300ce seat backs not locking upright

[ninaandphil]

Hi all,
Just fitted replacement black leather electric seats into my 300ce. Had fun fitting a wiring harness into the passenger side, through the door etc, which wasn't electric before, but happy to say all electrics working fine.... BUT!!! Neither of the seat backs are locking into position, and this isn't affected by having the doors closed, engine running etc...
There is a vacuum pipe under each seat, which I haven't connected up yet...(missing connector)...
does anyone know if this pipe is related to a locking mechanism, or what they are for. The buttons to release the seat backs and tilt them forward have no 'feel' to them, and don't have any resistence when pushed in.
Any advice greatly appreciated.
Phil..

 

[GP801]

I think it needs the vacuum connected for the locking to work.

 

[bh13coupe]

I think it needs the vacuum connected for the locking to work.

yep, my coupe failed its only MOT in 7 years on that issue, I had a vacuum leak which wasnt locking the seatback when the engine was running. wasnt expensive to fix, more of a hassle tracking down the leak. do u get any wihning/hissing noise in the cabin when the car starts up?

 

[jaymanek]

are you in drive?

 

[219]

You need the vacuum connection for the locks to work .

 

[ninaandphil]

Hi all, thanks for confirming my suspicions... I need to find a couple of 'sleeves' to join the car and the seat vacuum pipes together... hopefully that will work... by the way, the car is a manual.
Cheers!

 

[babyblueCE]

From my understaing the vacuum is what keeps the seats locked upright. That needs to be connected for the seats to lock, it is also a MOT failure if the seats don't lock.

 

[Dieselman]

Hi all, thanks for confirming my suspicions... I need to find a couple of 'sleeves' to join the car and the seat vacuum pipes together... hopefully that will work... by the way, the car is a manual.
Cheers!

Clear plastic tubing as sold in B&Q works well.

 

[carat 3.6]

The seats only lock in position when under vacuum.