Spring under Golf seat

Edtom

Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2011
Location
Beverley UK
TDI
Golf Mk 4 130
Just found a large spring loose under the passenger seat, checked the driver seat and it appears to fix underneath along the side next to the door, appears to have something to do with the seat height adjustment. The attachment for the far end is out of sight so I cant easily fix it back in position. Everything seems to work OK without it. Question, anyone know exactly what this is for, does it really need to be in place and is there an easy way to reinsert/attach without taking the seat out? Thanks Ed
 

jettawreck

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 2, 2004
Location
Northern Minnesota-55744
TDI
2001 Jetta and 2003 Jetta
Yep, common for those to show up. I have a collection of them hanging in the garage. Seats seem to work OK w/o, so never bothered to replace them, or even figure out exactly where they go or what they do.
 

OlyTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2007
Location
Olympia, WA
TDI
'04 Golf
It's funny when it happens, though. I remember thinking a spring that size and that beefy must serve a critical function. Was very entertained to find-out they're not essential.
 

Seatman

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 23, 2010
Location
Scotland
TDI
2014 Skoda rapid elegance 1.6 cr tdi
Well I'm anal and replaced the dam thing lol I think there's plastic end parts that break and that causes the thing to fall out.




I've figured out where it comes from, it's connected to the height adjustment. I think it's just to take the strain off the lever really and the seat works fine without it but I'm anal so it had to be fixed lol
It hooks onto a lever at the outer edge of the seat underneath



And the other end on here



Anyway you want to hook the spring onto the lever first



Then use a screw driver to lever the other end on. You kind of put the screw driver through the end of the spring and the tip against the hook then push like a mofo. It's seriously tight but it does work



And should look like this when finished



Another little thing out the way, still ore of them to come I'm sure lol
 

pedroYUL

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2011
Location
MI, USA
TDI
2015 Passat CVCA; 2015 GSW CRUA; 2012 wagon CJAA; 2004 wagon BEW
My pass side just showed up last weekend. I intended to ask but forgot about it since everything moved just right without it.

Seatman you'da man! I will fix it following your directions. I did find the little plastic thingy that broke
 

PDJetta

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 6, 2003
Location
Northern Virginia
TDI
'04 Jetta GLS TDI Pumpe Duce Platinum Grey w/ Leather
I think everyone one of us have at least one of those.
Not me, I chucked both of mine in the trash. :D One of them let loose when my wife and I were driving (her side, passenger seat) and it made a racket like a shot going off. She freaked out and I calmly said, "It finally let loose".

And I was with my mother in her '00 Jetta TDI (I was driving it) and as I was just starting to wrench on the seat height adjuster to lower it, at that time wondered when her seat spring was going to go and all of a sudden, Bam! it let loose. It took several minutes to explain to her that spring was not needed..."But if it was installed, it must be needed." Me, "No its not". Her, "but why", Me, "It just isn't". Well a couple of weeks later she said, "you know what, that spring is not needed". She thought she would need the assist it provided because she is 76 years old (and drives a 5-speed TDI).

--Nate
 
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Edtom

Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2011
Location
Beverley UK
TDI
Golf Mk 4 130
Brilliant responses, thanks guys, its put my mind at rest on this, logically I couldn't see anything it was doing but was also thinking surely there must be a reason for a great big spring!! Its not going back in unless one day I have the seat out for another reason and i can easily fiddle about with it. All Best Ed
 

Volk14

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2010
Location
Asheville, NC
TDI
05 Passat wagon TDI, 99 Beetle ALH
I've thrown away a few of these. Both of my B5.5 Passat's don't have them and never really cared to find out where they're going since everything works normal and makes the car even lighter (every oz. count) :D
At least I know where they're supposed to go now :)
 

oEo

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2004
Location
Lancaster | PA
TDI
'04 Golf TDi PD ::Indigo Blue::
Funny, all 3 MK4's Golf's that I've owned has had this spring fall off the drivers seat! Never put it back on.
 

Steve-o

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 13, 1999
Location
Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
TDI
2003 Jetta Wagon
Unbelievable! Just this week I found in the footwell the spring they issued my passenger seat and, yeah, I figured it was important. Only to find out it apparently is the appendix of the A4 body... Into the metal recycling with it.

I love this site.
 

tongsli

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2000
Location
Baltimore, MD
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI, 2004, Jetta Wagon TDI PD
I have power seats so no spring. But one did fall out in my wife's car and I've never put it back. Not even sure where it is.

