Before I go tearing my seat apart, I wanted to ask if anyone knew how the mechanism in the seats work and what can cause issues (pre-facelift).

I use the side release on my seat everyday to throw my bag in the back and it is suddenly jamming. Sometimes I can push back on the seat and it will release, other times it is completely stuck.

Does the seat have to be torn apart or is this mechanism easily serviced? Any ideas what the problem could be?

 

I am afraid it is a seat-out and leather cover off the seat back job SS. Then you will see the mechanism and it will be obvious how to fix it.
Greg

 

Does anything have to be stripped to separate the top and the bottom? I'm thinking that perhaps the switch is just connected to a simple rod and all of the mechanism resides on the side at the joint between the two.

I tried using the chrome lever to move the seat back in forth, in case they were one in the same mechanism, but it worked perfectly and didn't seem to affect the release switch.

 

btw if anyone knows of a better way to deal with the b$ washers used on the inside of the rails to attach the seats, please fill me in. I think last time I glued them to toothpicks and then ripped them off after starting the seat bolts or something like that.

 

SS
It could be that removing the bottom cover only, shows you the problem but I cannot remember if that is doable in car or not, or even at all. I SO agree about those threaded square fixings, In the end I superglued them to a thin lath of word and poked them into the floor fixing to hold them in place while fiddling about to start the bolt. Once stated, I wrenched the wood free.
Greg