Hi,

was considering buying an old s-type today. When I test drove it I felt the backrest moving sideways. Read som threads about front seats squeeking and wobbling but that didn’t fit into this problem.
after the test drive I took a firm grip on the seat and pushed it sideways, and it moved quite a lot down at the hinges, the plastic covers almost broke ( felt like they were about to break).

Anyone knowing the reason for this problem? Easy to fix?

best regards

 

What year is the car? On my '02, one of the hinges failed, where the seatback reclines relative to the base. It's not just a simple hinge, but more of a planetary gear arrangement for the power recline adjustment. A plastic bushing failed and allowed the gear teeth to skip. If you leaned back in the seat, it would flop back a couple of inches. Can't say there was really any side-to-side movement, just fore and aft.

Sad details of my repair attempt here:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...solved-239642/

To summarize Proust, I don't believe this geared hinge mechanism was designed to be repaired. Jaguar's official fix was to replace the entire seat assembly. I had a HECK of a time trying to repair it, and the seat fought back every step of the way. I was about ready to just weld it together in a fixed position when I somehow managed to get all the little pieces assembled. If you encounter a seat with a bad recline hinge mechanism, I would recommend replacing the seat with a serviceable used unit versus trying a repair.

This was on an early model. I do not know about 2003+ models.

 

The play back and forth was not so noticeable, it was much more disturbing sideway movement. While driving I was tossed left and right when turning (slightly exaggerated, but clearly noticeable and disturbing) At first I thought it was the side pads that had broken. But when I stopped intested the seat backrest and it was very sloppy sideways.