Replacement of rear seat belt buckle

[matt20uk]

Hi all

This is my first post to the forum but I’m a regular user of the site. I have a B8.5 (2013 A4 Avant).

The rear driver’s seat belt buckle doesn’t retain the tongue properly. If you give the belt a light tug it comes out of the buckle…so not much use in the event of an accident and bound to be an MOT failure. This is the 2nd basic part to go in my car, after the LED lights in the instrument cluster started to flicker.

Anyway, I’ve had a look inside the seat belt buckle and can’t see any obvious foreign objects…so have come to the conclusion that the buckle needs to be replaced.

I think the part number is 8K0857740AC01C.

My question is…how do I get access to the seat belt buckle fixings in order to remove and replace the faulty part? I’ve got a suspicion that that rear seat needs to be removed…although I hope I’m wrong!!

Thanks.

[Crasher]

8K0 857 740 AC 01C is a good number £42.12 + VAT. Yes the seat base will have to come up and the lap strap for the centre belt (if fitted) is anchored on the same bolt as that buckle.

[matt20uk]

Thanks Crasher.

From what I understand he seat base is removed by removing the isofix anchors and then lifting the seat up from the front. Is that right?

[Crasher]

Yes, and a lot of puffing and back killing pulling.

[matt20uk]

Yes, and a lot of puffing and back killing pulling.

Update - after the obligatory puffing and pulling, I got the rear seat up and fitted the new seat belt buckle.

Unfortunately my seat lifting technique must have been off as I managed to break the flimsy plastic grommets that hold the seat in place. I've ordered two more grommets (part number 4L0886373) but my question is -

How should the grommets be fitted? I'm assuming the complete grommet (white outer case and black innards) should fit into the recess in the car body and the carpet cutout fits into the groove on the grommet. The seat frame is then secured in place when pushed down into the grommet. Hope that makes sense.

Thanks in advance.