Front Seat Recliner problems of the 1998 Chevrolet Blazer - part 1

1998 chevy s10 Blazer seat recliner handle too weak for use needs better product.

My 1998 Blazer's driver's and passenger's seat adjustment lever broke off when attempting to adjust seat. I am unable to adjust the seat for proper driving position. The driver's seat lever broke at 30,000 miles and the passenger seat lever broke about 40,000 miles. I have been driving this vehicle utilizing vice grips to hold the driver's seat and passenger seat in place. These seats are no longer adjustable and presents a safety hazard. Inquiries from other individuals that own this vehicle have had the same problem. Further investigation revealed that at some point the manufacturer distributed a service bulletin regarding this defect. I am concerned as to why there has not been a recall and why I have not been notified of this ongoing problem. Obviously, numerous consumers owning the Blazer are faced with this same problem. I feel the lever should be replaced at no cost to the consumer since it is apparently a manufacturing defect and a safety issue.

While adjusting the passenger side seat the latch sheared off. Consumer contacted the dealer, and mechanic asked consumer to bring the vehicle in for inspection.

I recently had to replace the ball joints and idler arm on my 1998 Chevrolet Blazer. I was advised by the dealership that this is a constant problem. I do not understand that if the manufacturer knows that there is a problem with the steering components becoming defective, then why don't they solve the problem. This is the third set of balljoints that have needed to be instaledl on the vehicle. The first set along with the pitman arm went defective at 29,000 miles and the dealership replaced them under the manufactures warranty.

Bucket seat recliner handles broke.

Passenger seat recliner lever broke twice - repaired by dealer first time at cost of $150. 00- will cost the same for second failure lever shaft sheared. How many of these failures does this agency need to initiate corrective action?.

Both driver side and passenger side seat back reclining bolt disconnected from the seat when trying to recline.

Windshield wipier do not come on sometimes and at others will not turn off, also will go from itermittent to full speed without being selected. Front seat recliner handles both have broken off, left side twice.

My abs light goes on frequently. I have been in a couple of almost collisions. In slow moving traffic, the sensor goes on and freezes my brakes. My car has been to dealership and to repair centers and all companies say they there is nothing wrong. The solution each time was just to replace the sensor, however, even driving out of dealership the abs light went on. I have read in the past similar instances with abs problems, is there ever going to be a recall, or is it going to take a serious lawsuit/accident before the problem gets fixed? I also have experienced the right passenger seat handle breaking, and it is still broken.

Like so many others, passenger side recline lever has broken. Metal sheared off so whole rod will need to be replaced. Unit was not forced and snapped off. Think gm needs to recall this defective item and replace it free of charge.

Front seat recliner handles broke.

After parking my 1998 Blazer and opening the door to get out of the vehicle, the driver's side seat back adjuster lever just fell off. I very rarely ever adjust the seat back.

Seat back adjustment lever snapped off with normal use. Although the adjustment lever is seldom used, the metal shaft failed and the handle came off in the driver's hand.

Front bucket seat release piece has come off once on both front seats, already off for second time for driver side (and not that I use it that much either!). Cannot move the location of the back of the front seat, making sitting straight up very tiring and aggravating for driving!.

Driver's seat handle sheared off during use due to component manufacturing of soft metal.

This has been a chronic problem since 1999 with this vehicle. It is clearly a design problem with the part ( the shaft that the adjustment handle is attached to) and poor quality of materials, mr. Castinas service manager advises that while there have been service bulletins on the problem that the total part was redesigned about a year ago and that they have been putting in the revised part ever since though the revised part has broken again (installed 12/01) on the drivers side. This is the 4th replacement on the drivers side, once on the passengers side. This is the 5 th repair to this part. This is the shaft and lever that is on the side of the seat and adjust the front to back tilt on the seat. Each time it has sheared off the shaft where the collored handle fits on the shaft where a screw fits into a notched part of the shaft. The shaft at the handle is descending in size as it fits into a metal collor on the plastic handle. Iam skeptical based on my experience that this fourth repair on the drivers side will finally remedy this problem. There has been no abuse by me or others to this part. Indeed it has rarely been used and has broken twice in my wife's hand and once in a child's hand. While this has not happened I am concerned that if there is design defect to the operation of the shaft that there is potential for the seat to flop back into a reclining position while the driver is driving.

