Okay. Seat back does not move, never has since got car. Tired of most uncomfortable driving. Read some prior posts. Went to bay 13. Raised the seat upholstery. Cable appears well connected. All wires seem connected. Motor whirrs. Can "feel" juice running through cable. Seat will not budge, not with hard push, nothing, almost as if "IT IS LOCKED!" IS THERE A SEAT back LOCK?????? Something that we can release?

When my cable came loose, I held the cable down on the lefft side of the seat while pushing the switch. The seatback moved. A new cable is needed, or you could cut off 1/4 inch of the sheathing of the cable and re-insert it into the motor.

Klaus
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1975 164 w/174,800mi (Sold) 1995 850T w/91,000mi, 1998 V70R w/129,000mi

I have the same problem on the 95 850 GLT wagon I just bought. Where is this cable upon which one should "push"?

Read this first:

http://volvospeed.com/Repair/seatcable1.php

The hog clips can be replaced by plastic tie downs.

Klaus
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1975 164 w/174,800mi (Sold) 1995 850T w/91,000mi, 1998 V70R w/129,000mi

Let's say I don't care about whether or not the motor ever works again, I just want the seat in the full upright position and leave it there. Which is, in fact, the case.

Can I do that without screwing with the cable replacement at all?

Sojourner

There is no manual override, if that is what you are asking.
You could try just cutting the 4 hog clips on the bottom of the seat and reach up to the top of the housing in the left side and pull the cable down into the gear mechanism and try pulling on the switch at the same time. That worked for me.

Klaus
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1975 164 w/174,800mi (Sold) 1995 850T w/91,000mi, 1998 V70R w/129,000mi

Hi. I should clarify that the little motor/mechanism connected to the cable makes a whirring sound. Nothing obviously moves.

the seat back cable is bad. replace the cable.

I've taken the drivers seat apart several times. Once in my '93 850 and several times in my '96. The cable apparently wears until it's too short, but the replacement sure looked identical.

Take the seat out of the car so that you can devour it in comfort. Pop the trim at the hinge off. Unhook the upholstery from the teeth. Clip the hogrings, unthread the lumbar support knob. Worry the upholstery up to access what you need to. You may find you need to clip the hogrings on the intermediate upholstery retainers, but they're a pain to reassemble. And don't try hogrings w/o the special pliers. The last time, I found I could remove the motor, drop it down and change the cable w/o messing with the intermediates: very satisfactory. One post I read said to use wire ties instead of hogrings. You'd be working to pass 'em under what you need to on the intermediates but give it a try!