240 vertical seat adjuster

I am just finishing my interior, putting the last little bits and pieces together. I put on the big knob adjuster on the passenger seat, fitting it onto the star shaped piece. I have fiddled with these on and off again over the years and the knob went on fine, but the seat wouldn't move, crap! Thinking maybe the upholstery people did something, I grabbed the rod in the back with some clamping pliers to free it up, but it worked like a charm. After studying this for a while, it appears to me that the "star" piece is not clamping onto the rod tight enough, so when one turns the big knob, it just spins. Has anyone run into this problem before? This is a first for me after about 10 seats. Is there a way to tighten the star up somehow? It just presses onto the rod, I need a better brain than I have ! thanks

The plastic knob has holes for the metal ring to fit through and then you slide the ring up onto the lip so that the ring is preloaded, if its the one I'm thinking of. I used a flat head screwdriver to worked the steel ring up onto the lip inside the adjustment knob.

On the star washer/speed nut that presses onto the shaft. You can take a hammer and gently hammer the star washer flatter so it fits more tightly on the shaft of the adjuster. As I recall but it's been a long time I used a small socket to help tap it on evenly.

For other readers who might say "What the hell are these guys talking about", pictures are always nice.


The big washer in question (from cleanflametrap).....




What the sticky-uppy teeth look like when new...




How to tighten...

As dl242gt said, if the washer teeth are a bit of a loose fit and it doesn't take a good whack to get it onto the shaft (red below), tap them so they're flatter, so they definitely overlap the shaft a bit (green below), then use a socket or a stub of pipe slightly bigger that the teeth, and hammer it on. Don't make the teeth *too* flat, or you'll never get it over the shaft.

That’s the one for the later seat I believe, not sure what seat op has. In the early seats that metal piece is oddly star shaped with matching holes in the knob so that metal piece doesn’t actually have to come off to remove the knob

Radtap said:

not sure what seat op has.

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And that's why it's MASSIVELY helpful to include the year and model of the car you're working on.

Maybe it's this style, with a rotating 3-finger retainer?
Pic from an ozvolvo.org post.

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/Nwzh7Efh.jpg" width =600"</a>


Seems to use this kind of knob:



Maybe the plastic knob has actually stripped/mangled the 3 slots that should grab the 3 corresponding tabs on the shaft?

Yeah on that one if you don’t properly reinstall that ring it won’t have enough tension on the adjuster rod and will just spin in place. You can hammer the ring back on or use a large flat head, wedge it between the metal clip and plastic knob and slowly work it back in place. Gotta be on there completely otherwise it’ll slide off

Ok, thanks for all the wonderful post, MasterBlaster, you made the coolest graphics!
I started to put the car's year in the posting, but I have no idea what year the seats were, so I didn't. I'm pretty sure they are '83-'84 ish? They were GT seats once upon a time. They have the star shaped piece as per the ozvolvo site.
The issue isn't that the knob is not turning the star piece, but rather the star piece is simply revolving on the shaft, not turning it, so the seat won't move. Would it still be a good idea to try and influence this connection with a "snap-off" socket? Maybe I should use a screw driver and try to tighten up the star to rod. I took off the cover from driver's seat and it looks just like the passenger one, the star on the shaft is in similar position, etc.
I just removed the knob and trim, the star piece just spins freely on the shaft. It seems to be in ok shape, I can't figure out how to tighten the "grab" to the shaft without ruining it. It sits in a slot on the shaft.

It sounds like something is broken or just not on all the way/the right way. That star shaped metal disc just holds the knob onto the rod. If the knob is in the right spot it should be able to spin with the rod and adjust the seat. The metal star should be tight against the plastic knob and rotate the same amount as the knob does.

Thats the early style, there should be 3 small gaps inside for the metal piece to fit into and if you look closely the metal can slide up onto the plastic lip inside the knob. The plastic knob has to turn counter clockwise and the ring has to turn clockwise. You can slide a flathead screw driver in between the locking ring and the knob and twist to push the ring up onto them lip. You don't take that metal ring off the shaft.

MasterBlaster said:

Seems to use this kind of knob:

Click to expand...

Okay, found a nice pic of the *back* of the knob, you know... the part that does the work.



The 3 double-hump sections on the edge of the knob engage the 3 double-cutout sections on the light-colored disk *behind* the 3-arm star washer. That light-colored disk is the one that should be welded to the shaft, and causes it to turn.

Theoretically, if the plastic humps on the knob are in good condition, you should be able to hold the knob in position with one finger, and turn the shaft with it, even if the locking star was totally missing.

The star is just to clamp the knob in place, so it doesn't wobble around and slip out of the cutouts, or mangle the humps. I can see your knob (Oooo, naughty!) on the seat, but I can't see the condition of the humps.

If everything is in good condition and you can hold-n-turn as described, chances are the "wings" on the star washer were bent up by someone who didn't know it was a turn-to-release type of retainer. The wings may need to be flattened a bit to create more tension, similar to the center tabs in the other washer version.

you made the coolest graphics!

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Oh, yeah? How's this.....?

And, if you squint, here you can see the tabs that mate with the knob. I abuse the large snap ring pliers to twist the locking spring retainer.

The knob also only fits in one of three positions

Excellent, I think I understand it now!
Will report back re: success/failure
I may need a new knob…..( old one may be worn out-or misused)

bartman said:

I may need a new knob?..( old one may be worn out-or misused)

Click to expand...

Sig anyone...

Okay, I got it to work like a charm, thanks for all the good illustrations and instructions!