Seat handles to recline front seats broke off on both passenger and driver seats.

The lever controlling reclining seat broke off when the consumer applied a little pressure. The consumer stated that the shaft on which the lever was mounted was not a strong metal. Consumer adds when the lever broke after using it for the first time, the lever had been worn or lack lubrication. Manufacturer notified.

Both the driver and passenger recliner handles where broken. One broke without being used or touched.

Front seat handle snapped, and consumer is unable to recline seat for adjustment. Cause unknown. Dealer notified.

Consumer was reclining seat and seat latch lever broke off in hand. Dealer was notified. Please probide more information.

There was a recall for this exact problem in chevy trucks in 1996. . . Please see NHTSA campaign id number 96e010000 for the exact problem. The seat recliner to seat frame attaching bolts fractured which has resulted in the passenger seat reclining at all times. Nlm.

Consumer states that the levers on the front two seats broke. This has been happening since 2001. The owner contacted the dealer and the manufacturer. The manufacturer told the owner to keep replacing the levers with the same identical part with what they provided. Afterwards, the dealership replaced the levers. They kept breaking. Owner decided to go to an independent repair shop were the levers were made out of metal and were lasting . They have not broken since the owner changed the levers to metal. Currently, the owner was going to have to replace the lever on the other seat which would cost $113. 52. The owner stated that there should be a recall, that they replace the lever with real metal instead of flimsy metal, and the manufacturers should reimburse the consumer.

Recliner seat handle on both driver's side and passenger's side broke without accessive force. Had them replaced. They broke again.

Driver's seat recliner lever broke , excessive play in steering (steering gear shot).

The metal shafts on the manual front seat recliners have broken three times. The first on drivers side was under warranty. The next time on drivers side is not, as well as the third on the passenger side. The estimated repair cost is $134. 50 for each seat. I contacted Chevrolet who told me they would need a diagnosis from dealership, and then might not be able to "help" with problem. I contacted dealerships by phone and was told they have had the problem with the seats before. My request # with Chevrolet is 03524972, and I spoke with angelia montgomery. I really think something ought to be done with this problem, as it seems to be a recurring problem not only with me but others as listed on your complaint database. As far as the actual dates of the shaft breakings, I cannot say except for the one on 03/08/01. Thank you so much.

The handle used to recline the front seats have both broken off. The passenger one broke off first and "fortunately" it was still under warranty. When I was at the dealership, I noticed there were four other chevy Blazers in the same day with the same problem. Several months later the driver's side handle broke off. It is not under warranty and the dealer refuses to fix this problem. Ts.

The seat recline lever routinely fails because of defective design it is dangerous because it puts the driver and or passenger in a unsafe position to the air bag gm is aware of the problem but refuse to fix the defective design or replace.

Maual adjust handle metal shaft (rod) broke while attempting to adjust seat back angle. Minimum force was used. Dealership estimated > 150. 00 to replace shaft as seat will have to be removed. This metal shaft should'nt have failed so easily.

Latch that moves seat to different positions broke three times. Dealer has inistalled latch twice, however it keeps breaking and locking when in a tilted position, consumer states the broken latch has cut his leg when getting out of vehicle.

Handle that adjusts seat to different positions broke three times . Seat is being held in place by a 2 ply board. Screw sticks out and has cut consumer on the leg.

Consumer stated the front driver and passengers seat the lever. Broke off. The consumer contacted the dealership and was able to get it fixed under warranty. However, the levers broke three times after that, which has totaled up to five times. Please provide any further information.

Consumer states that the drivers side front bucket seat latch had broke twice within two years, and the passenger side broke also at 80000.

Driver's seat back latch has broken four times. Dealer has repaired the vehicle three times under warranty.

Lever that reclines passenger's and drivers seat has broken 3 times on passenger's side, and 1 time on driver's side. Once while driving, driver's seat fell back. Consumer felt this was dangerous.