Bäsemödel
Go Kart Champion
- Location
- Lancaster PA
Hey folks!
I recently swapped leatherette seats for clark plaid seats from a GTI and I wanted to share my experience. I cannot be responsible for whatever happens to your car; positive or negative.
Here was my process:
1 - Identity connectors on the donor car seats
Each front seat should have three connectors; the main plug, the yellow airbag plug and the seatbelt buckle receiver plug. Make sure all the pins on the connectors are in good condition (free of any bends or corrosion) and make sure the harness itself is free of any damage to the wires.
2 - Open the hood and let the car stand for 10min; disconnect battery
3 - Slide the seat all the way back and remove the two front bolts using an M10 triple square and store in a safe place. DO NOT USE anything other than the correct tool!
4 - Slide the seat all the way forward and remove the two back bolts using an M10 triple square and store in a safe place
5 - Lean the seat down and rest it against the rear bench seat. Be aware of how the wiring harness is run and avoid putting tension on it.
6 - Pop out the pin that is in the center of the carpet hold-down. This will release the tension on the hold-down and allow you to extract it with a trim tool.
7 - Peel back the carpet and carefully remove the three connectors from their sockets. I chose to cut the anchored ziptie that was holding the cables down. I pulled it thru and then replaced it afterwards with a new one that went thru the opening. Observe the path of the wiring harness and replicate it during installation.
The main connector has tab that can be pushed towards the outside of the car to release. The yellow airbag plug has a black tab that needs to be pulled up with a small flat head screwdriver to release. It goes without saying but exercise caution when disconnecting the airbag plugs; obvious reasons. The final connector has a small locking tab that can be pried away (towards the airbag connector) using a small flathead screwdriver to release.
8 - With all the connectors unplugged and the harness freed, the next step is to take the seat out.
The seat is heavy and if you can have someone help you remove it, it'll go much easier. I placed a towel across the sill of the door so I wouldnt mess anything up. I found it easiest to sort of rotate the seat towards the outside of the car and pull the base of the seat out of the front door at the same time. Be aware of the seat frame as the metal will do damage to anything it scrapes across.
9 - Carefully install the new seat and place it in the same position the old seat was before you removed it (leaning against the rear bench seat)
I found it easiest to put the seat into the rear door head first and then rotate it down into position. If you're working with someone else, it may be easier to do it another way.
10a (DRIVERS) - with the new seat in the car, run the wiring harness to the sockets in the car. follow the original path the wiring harness took ensuring the harness is exiting in the correct spot. Reconnect the three plugs into their sockets. Reinstall the carpet hold-down as place the pin back in the center.
10b (PASSENGER) - before placing the donor seat in the car, you will need to remove the control module from the original seat and transfer it to the donor seat. It is held in with a T20 screw. Remove the screw and disconnect the plug. If your donor seat did not come with a module, then install the original seat module in place. If your donor seat did come with a module, label it and set in storage in case any issues arise.
11 - Lean the seat forward and pay attention to the register pins on the seat track. Reinstall all four seat bolts making sure to HAND tighten them until all four are in place. The threads for the inside seat rail are fixed and the outside threads can move to some degree as the nut is inside a channel. MAKE SURE all four bolts are in before you tighten anything or you will have a terrible time threading. Be aware the the inside and outside tracks can shift independent of one another so you may need to manipulate them to get everything back in place before the bolts will return to their proper location. Starting with the rear, tighten to 47 ft-lbs.
Hope this helps you get over your fear of swapping seats! It is a pretty straightforward process if youre careful and dont rush. By myself (with vacuuming under the seats) it took me about two hours. Again, this was a swap of GTI seats into a TSI. Although I dont think there would be much, I dont know how different things will be for other models or on cars with, say, full power seats.
Thanks!
Other valuable links:
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2014/SB-10056475-8696.pdf
(rear seat walk thru)
https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8263
I recently swapped leatherette seats for clark plaid seats from a GTI and I wanted to share my experience. I cannot be responsible for whatever happens to your car; positive or negative.
Here was my process:
1 - Identity connectors on the donor car seats
Each front seat should have three connectors; the main plug, the yellow airbag plug and the seatbelt buckle receiver plug. Make sure all the pins on the connectors are in good condition (free of any bends or corrosion) and make sure the harness itself is free of any damage to the wires.
2 - Open the hood and let the car stand for 10min; disconnect battery
3 - Slide the seat all the way back and remove the two front bolts using an M10 triple square and store in a safe place. DO NOT USE anything other than the correct tool!
4 - Slide the seat all the way forward and remove the two back bolts using an M10 triple square and store in a safe place
5 - Lean the seat down and rest it against the rear bench seat. Be aware of how the wiring harness is run and avoid putting tension on it.
6 - Pop out the pin that is in the center of the carpet hold-down. This will release the tension on the hold-down and allow you to extract it with a trim tool.
7 - Peel back the carpet and carefully remove the three connectors from their sockets. I chose to cut the anchored ziptie that was holding the cables down. I pulled it thru and then replaced it afterwards with a new one that went thru the opening. Observe the path of the wiring harness and replicate it during installation.
The main connector has tab that can be pushed towards the outside of the car to release. The yellow airbag plug has a black tab that needs to be pulled up with a small flat head screwdriver to release. It goes without saying but exercise caution when disconnecting the airbag plugs; obvious reasons. The final connector has a small locking tab that can be pried away (towards the airbag connector) using a small flathead screwdriver to release.
8 - With all the connectors unplugged and the harness freed, the next step is to take the seat out.
The seat is heavy and if you can have someone help you remove it, it'll go much easier. I placed a towel across the sill of the door so I wouldnt mess anything up. I found it easiest to sort of rotate the seat towards the outside of the car and pull the base of the seat out of the front door at the same time. Be aware of the seat frame as the metal will do damage to anything it scrapes across.
9 - Carefully install the new seat and place it in the same position the old seat was before you removed it (leaning against the rear bench seat)
I found it easiest to put the seat into the rear door head first and then rotate it down into position. If you're working with someone else, it may be easier to do it another way.
10a (DRIVERS) - with the new seat in the car, run the wiring harness to the sockets in the car. follow the original path the wiring harness took ensuring the harness is exiting in the correct spot. Reconnect the three plugs into their sockets. Reinstall the carpet hold-down as place the pin back in the center.
10b (PASSENGER) - before placing the donor seat in the car, you will need to remove the control module from the original seat and transfer it to the donor seat. It is held in with a T20 screw. Remove the screw and disconnect the plug. If your donor seat did not come with a module, then install the original seat module in place. If your donor seat did come with a module, label it and set in storage in case any issues arise.
11 - Lean the seat forward and pay attention to the register pins on the seat track. Reinstall all four seat bolts making sure to HAND tighten them until all four are in place. The threads for the inside seat rail are fixed and the outside threads can move to some degree as the nut is inside a channel. MAKE SURE all four bolts are in before you tighten anything or you will have a terrible time threading. Be aware the the inside and outside tracks can shift independent of one another so you may need to manipulate them to get everything back in place before the bolts will return to their proper location. Starting with the rear, tighten to 47 ft-lbs.
Hope this helps you get over your fear of swapping seats! It is a pretty straightforward process if youre careful and dont rush. By myself (with vacuuming under the seats) it took me about two hours. Again, this was a swap of GTI seats into a TSI. Although I dont think there would be much, I dont know how different things will be for other models or on cars with, say, full power seats.
Thanks!
Other valuable links:
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2014/SB-10056475-8696.pdf
(rear seat walk thru)
https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8263
Last edited:
