[MyDirtIsRed]

Hello,

I had stowed one of the seats in the second row a couple of weeks ago. When I pulled the seat out of the floor and set it back up, I could not get the headrest to stay in the upright, locked position. I took the leather cover and cushion off, started playing with it, and it locked. My hope at the time was that it was just a snagged cable somewhere in the seat and that it had fixed itself when I started playing with it. However, yesterday it again flipped forward at some point and will not lock. I haven't played around with it yet, as I'd like to get some feedback from people on this forum for other places within the seat to look for issues. I presume a cable has either come out of a guide somewhere, or maybe a spring has broken? Anyone know where I can get some drawings of the seats for the 2018 vans in order to assist in the troubleshooting effort? I've been to dealer now twice in the last couple of weeks (one for a very premature AC compressor failure), and I'd rather not spend exorbitant dealer fees to fix something that's probably very simple.

Cheers and thanks in advance,
Jake

 

[MyDirtIsRed]

So I took the headrest apart (which was not easy, those plastic tabs that hold that thing together are tough), and found the issue: the headrest pivots on the steel supports, and there's a ratchet inside, that is actuated by a plastic piece, which is then connected to cabling. The plastic piece internally broke (it's actually unbelievably small for the application, the engineers/bean counters should be ashamed of themselves). I'm going to guess 1/8" diameter, maximum, snapped right at the ratchet mechanism. So, looks like I'll be buying a new headrest for a 2018 minivan. Ridiculous, Chrysler...

 

[MyDirtIsRed]

For posterity's sake, I'm posting some pictures of the discovery that I made, and making a couple more notes:

1.) Regulars on this forum probably already know this, but I missed this detail when removing the headrest assembly: there is a lock washer on the headrest post opposite the post that contains the cabling for actuating the headrest release. I fought getting the headrest out of the seat for a good 5-10 minutes before I started looking through the YouTube comments to see that 2018 vans have this (although, seems some people have it, others don't, so YMMV).

2.) If you look at the pictures that I'm attaching, you'll see the issue that I found. The mechanism, while clever, uses a plastic that WILL ABSOLUTELY SNAP if you use your second row Stow N Go with any frequency greater than once or twice a year, and even then, I wouldn't guarantee that it won't snap soon even with low usage frequency. A short piece of steel cabling like they use for the rest of the assembly would actually work much better than the little plastic stalk that broke.

3.) My quick search of the local Chrysler dealer shows that one can buy the headrest assembly for $107 (black leather headrest). Since all I need is a $0.10 piece of plastic, I'm loathe to buy that whole assembly. I'm going to report this to the NHTSA in hopes that enough other people do the same and a recall is eventually issued. I don't actually need two headrests at the moment, as our youngest is ready to face forward and I was going to have to remove that headrest anyway. It's certainly not a life or death design issue, but if the weak plastic does happen to let loose in an accident, that headrest is going to flop forward and will not provide the head support that it's supposedly designed to provide.

4.) I know Chrysler Cares people read this forum. Just to let you know, our family is in the market for another vehicle, and my wife was strongly favoring a new Jeep Cherokee L. This is just the latest silly issue with this van that is making us seriously consider other brands instead.

 

[ChryslerCares]

@MyDirtIsRed,
Hello Jake,
Thank you for bring this to our attention, we'll be sure to keep an eye out for the concern going forward.

Lamar
Chrysler Cares

 

[Snorkel Van]

@MyDirtIsRed,
Hello Jake,
Thank you for bring this to our attention, we'll be sure to keep an eye out for the concern going forward.

Lamar
Chrysler Cares

my van seat has the exact same problem, what do we do to fix it without buying a whole new headrest?

 

[ChryslerCares]

@Snorkel Van,

It would be best to speak with your servicing dealer as they're in the best position to determine the next steps.

Lamar
Chrysler Cares

 

[Dbarteau]

Hello,

I had stowed one of the seats in the second row a couple of weeks ago. When I pulled the seat out of the floor and set it back up, I could not get the headrest to stay in the upright, locked position. I took the leather cover and cushion off, started playing with it, and it locked. My hope at the time was that it was just a snagged cable somewhere in the seat and that it had fixed itself when I started playing with it. However, yesterday it again flipped forward at some point and will not lock. I haven't played around with it yet, as I'd like to get some feedback from people on this forum for other places within the seat to look for issues. I presume a cable has either come out of a guide somewhere, or maybe a spring has broken? Anyone know where I can get some drawings of the seats for the 2018 vans in order to assist in the troubleshooting effort? I've been to dealer now twice in the last couple of weeks (one for a very premature AC compressor failure), and I'd rather not spend exorbitant dealer fees to fix something that's probably very simple.

Cheers and thanks in advance,
Jake

Mine broke too! I was actually doing a search on how to fix this when I came across this post. Now I know I can’t and am not happy. I also will be reporting this in order to possibly assist in a recall status. My van is used to cart around many family members and I cannot and will not risk injury to one of them.

 

[Thundering Banshee]

For posterity's sake, I'm posting some pictures of the discovery that I made, and making a couple more notes:

1.) Regulars on this forum probably already know this, but I missed this detail when removing the headrest assembly: there is a lock washer on the headrest post opposite the post that contains the cabling for actuating the headrest release. I fought getting the headrest out of the seat for a good 5-10 minutes before I started looking through the YouTube comments to see that 2018 vans have this (although, seems some people have it, others don't, so YMMV).

2.) If you look at the pictures that I'm attaching, you'll see the issue that I found. The mechanism, while clever, uses a plastic that WILL ABSOLUTELY SNAP if you use your second row Stow N Go with any frequency greater than once or twice a year, and even then, I wouldn't guarantee that it won't snap soon even with low usage frequency. A short piece of steel cabling like they use for the rest of the assembly would actually work much better than the little plastic stalk that broke.

3.) My quick search of the local Chrysler dealer shows that one can buy the headrest assembly for $107 (black leather headrest). Since all I need is a $0.10 piece of plastic, I'm loathe to buy that whole assembly. I'm going to report this to the NHTSA in hopes that enough other people do the same and a recall is eventually issued. I don't actually need two headrests at the moment, as our youngest is ready to face forward and I was going to have to remove that headrest anyway. It's certainly not a life or death design issue, but if the weak plastic does happen to let loose in an accident, that headrest is going to flop forward and will not provide the head support that it's supposedly designed to provide.

4.) I know Chrysler Cares people read this forum. Just to let you know, our family is in the market for another vehicle, and my wife was strongly favoring a new Jeep Cherokee L. This is just the latest silly issue with this van that is making us seriously consider other brands instead. View attachment 47527 View attachment 47528

Wow, No wonder it broke. That part is not designed properly for the job. Very bad engineering.

 

[m.lehrer74]

I have the same behavior of my 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Touring L. I stowed both captains chairs to help someone move. It wasn't that big of a deal as I was replacing child seats back after use over a year ago. Now my kids are growing and the permanent tilt in the headrests will render the captain chairs useless for their in-between size. For my youngest I can pull the headrest and put in the carseat (per what I see on forums). For my oldest that has come out of his car seat in the last 3 weeks, he has had to move to the back row. What can be done by Chrysler to help us out?

 

[daviddas]

I tried a few things, but this was my favorite. I replaced the spaghetti pasta with a rubber hose. The hose adds some elasticity to it which I found to work better than a ridged pipe. Getting the length right takes a bit of finesse. If it's too long it won't unlatch. Too short it won't latch. The hose over the barb keeps the barb straight and in place.

 

[MyDirtIsRed]

In one of my posts, I had suggested some of that steel cabling, but this solution looks interesting. If I'm interpreting this picture correctly, the zip tie performs the 'pull' function and the rubber hose performs the 'push' function? Am I correct that you drilled a little hole in the plastic arm that transfers the motion from the steel cable? I might try this when it's time to re-install the headrest...

 

[daviddas]

In one of my posts, I had suggested some of that steel cabling, but this solution looks interesting. If I'm interpreting this picture correctly, the zip tie performs the 'pull' function and the rubber hose performs the 'push' function? Am I correct that you drilled a little hole in the plastic arm that transfers the motion from the steel cable? I might try this when it's time to re-install the headrest...

This is exactly right. Pushing with some elasticity is required to get it to latch. I tried a bunch of rigid things and nothing worked. I think this is the flaw with the original design. If they upscaled the spaghetti, it would not flow correctly. But with it's current size, it bends too much during the latching process and can break. I think it is probably fairly relaxed once fully latched. I wish dorman or one of the aftermarket folks would sell just the plastic piece. But I think a headrest is part of the seatbelt safety system and probably nobody wants to touch it.

 

[Shake2023]

Ugh..found the passenger side head reset is stuck in the down position. I was actually able to get the head reset back up a couple of months ago but don't even know how I did it. Now it is down again and won't go back up.

 

[jmaurer]

I have same problem - headrest stuck folded down. Dealer is quoting +$1,000 repair to replace rear seat frame to fix. This doesn’t seem right to me. Losing trust in Chrysler…