KylePage

Hello W209 drivers,


I am have the same issue as detailed in this post: https://mbworld.org/forums/clk-class...-position.html


This post does a good job of detailing a temporary fix. Only problem is, this has happened to me more than once now. I'm wondering if someone can help me really get to the root of the issue... be it an electrical connection in the motor or a lever that tells the motor whether the seat is flipped or not.


In short, my issue is that the driver's seat (2006 CLK, heated seats) is stuck in the folded forward/pivoted up position. The car is not drivable because the headrest has malfunctioned. The headrest erroneously raised itself while the seat was folded. This has trapped the headrest against the windshield and the seat is stuck in the folded position. One cannot push the seat down, without first pushing it back, which I can't do without ripping out the headliner or damaging the headrest. Please see attached image. The car is not mobile because the driver's seat is about 4 inches from the steering wheel.


For those that aren't familiar, the CLK has a power raise/lower feature for the headrest. When you pull the lever on the backrest, the backrest tilts forward, and then the motion can be completed when the base of the seat pivots up and forward, if you continue to push. This is of course necessary in accessing the rear seats of this two-door vehicle. When you lower the seat back into place, the headrest automatically raises again, presumably to the last or memory position.


This is not to be confused with the active headrest feature that deploys when the car is in certain accidents. That is not the case with my vehicle.


Here's my history with this issue, hopefully all the details will help:
1. In March 2016, my battery died because it was in need of replacement. Went out and the car failed to start. I assume that the minor power adjustments were still working at this point, but I didn't have enough juice for a cold crank. I don't remember at which point I left the front passenger seat folded forward in this saga. Point is, by the time the car was jumped, the headrest on the passenger side had raised itself and immobilized the seat. Perhaps I had the passenger seat headrest set slightly lower than I do on the driver's side... because the fix was different. I took it to the dealer. It did not reset the headrest when the batter was replaced. The dealer was able to allow the seat motion by temporarily removing the passenger side sun visor. This allowed enough clearance to lower the seat.


3. March 2016. Headrest level motor on driver's side starts working intermittently, sometimes failing to respond to the adjustment control, or failing to raise when the seat is folded back into place, or both. No rhyme or reason. Some days it works, some days it doesn't. Though, thinking of it, I have never had it fail to lower itself when folding the seat forward, or I would have noticed this because it would have prevented me from folding the seat forward.


2. In June 2016, I went out to my car, didn't start it. Unlocked the car, folded the driver's seat, grabbed something from the back seat, left the seat folded, locked the car. At some point, the headrest raised itself. I spent 2 hours, in dress clothes and 90 degree sun, trying to fix it. Removed seat back with no luck. None of the seat controls respond while the seat is folded--I believe this to be normal. I didn't want to risk dismantling the headrest myself, because I'm not very technically adept. But I thought, hmm last time it was the battery, maybe if I disconnect the battery, it will reset itself. Of course, I had already tried starting, locking, and unlocking the car. Disconnecting the battery did do the trick, but I did manage to mess up the synchronized movement of all my power glass, as a bonus! TOWED to the dealer due to headrest. The tow truck driver could not contain his laughter. The dealer dismantled and replaced the headrest. We decided not to pour additional time into finding the electrical gremlin, because I was short on funds. My strategy from here on out was just to not leave the seat folded when I leave the car. This is surprisingly hard to do.


3. August 2016, driver's seat does it again. I didn't even leave the car this time. Folded the seat, headrest lowered, put my dry cleaning in back, by the time I went to lower the seat, the headrest had already raised itself and trapped the seat. Now my Mercedes is sitting in a parking lot because I'm sick of paying for all these repairs. The car has literally spent more time parked in my garage or at the dealer than it has on the road, by far, in the last 2 months, this problem and others.


Does anyone know where or how the seat detects whether it is down in a driving position or released? Any advice appreciated. Trying to avoid towing it again. Need a long term fix. Stuck driving a Pontiac G6 until I find the time, energy, and money to pour into this Benz again :-(