Although I got used to the squeaking sound of my Stilo's front seats it makes the car feel cheap. I read about greasing the wires and springs in some threads so with that in mind I opened up the front seats. When I finally found where the noise was coming from I thought of an other idea to solve this. The wires in the seat have a thick black plastic coating to avoid metal to metal contact. When the coating wears out the squeaking begins. Plastic tubing can be used to replace the function of the coating and stop that annoying noise.
Before we begin a few safety warnings:
The Stilo front seats have airbags in them, of course you don't want them to inflate. Work carefully or disengage the airbags.
Preferably wear gloves as the steel inside the seat is pretty sharp. Just a small cut can lead to nasty blood stains on your seats.
Before we begin a few safety warnings:
The Stilo front seats have airbags in them, of course you don't want them to inflate. Work carefully or disengage the airbags.
Preferably wear gloves as the steel inside the seat is pretty sharp. Just a small cut can lead to nasty blood stains on your seats.
Removing the folding table and opening the seat
When the seat has a folding table unscrew the two upper Torx 20 screws (pic01).
At the bottom the folding table is held by two plastic clips. When the screws are removed pulling the table away from the backrest will release the clips (pic02).
Now the lining at the back of the backrest can be taken off. It's zipped with black plastic strips on the sides and bottom (pic03).
When the lining is loose it can be lifted and the inside of the seat is exposed. The two diagonal black wires at the upper part of the backrest were the trouble causers in my case (pic04).
They rub in two holes near the headrest (pic05).
Fixing the wires
Take one wire out and look for scratching marks (pic06 & pic 07).
Put some kind of plastic tubing with an inner diameter of approximately 4 mm over the steel wire (pic 09).
I used a balloon straw as often seen at fast food restaurants and children friendly shops (pic 08).
Reposition the wire in its hole and repeat the procedure for the other wire.
As the black coating underneath the coil springs was also worn heavily, I cut a piece of tubing carefully along its length and put it over the wire underneath the spring (pic10).
Now it's time to zip up and close the seats (pic11). Before closing you might want to test if the measures are sufficient. When so push the black strips at the three edges of the lining back into each other. Remount the folding table if applicable.
Make a test drive and enjoy the silence. Italian cars give that little extra joy to their drivers but do require a bit of tender, love and care in return.
