05 Seat Clonking

[adriant]

Hi does anyone have driver seat clonking problems? I have had the problem from new '05 V8 Sport Edition. They have replaced the seat frame twice. In addition on the last frame replacement the dealer has also tried to weld a bar across the rear two mounts holding the seat to the floor. After replacing the seat frame the first time they tried to tighten the front lower bolster mechanism (controlled by the round knob on the left front of seat). Much better initially but over couple of months it is even worst now.

The seat rocks around when braking, accelerating, entering driveways and anywhere there is a change in the road that results in your body rocking back and forth. The dealer got in a checked it again the other day and he had to close the door because of other road traffic noise and I could hear the clonking outside the vehicle over the traffic noise.

I have spoken to Toyota as the dealer is frustrated and does not know what to do. Toyota was absolutely useless with the woman claiming it is normal. As it is normal it will not be resolved. This response after waiting 6 weeks for their "special problem team to review". There was no review and I am sure just a stall tactic to make most people go away. Toyota wanted me to go back to the dealer and sit in other 05 runners to see if the problem is the same. The other seats were great and the dealer agreed the other runner seats were fine but mine was not. He has ordered another seat frame. That will make 3 new frames. We will see. I keep hoping that a newer version seat frame will resolve it.

If this does not work with the new frame, I suggested to Toyota woman that I should probably make a claim in Small Claims Court. It might get the lead out of their butts when they have to start spending thousands for their lawyers to fly here and go to court for the day.

Does anyone have any suggestions for solutions and or escalating the problem to get action out of Toyota?

Cheers,

Adrian

 

[ProMed]

They replaced my entire seat a few weeks, supposedly because my 4r has the side airbags. This has gotten rid of the rocking so far, hopefully it holds up!

 

[pickerdd]

My '06 Limited with leather seats and side airbags does something similar to yours. I'm bringing my truck back to the dealer for the 4th time early next week and have one of their service techs ride with me so they will be able to hear the same sounds I'm hearing. I'm hoping they will replace the entire set after hearing the various noises.

Good luck.

 

[scott78945]

I have this in my 05 V8 Sport but I was told it was "normal" as the seat is supposed to have "give" What a load of sh*t. I am trading it in next year for an 08 so I am not too concerned. It will be someone else's problem.

 

[pickerdd]

I got my car back Wednesday afternoon after my local dealer (Marietta Toyota) replaced the driver's seat frame. After about 100 miles of driving all the rattles and clicks and pops and squeals and seat movement are gone. so far so good.

My advice to you all is if you have any work done on the interior on your car or truck check the work carefully before you leave the dealer. Even though they replaced the seat frame and did a good job of putting the leather back on, they broke several plastic seat rail guards and did not put on the rear rail plastic covers.

 

[pinhead999]

Seat Rubbing

I'm glad I'm not the only one with this problem. I have a silver 06 V8 Limited with about 10K miles on it.

My driver's seat creaks and makes rubbing noises all the time now. It's making me nuts. The right side of the seat rubs against the center console and the bottom of the seat creaks when turning or braking. I've slid a piece of paper between the seat and the console to aleviate some of the noise.

Is it worth mentioning to the dealer?

Thanks,

Andrew
Arlington, VA

 

[pickerdd]

Yes!! Absolutely get your dealer to fix it. I was considering selling my truck because all the damn rattles and noises and such from the seat and center console were driving me nuts. The dealer fixed everything and now the truck is very quiet.

 

[pinhead999]

Seats

I'm bringing it in on Friday for an oil change and I will mention it to them.

Those noises make it sound so cheap.

 

[sharp4runr]

I had this from the beginning on my 2004. They finally came out with a TSB in 2006 and I took it in before my warranty expired. So far the problem is fixed. I have an extended warranty so if it crops up after my normal warranty expired then I should be covered for a while...

 

[pinhead999]

Seat Update

I took my 4Runner in on Friday for an oil change and to look at the seat.

The tech told me he has seen this problem on many 4runners and got in there and greased it up a little. It seems to have worked for now. If it comes back, I need to have the seat taken out and the frame replaced.

 

[ProMed]

Re: Seat Rubbing

I'm glad I'm not the only one with this problem. I have a silver 06 V8 Limited with about 10K miles on it.

My driver's seat creaks and makes rubbing noises all the time now. It's making me nuts. The right side of the seat rubs against the center console and the bottom of the seat creaks when turning or braking. I've slid a piece of paper between the seat and the console to aleviate some of the noise.

Is it worth mentioning to the dealer?

Thanks,

Andrew
Arlington, VA

Andrew, I also have an 06 Limited (except mine now has 35k!) and they replaced the entire seat a while back with an "updated unit". They said that they had to do this since the car has the side air bags in the seat and they couldn't disassemble it to replace just the frame. Hope that helps!

 

[pinhead999]

Seat

Thanks for the info. I guess the odds are that the seat will eventually have to be replaced.

Why isn't there a recall on this? Does it have to be safety related in order to be recalled?

Also, driving to work today I noticed my left signal is blinking much faster than usual. I should probably check the light.

 

[Uneek]

Hmmm, I'm a little surprised to see Limited owners with the slop the seat frame causing movements. I think this is why Toyota started offering standard power seats on V8 SR5 and all SEs in 2006. My seat hasn't exhibited this problem yet (knock on wood).

 

[Uneek]

Thanks for the info. I guess the odds are that the seat will eventually have to be replaced.

Why isn't there a recall on this? Does it have to be safety related in order to be recalled?

Also, driving to work today I noticed my left signal is blinking much faster than usual. I should probably check the light.

A TSB, which is usually just an annoyance item and Toyota has figured out a (possible) solution or fix for the issue only if the owner complains.

A recall on the other hand is mandated by the government and it's safety related. This has to be fixed by the manufacturer.

Check your left turn signal bulbs, usually a faster than normal blink is an indication of a burnt out bulb.