Headrests

[ihouston]

Can anyone advise how you remove the headrests on the front seats of the XK8 - my model is a 2002 and I am thinking of having the leather replaced - this will mean the removal of the headrest
Any advice help welcome
Thanks
Ian

[mike020150]

The headrests should pull out vertically on cars with seat side airbags. Mike.

[petermorjag]

Does the ability to remove headrests also apply to those XK8's with the Technology and Premium Packs, as l know of one that the electric motor does not seem to be engaging as you cannot "power" the headrest down towards the seat. Is it a DIY job to get at the seat motor? The motor sounds when tipping the backrest forward as well. Thanks Mike or anyone else for advice.

[mike020150]

Perhaps reflecting my own lack of patience and inabilities as much as the difficulty of the task, I would suggest that, like many seat trim tasks, removing the seat cover to get at the seat internals is not a job for the faint hearted. There are lots of trim fastenings to release along with the side airbag before you get clear access to the seat internal motors and mechanisms. Then, after sorting the head rest mechanism, getting the seat back to its intended shape and tension would involve patience and skill. It would be an awful lot of work to do simply to move the head rests electrically rather than adjusting them manually. Mike.

[Zennan101]

I have the same problem. Electric motors whirr away but headrests don't move....It's annoying but I can live with manually adjusting the headrests. I know the solution is to either shorten the outer drive cable or insert a longer drive inner but this requires dismantling the seat cover. Is there a way just to disconnect the motor without dismantling the seat. Can this be done by disconnecting from the underseat module without causing other problems?

[mike020150]

Everything is packaged so tightly, it's not really practical to work on the seat internals without removing the cover. Mike.