Mileage: 48,200

Symptoms: Driver front seat back creaking when putting pressure on it or leaning on it. Most noticeable when taking turns or pressing in clutch or holding brake. Recently started, less than 2 weeks ago.

I searched the forum and google to see if there was any known issues with the seats and I thought I found it when I saw many others claiming they had issues with their front seats although it was confined to 2009-2010 cars. TSB A10-043 which is in regard to the front seats however only takes into consideration those cars that were affected by the 4 bottom seat mounting bolts not being tightened to the correct torque or becoming loose over time. I obviously checked those first, but I knew my problem was related to something mechanical, more specifically the active head restraint in the seat frame itself so I proceeded to remove the seat and seat back cover/cushion to investigate further. The reason I came to the conclusion that it had something to do with the active head restraint was the fact that a few times I had grabbed the head rest and pulled it forward to it's stop and then released and momentarily the creaking would stop but ultimately and shortly it would return.


After removing the seat back cover/cushion I inspected the linkages and components of the active head restraint to see if there was any telltale signs of rubbing of the return springs or misaligned linkages etc. I found nothing noticeable. I then focused on attempting to recreate the noise while the frame was visible to pinpoint the source of the noise. I pushed backward on the plastic seat back cushion support to simulate the weight of my body pushing backward on the seat back. As I pushed on the plastic support I could hear the creaking but it wasn't entirely obvious where it was coming from. I repeatedly pushed on it and could continue to hear the creaking. I noticed when pushing on the seat back that the vertical rails of the seat back frame were ever so slightly twisting inward in the direction of the force being applied to the seat back frame. The seat back frame is essentially two stamped C-channel pieces joined at the top by a round bar bent into a C shape and welded to each vertical C-channel. About 2 inches down on both sides of the rolled bar top section are two round bosses that serve as the pivot point for the headrest support portion of the active head restraint. The headrest support appears to be riveted into place on both of these bosses with a tight tolerance. Any twisting of the vertical supports of the seat back frame would translate directly to the bosses also following the motion of the c-channel verticals and this would mean that there would be binding in the pivot point between the seat back frame and the head rest portion of the active head restraint.

This was verified when I sprayed both pivot points with lithium spray and again repeated the test by pushing on the seat back. I then used a pry bar and moved the active head restraint through the entire range of motion to verify that it would not make the noise. The noise did not come back.

Ultimately what this means is that the seat is susceptible to age merely by fatiguing the c-channel vertical portions of the seat back to the point where they don't allow free movement of the active headrest support. The seat frame is to blame, however I don't see a repair to fix the design outside of welding in supports to the seat frame to prevent this from occurring. Outside of completely removing the rear seat back, building jigs to prevent the expected warping of added welded pieces and the unexpected result that adding more bracing would have on the side impact airbag, I have decided to use a heavy application of lithium grease to both pivot points and hope that the noise does not return.

I will follow this thread up with pictures as soon as I am at a computer where I can load them up and identify them. I hope this helps anyone else with the very irritating noise in the driver seat back.

 

 

 

 

My 2013 seat back is creaking too.