1996 GMC Yukon Second seat latch

YUKONLOVER1

MEMBER
1996 GMC YUKON
V8
4WD
AUTOMATIC
115,000 MILES

The latch that releases the 60% side of the second seat has broken and no longer releases the seat when pulled. I have made several attempts to get a tool slid in to trip the latch to no avail. Does anyone have a way to get at the latch and release it without destroying the seat assembly? And is the latching assembly directly below the pull tab or is it possibly offset to one side?
Thanks

2 Replies

SERVICE WRITER

MECHANIC
9,123 POSTS

I would need to be in the truck working on it to really help out on this one.

On the 40% side, can you look at it to see how it mechanically functions. Many times looking at another one, will give you a clue to how it works and why it is malfunctioning.

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Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 AT 4:55 AM

YUKONLOVER1

MEMBER
3 POSTS

After much trial and error, I have found the solution to the seat latch problem so I thought I would pass it along in case anyone else is faced with this problem.

The latch for the 60% back seat is located right between the two seat belt anchors. You can look in the hole with a light and see the latch and it's locking pawl. It is activated by a cheesy pull cable attached to the finger tab near the left hand end of the seat. The latch serves as the seat anchor and also as the seat belt anchor. If the cable mechanism fails as it did in my case, the latch can be opened by inserting a long narrow ( 3/16 in) screwdriver down just forward of the seat belt anchors and pry the locking pawl toward the front while pulling up on the finger tab or rear edge of the seat. Be careful not to damage the pawl spring as the default position is disengaged from the latch. I damaged the spring and now the pawl no longer engages the latch so the two seat belt anchors are no longer secured. I will have to see if I can find a matching seat with a working latch assembly at a salvage yard.

Hope this is useful to someone else with the same problem.

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Sunday, March 28th, 2010 AT 8:52 PM