http://home.no.net/ebrox/Tony1.htm

Tony's work is the gold standard on 240 seat restoration.

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Sven: '89 245 NA, 951 ECU, open-front airbox, E-fan, 205/65-15's, IPD sways, E-Codes, amber front corner reflectors. Wifemobile '89 245 NA stock. 90 244 NA spare, runs.

Hi Ben. You are witnessing the results of "gettin settled". Most of the 240's I refurbish have at least one seat exhibiting such things. I assume you are referring to the seat back, not the seat bottom? Either way, it all has to do with where the previous owner (or current owner) likes to be if not in the center of the seat. My father is one of those people who sits on the far left of the seat and stretches his legs to the right. He no longer keeps cars long enough to affect them, but in the old days the left side of his bucket seat was always squashed after a few years.

If the seat bottom is the issue, you have one of two things: Either the foam is squashed, or the springs underneath have come unhooked, or the wire web that supports the foam has broken down. Whoops, that's three. Whatever. You need to get the seat out and upside down and most of these will be self explanatory.

If the seat back is the issue, again, it is usually the result of someone pushing their feet against the floor and their back against the seatback as they get their posterior into the perfect position. Two things can happen. First, the seatback frame welds and gussets in the top corners can break. Eventually the whole frame bends. Second, if the frame is sound (grab it and twist at the top to see) then the adjuster mechanisms can be forced out of synch by the settling procedure. You can either take the seat apart, remove the bar that connects the two adjusters (either side) and re-synch them, or you can force it. Push the seat up. Get in the back. Brace your feet against the seat back at the middle, on the frame, and push. Do it slowly and gradually. You can get the offending side to "snap" one tooth forward to get things back in line.

DS

1] If by leaning you mean the seat bottom is sagging, then possibly the grid that is held by springs to the seat-bottom's frame is broken or springs disconnected. Remove seat by loosening the 4 nuts that hold the tracks to the car, tilting seatback almost as far as it will go and with a helper twist seat on it's side and remove through the back door. I think there are 4 springs on each side or compare to passenger side. New grids are available.

2]If by leaning you mean the seat bottom is angled to the right then likely the left and right track are out of sync. Use a little WD40 on the tracks, release the adjuster and try to twist gently paralel by moving one side back or forward, check tightness of 4 bolts that hold seat to floor

3]If by leaning you mean the seat back is angled to the right then likely the adjuster gears cogs are out of sync. The large center of the recline knob can be pried off, there is a retaining disk that is somewhat difficult to remove, Best if the seatback upholstery is loosened and disengage/re-engage gears so both sides are the same.

At 62K miles your seats should be in good condition unless a heavy driver has been sitting there and broken down grid and foam. Torn upholstery will soon follow ...

I'm sure others will post with links to Tony H's site where you'll find lots of good information.

The only real remedy is a fair amount of work on your part. All these seats are well aged by now and have been sat in for many hours, so junkyard seats are not much better than what you have. Passenger seats are usually better than drivers seats and will be good parts donors.

Seat leaning in towards center of the car is a common problem. You'll have to remove seat from car to work on it. Four fasteners remove the assembly from the floor pan (2 nuts @ front, 2 screws @ rear). Detach the seat heater wires first if you have them.

My thinking is to allow most of a weekend for that project. I don't think I could do any family holiday justice if I were also rebuilding a seat on a car that needs to get someone to work after the weekend is over.

DON'T carry the seat by grabbing the 3/8 inch diam. rod running horizontally where the back meets the seat. It's hollow, and soft metal. Its job is to couple the left side tilt adjuster to the right side mechanism on the seat. Rod bends easily. Want to know how I learned about that??

You'll find hog rings holding the fabric onto frame; they will come off with needle nose pliers and a flat blade screwdriver. Or a heavy duty wire nipper. Replace with zip ties afterwards; the steel rings are overkill.

Seat back is bolted to seat bottom; 2 bolts on each side. They can loosen. Tightening fixes that.

However in nearly all cases the real problem is deterioation of the seat foam. Feel with your hand, where your shoulder rests against the seat back. At the edge of the seat back. Feel the steel frame tubing up against the fabric? That's the cause of your twisted seat. Replacement foam is a couple hundred dollars per cushion (yup) but you can glue-repair your cushions, or you can get a junker seat with better foam and mend + reinforce that before installing in your seat. Glue: 3M Super 77. Cleans up with turpentine. Tough stuff. Reinforce ALL cracks and future crack areas with denim jeans material. Tee shirts are not tough enough; I tried that.

If you have cloth seats, the cloth is machine washable. Probably dry on coolest setting since it's synthetic.

The lumbar adjuster mechanism sometimes breaks - metal or plastic parts will snap due to stress + age. Replace with parts from a junker. Or get from ipdusa.com or maybe from a Volvo dealership. If it's broken you'll need to fix it, if you just remove it you'll be uncomfortable.

Coil springs attach to wire grids embedded in the foam. There are notes on the site I mentioned on replacing the springs. I substituted stretched galvanized steel cable for the busted grid, tightened with turnbuckles.

Not a small project. But you'll thank yourself every time you sit in the car.
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Sven: '89 245 NA, 951 ECU, open-front airbox, E-fan, 205/65-15's, IPD sways, E-Codes, amber front corner reflectors. Wifemobile '89 245 NA stock. 90 244 NA spare, runs.

volvos seatsuck,,the legroom in a \\245 is real bad if you're 5'6"&up.
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!965 NSU Prinz,1958&9 VW Beetles,1972 Renault R10,1970 Fiat 850,1972 Chevy Nova,straight 6 3 spd.topped out at115mph,1982 VW Rabbit,1987 Ford Econoline Straight 6 Supervan,445,472 miles before it flamed up!1989 Ford Taurus Wagon 3.0V6,took 18"of snow to s

If you take the seat out and turn it upside down you'll find some bolts that go from the inside out along the bottom. Most likely they're loose.
It seems the metal can bend if it's been like that for a while...mine still leans a little after a fix.