Haven't noticed it's absence.
 

tnothwehr

New member
Joined
May 26, 2015
Location
minnesota
TDI
1.8T wagon
Fix for MK4 jetta seat springs

I figured out a way to fix the seat springs. I just got registered on the forum so I'll post the pics tonight when I get home from work.

Just a forwarning so you don't get stuck with the airbag light on like I did; disconnect the battery before you remove the seats. My regular mechanic is going to reset it for me today for $0. I think the dealer will charge for this.
 

Sideoiler

Veteran Member
Joined
May 11, 2005
Location
Rancho Cordova, California
TDI
2003 Jetta GLS TDI Wagon, 5-spd, Indigo Blue
I can't seem to post pictures so here is a link to a google doc that explains, with pictures, how to fix the height adjustment springs on the seat of a MK4 Jetta.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T1QUnVxp-5V1MiXe2526P0lagrV8yedYiBjsnklniPI/edit?usp=sharing
^^^^^
A nice fix indeed.
I did basically the same thing a few years back to both my front seats. I'm not sure what the VW engineers were thinking when they decided to use that weak, stretchy, and soft metal insert as a hook mount...:confused:
 

Houpty GT

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2008
Location
South Carolina
TDI
Corrado TDI, 2000 Golf, 1996 B4 Variant

That Guy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Location
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
TDI
2001 MKiv Golf TDI
Why not just hook the spring through the hole that the broken bit came from?

I'm swapping my velour seat covers for leather which requires removing the seats to do the reupholstering. I've got the passenger front seat out now, I'm still deciding how best to handle the heated seat part so it'll be out for a bit. (I drove to work today without the passenger seat. Certainly feels more open.)
But ya, I discovered that that spring is not connected, so I will be attempting to fix it.

If hooking the spring in the hole works I'll do that. If it causes some problem I'll probably stick a bolt in there as tnothwehr did.
 

That Guy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Location
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
TDI
2001 MKiv Golf TDI
So I poked around with this a bit last night and discovered that putting the spring through the hole that the bolt was in won't work. There's not enough room to maneuver the hook through the hole.

I could hook it on the area with the sprocket teeth. And that actually seemed to work okay....after lubing it up with some Marine Grade Anti-seize grease. But, that didn't feel like a proper fix.

So next on the to-do list is trying that bolt fix above.
I might put some LockTight on that nut to prevent it from wiggling off over time.

And that spring... Holly crap is that thing strong. It took some real strength to get it up and on when I was messing with it. Next time I'll try that block of wood idea for leverage instead of strong-arming it.
 
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That Guy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Location
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
TDI
2001 MKiv Golf TDI
Both seats are done. The spring was broken off on both seats.

I found that I had a set of nut and bolts that were exactly the right length, and just a bit smaller that the existing hole. So I didn't tap the hole. Other than that it was pretty much the same as what tnothwehr did.
The new nut and bolts are steel and should last. And the nut will never come off as there is no room to.
Raising and lowering the seats is much easier now. Plus it feels good to have the springs in use the way they were meant to be.
 

braddies

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2021
Location
America
TDI
03 golf ALH
2 years after losing the spring on the driver's seat I've just lost the ability to lower the seat with the lever. Not sure if losing the spring has anything to do with the loss of adjustability..
It will ratchet up just fine but not down, well not easily, if I ratchet up a little and then down the seat might lower a little bit but only one out of several tries. When I try to adjust Down the mechanism feels jammed and won't move.
Not sure if replacing the spring might help with this or if I should just find a black/grey Wolfsburg driver's seat to match the rest of the seats
 
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IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
I think I have 4 of these in my tool box from various cars. Hasn't affected the seat raising and lowering mechanism in any of them.
 

wonneber

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 12, 2011
Location
Monroe, NY, USA
TDI
2014 Jetta Sportwagon,2003 Jetta 261K Sold but not forgotten
Mine broke on my 03 JSW.
Couldn't find where to hook it on one end.
Did not need to change the height so I didn't put a lot of effort in it.
Think I gave it to the guy who bought the car.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
There's a hook that's part of the casting for the seat frame that breaks off. It's hard to see where it was once it's gone.
 

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
It's not especially difficult to remove the seat. Then you can have your way with the adjustment bits.
 
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