting the new seat base in just my luck, damaged centre console, damaged door tread..... They even left greasy fingerprints on my Alpaca cloth! I knew I should have gone with black!
Here's to them getting it right this time Bonatti Grey TDV6 S
Roof Rails
Bluetooth System
2nd Mar 2006 11:32 pm
10forcash
Member Since: 09 Jun 2005
Location: Ubique
Posts: 16534
TSB LA501-021 Manual seat adjustment 15th March 2006
"Vehicles with manually adjustable seats Vin range: 5A300167 Onwards
Markets: All except NAS and Japan
Summary:
A customer may report a concern that over long journeys, the seat requires re-adjustment to maintain the desired height, or that when left unattended for long periods the seat height adjustment requires lowering.
Cause: A tolerance issue within the height adjustment mechanism can lead to height adjustment slippage.
Action: Should a customer express concern regarding the above, refer to the Service Procedure detailed in this bulletin.
NOTE: The height adjustment lever is close to the edge of the seat cushion and is prone to accidental operation during driver ingress and egress. A customer may perceive that the seat is self-lowering when this is not the case. The seat cannot lower itself when unattended due to the presence of two assistor springs under the seat base. In order to avoid unnecessary component replacement, ensure that the driver is not accidently operating the adjustment lever. This can be established by placing a solid object between the lever and the seat trim to immobilize it during ingress/egress to confirm if the symptoms persist."
21st Mar 2006 12:50 pm
simon
Member Since: 11 Jan 2005
Location: Shropshire
Posts: 18296
At last an admission of a problem... another visit is due to Shukers for this and WDS CD 13 Patch 2 for the lazy revs and low speed stalling issue on steep hills.
Note to self... should have checked GTR not yesterday but today
I found a solution to the manual front seat lowering itself. Under the seat there are 2 springs as in this picture:
Click image to enlarge
With the seat in the fully raised position, the springs can be unclipped from their mountings. Then, with them off the vehicle, it's pretty easy to disassemble each spring from its plastic cover, and drop a suitable sized nut down inside so that when re-assembled the spring has more tension on it. Alternatively you could use a few coins as spacers - anything that compress the spring about 1/4 inch more than it would normally be. The spring is quite a bit shorter than the plastic housing anyway, so as long as you don't put something too big in there it's easy enough to get it all back together again. Likewise, clipping it back onto the seat base isn't too difficult as long as you've not tried to extend the spring by too much.
I've driven a 500 mile round trip during the last few days, with no seat lowering at all :thumbsup:
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2005 D3 2.7 TDV6 S
1984 90 2.25 Petrol CSW
1992 90 200TDi Hard Top
1995 Discovery ES 300TDi
2003 90 TD5 Truck Cab
1st Sep 2008 4:35 pm
Peternc
Member Since: 08 Mar 2010
Location: Sussex
Posts: 41
I bought an 07 XS a month or so ago and since then have noticed that either I've been shrinking or the driver's seat has been sinking. I really did not want to go back to the dismal dealer only to be fobbed off or have them cart me away to the local hospital to be sectioned so it was with some relief then that I found a number of threads on the site about the problem (seat sinking I mean, not age related shrinkage!)
ridgeback_moor, I'm going to try the solution you posted in Sept 08, assuming you still have the same vehicle as then, is the fix still working?
22nd Apr 2010 2:51 pm
J
Member Since: 11 May 2009
Location: Surrey
Posts: 243
I recently had my seat base replaced by the local dealers under warranty on an 07 XS - no problems since
23rd Apr 2010 8:26 am
Peternc
Member Since: 08 Mar 2010
Location: Sussex
Posts: 41
Have driven around for the last month or so to convince myself that I'm not depressing the height adjustment lever with my . I'm not. Just spoke to the dealer that I bought the car from, they maintain it is a complete non issue and is absolutely caused by the driver sitting on the handle, and do I want a piece of wood to prop it in place?. No thanks.
Spoke to another dealer who had seen with the problem on FL2's but not D3's. Anyway they were happy enough to take the car in next month and do the weight test overnight. See how we get on.
26th May 2010 2:33 pm
DiscoverEd!
Member Since: 28 Feb 2011
Location: Floating around
Posts: 56
Just finished the mod proposed by ridgeback up above with the bolts inside the tension spring casings. Will give it a shot this week.
20th Mar 2011 10:22 pm
Dexter
Member Since: 21 Sep 2007
Location: Aberdeenshire
Posts: 1391
What's the best way to 'persuade' these springs off the retaining brackets on the seat base. I suspect that the seat on the D4 is sinking on it's own and would like to try this fix before I go to the dealer. The underside of the seat is a bit congested though so looking for tips from anyone who has done this recently.
