Rear Seat Center Armrest Stuck

verde2002

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The rear center armrest has been stuck in the down position Since I have bought the car and refuses to go back up. Anyone else experience this? I did put a significant amount of force to push it back up but no luck.
 
I'd take out both seats and find out what mechanically (or chemically - spilled stuff that dried) is causing it to be so firmly 'stuck'.

Pull the front of the rear seat up slightly and forward, bringing the top down at the rear. It is held in place primarily by a metal piece on the back side that slips into a slot in the seat fiberglass.
 
I agree with Gary -- the setup back there is pretty simple. Remove your rear seats and then there are two likely scenarios.

Does the armrest separate from the seat bottom, or does it appear to be some sort of surface to surface friction that is holding the armrest down? If not, look on both sides of the hinge to determine if something is stuck in there or if the hinge itself is broken. If all that fails, the next stop is to remove the armrest entirely from the car, flip it over and examine the underside.
 
It feels stuck as if a piece of metal was jammed into the mechanism, does not feel like surface to surface friction. It is locked in the position.
 
In that case I would remove it from the car, turn it over and see if it functions with gravity acting the other way. I've not looked closely at the hinge, but best guess is someone put too much downward force on the back portion of the armrest near the hinge and bent something.
 
Pull the seats it takes 2 minutes to get in there.

Agreed. You need to pull the seats to remove the armrest anyway, so it's a good starting point.
Never have pulled the seats out, are they bolted in place and if so where? Thank you.

No they just rest on the floor. There is a square hole on the fiberglass back that engages with an L shaped protrusion on the rear sheet metal. As Gary mentioned, simply lift up on the seat and it will come out.
 
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