Passenger Seat Won't Recline

[Dougster63]

My 2010 Limited has a passenger seat problem where the left side of the seat back is stuck causing the seat back to twist when you try to recline it. Toyota's answer is to replace the entire seat back to the tune of around $2400.00! When I popped off the cover on the right side of the seat, I found what appears to be the actuation rod shifted out so far that it has disengaged from the left side hinge. Has anyone else had this issue, and could it be as straight forward as lining up and pushing the rod back in so it engages both hinges? Any wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Victor_inox]

Is there any loose bolts you can find? If so push it back drop some locktight on the threads and forget about it.

 

[Dougster63]

No sir, no loose bolts. I haven't found any loose or broken hardware....just the extended drive shaft as pictured. I would assume there had to be some sort of retention clip at some point, but nothing that I can lay my hands on.

 

[Dougster63]

Update....I had found a thread mentioning the same issue, so I followed their lead. Disconnected the battery, pulled out the seat and was able to reinsert the actuation rod into the side it had liberated from. Also found one of the old retaining clips, so I flattened it out and reinstalled it on the side that disengaged. I'll pick up another one next time I go out.
Bottom line, it works great now. Since Toyota initially said the fix was to replace the entire seat back, I wonder if they would have performed the same simple repair, or gone ahead and charged me to replace the seatback?!

 

[doro89]

Update....I had found a thread mentioning the same issue, so I followed their lead. Disconnected the battery, pulled out the seat and was able to reinsert the actuation rod into the side it had liberated from. Also found one of the old retaining clips, so I flattened it out and reinstalled it on the side that disengaged. I'll pick up another one next time I go out.
Bottom line, it works great now. Since Toyota initially said the fix was to replace the entire seat back, I wonder if they would have performed the same simple repair, or gone ahead and charged me to replace the seatback?!

Can't find the thread you mentioned. Is it a step by step tutorial? I have exact same issue.