Cheers
Dex
21st Mar 2011 5:22 pm
Peternc
Member Since: 08 Mar 2010
Location: Sussex
Posts: 41
Dex
You might find that you invalidate your warranty by having a go at it.
When I had the same problem last year, the dealer put a heavy weight on the seat overnight and having proved to themselves that the seat was sinking, replaced the mechanism without further question
21st Mar 2011 5:51 pm
DiscoverEd!
Member Since: 28 Feb 2011
Location: Floating around
Posts: 56
This is where I regret taking pictures of those spring housings when they were off.
Let's try to put it in words, and, if the D4 springs are in any way the same as D3s. Assuming manual seats, no powered controls.
This is the way I did it.
1. Push the seat forwards and upwards all the way you can with the usual bar and lever.
2. Make your way to the back of the seat and head down so you can visualise the housings. riedgeback moore's picture above is what they look like . Don't try to see what they are fixed to, you'll end up with a strained neck. You have to do it "blind".
3. The lower side of each casing is the first thing you need to unclip. It's a quarter-circle type claw, so if you push (or pull, depending on your hold) the low end upwards, it will snap out of the lower rod.
4. The upper side is snapped on to a bar. You can move it sideways and it'll come off. (An unnecessary explanation if you took them off already: if you had Playmobiles when you were a kid (or your kid has some), you'll be familiar with the way Playmobile's hands grab stuff. Basically, the bar's section being a circle, the casing top's section being a "C" snapping around it.
5. Both casings are identical and fixed symmetrically on either side of the underseat.
6. To open them, separate both plastic parts of each casing patiently by hand or with a flat driver. Beware not to rip the sides apart. Take the springs out.
7. Drop a 8-10mm nut down each casing (probably best is the end side that doesn't have the spring guide). My paranoid self dropped a piece of folded insulating tape between the nut and plastic to be sure there was some "cushioning" against grinding, but you can avoid this.
8. Drop the springs back in. Reassemble both casings.
9. Now the tricky part: it worked for me to go back with my head on the floor of the 2nd row seat, then navigate blindly to find the upper bar where the upper side "C" of each casing goes.
10. Snap upper side back on, ensuring the lower side of the spring casing is aligned with the rod you took it off and rests on top of it.
11. With a flat driver (unless you have massively strong fingers), push between the lower side fixing and the case itself, hard enough to snap the lower end back in.
12. Repeat on the other side.
13. Should be job done.
Excuse my sloppy descriptions, but I hope it helps.
PM me if you have problems. Happy to help.
So far, has been holding up after a day.
If this voids warranty, then, if it doesn't work, you can repeat and remove nuts from casisng before going off to the dealer.
Cheers!
DEd
21st Mar 2011 6:09 pm
Dexter
Member Since: 21 Sep 2007
Location: Aberdeenshire
Posts: 1391
Thanks Ed, very detailed - I'll give it a go at the weekend. The seat base design looks just the same and the springs are indeed connected in the Playmobil hand grip fashion - excellent
As my preferred dealer is over 50 miles away, it's worth a try to avoid:
1. Drop off at dealer, told that no problem found
2. Return to dealer, leave car overnight for them to 'prove' the fault using the overnight test weight method
3. Order new seat base
4. Return to dealer to have new base fitted, oops wrong colour ordered
5. Try again, damage to interior during fit of new base, some new rattles and squeaks
6. Return to dealer to have damage repaired
If only I could phone the dealer, they actually believe me and offer to order in a new base (pref electric as this seems to be a European fix) and one visit to successfully swop over while I wait : what chance, eh?
Cheers Dex
22nd Mar 2011 6:17 pm
DiscoverEd!
Member Since: 28 Feb 2011
Location: Floating around
Posts: 56
Something of an update since the weekend is that there was a bit of slippage in height, though I'm still unsure if it was due to pushing the lever accidantally when hopping on. I need to give it a bit more time and even try with the fugly velcro solution in the first post in page 1.
In any case, the only way to test it for real is keeping the height at max at all times (makes you look like a bit of a dork) and checking if there's room to pump up once in a while.
Ridgemoore hasn't come back to confirm it's worked for him.
Good luck mate. Glad you got the Playmobile analogy.
DEdProbably a mislabeled D3 S with no nuthings. Who knows.
Sidesteps and mudguards removed. Grinding noise that gladly was not more than a hub bearing
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just my luck, damaged centre console, damaged door tread..... They even left greasy fingerprints on my Alpaca cloth! I knew I should have gone with black!
. I'm not. Just spoke to the dealer that I bought the car from, they maintain it is a complete non issue and is absolutely caused by the driver sitting on the handle, and do I want a piece of wood to prop it in place?. No thanks.
. Don't try to see what they are fixed to, you'll end up with a strained neck. You have to do it "blind".
