Passenger Seat Broken (Reclined) - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

Wolffenjugend · 02-26-2020, 11:26 AM

Had a weird experience the other day. Came out to my car and the passenger seatback of my 2011 Camaro LT was reclined all the way back (not how I left it).

The handle on the back of the seatback goes up and down freely, too freely, as there's no resistance at all (normally there would be a bit of resistance, like it was catching on something). The seatback itself swings up and down freely without any resistance. It just falls back until it hits the backseat. Obviously it's not usable in this state (unless you want nothing to rest your back against).

My passenger seat sees very little use so I'm a bit surprised it broke and not the driver side.

Any ideas what could be wrong? I'm thinking some kind of resistance pin or catch has broken? Is this a do-it-yourself fix?

Vegas Bound · 02-26-2020, 11:40 AM

Take it out of the car and start taking it apart until you find what is broken. My bet is the seat recline system.

Wolffenjugend · 06-12-2020, 01:58 PM

So it turns out it's the power seat actuator.

Do the actual seats themselves change from year to year? I sourced an entire 2014 Camaro LT passenger seat from a parts dealer for $200 (half the cost of an OEM actuator which comes attached to the seat frame) but am wondering if I can just swap out the seats if they match? Mine's same model but 2011.

02-26-2020, 11:26 AM	#1
Wolffenjugend Drives: 2011 Camaro LT Rally Yellow Join Date: Jan 2019 Location: Canada Posts: 5	Passenger Seat Broken (Reclined) Had a weird experience the other day. Came out to my car and the passenger seatback of my 2011 Camaro LT was reclined all the way back (not how I left it). The handle on the back of the seatback goes up and down freely, too freely, as there's no resistance at all (normally there would be a bit of resistance, like it was catching on something). The seatback itself swings up and down freely without any resistance. It just falls back until it hits the backseat. Obviously it's not usable in this state (unless you want nothing to rest your back against). My passenger seat sees very little use so I'm a bit surprised it broke and not the driver side. Any ideas what could be wrong? I'm thinking some kind of resistance pin or catch has broken? Is this a do-it-yourself fix?

02-26-2020, 11:40 AM	#2
Vegas Bound Account Suspended Drives: 2013 Sparkly Red One Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: Hospitality State Posts: 2,558	Take it out of the car and start taking it apart until you find what is broken. My bet is the seat recline system.

06-12-2020, 01:58 PM	#3
Wolffenjugend Drives: 2011 Camaro LT Rally Yellow Join Date: Jan 2019 Location: Canada Posts: 5	So it turns out it's the power seat actuator. Do the actual seats themselves change from year to year? I sourced an entire 2014 Camaro LT passenger seat from a parts dealer for $200 (half the cost of an OEM actuator which comes attached to the seat frame) but am wondering if I can just swap out the seats if they match? Mine's same model but 2011.