The seat runners on my 2011 Plus 4 were very stiff on the passenger side so I took the seat out to have a look. I found that the long plates that go between the the seat runners and the carpet were noticeably bent - about 6mm over the length of the plate, as if the plates have sagged under the weight of the passenger. And the lady is not that heavy! Should the plates be bent? Should I try to straighten them? Or perhap refit them upside down so the weight of the seat and passenger straightens them for me?
The plates should be straight but often are not, the set up has a bolt head or nut sticking proud (depends which way they assembled the runners) which used to sit in a recess drilled in the wooden plinths, since they started bolting the runner carriage direct to the floor they failed to relieve the floorboard!!! If you look for a 'witness' mark in the carpet you will see what's bent the frame, if you have wooden plinths (but I think they were deleted before your build year except 4 seaters)make sure the drilled holes align with the nut/bolt. wherever you have the mark you need to ensure clearance and a simple flat blade drill and 10 seconds a side cures the problem. When you refit the seats ensure they are snug but do not over tighten or you will bow the mechanism, use nylock nuts to hold the seats in place and just nip then until tight, I have seen a few where the washers are buried into the floor board they have been done up so tight. Finally before refitting check the seat frame slides to make sure they move freely and add a little grease as the factory put them in bone dry!
