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2019 Flex with manual release of 3rd row seats to lay them flat. These seats have 2 pull ribbons that 1) collapse the seat back, and 2) flip the seat flat to allow much greater storage area in the back. Recently, one of my seats has become stuck in the up position. We cannot use half of the back of the Flex to move items, which is one of the reasons we bought it. When I pull the first ribbon (to collapse the seatback), it feels as though it is not attached to anything. I am assuming there are cables that are attached to these ribbons to release pins to allow the back to go down, and also for the 2nd ribbon to make the collapsed seat flip (this one is still attached).
There are, apparently, some models that have an electric mechanism that folds the seats. This is not one of those models. It is manually done.
Has anyone had this issue?
Is there a way to take apart the base of the seat to re-attach the cable?
Is there a way to remove the seat to be able to access the area that would need to be removed?
Am I destined to have to take it to a dealer?
I am not near the car now, but I will try to post pictures of said ribbons in a short time.
Well, looks like I figured it out myself (I got lucky!)
Turns out I did not need to take the rear seats out. I was able to access the mechanism by simply popping off the plastic cover near the two ribbons
This allowed me to see (barely) the attachment of the red ribbon to a steel plate attached to a spring that, when pulled, allowed the seat back to fold down. (2 views)
All looked like it was attached appropriately, but still didn't move. So I used some WD-40 and it loosened it right up and worked as designed. I had not wanted to pull the ribbon too hard before in case it tore or detached from the seat.
I believe that something sticky (melted candy, soft drink) got spilled into there and just caused the plate to stick.
Even after I put everything together, the plate stuck again. But this time I was more comfortable giving it a hard sharp pull, and I also know where to put the WD-40 without taking everything apart (right where the screwdriver is when popping the plastic casing apart).
I don't know if anyone else will have a similar problem, but if so, hopefully this can help them and save a good bit of time and energy.
'19 Flex - 3rd row seat stuck
