Here are the "volvo" directions:
They aren't that instructive, which is why I decide to do this write up.
Note: I recommend removing the seat from the car. It's really easy to do and I think it makes this procedure much easier.
First, note the difference between the old and new cables. The old cable is straight plastic, whereas the new cable has a braided design, which probably helps it last longer.
The part number for the new cable is: 3539655
Step 1.
Cut the 4 hog rings located at the bottom of the upper portion of the seat. You can use a pair of wire cutters/snips to cut the hog rings. Make sure you remove both sides of the hog ring that you cut. Needle nose pliers are useful for pulling out hog ring pieces.
Step 2.
Unscrew the lumbar knob adjuster. First unscrew it all the way, then pull it out and unscrew more. Then push it in and unscrew more. It can be tricky to remove on your first try, so if you can't get it just fiddle with it until it comes out.
Remove the plastic trim piece:
Step 3.
(do this step for both sides of the seat)
Fold up the leather/plastic on each side of the seat.
Unhook the leather from the plastic piece:
In the next picture, you can see the hooks that hold the leather on:
Step 4.
Move to the front of the seat. Begin folding up the leather. There are 4 hog rings to cut here. (2 columns of 2 rings, one on the left side and one on the right). The white piece on the seat back is the seat heating element.
These rings are annoying to cut. You can definitely do it with one person. However, if you have a friend nearby, it would probably be helpful if they held the leather up while you cut the rings.
All 4 hog ring attachment points:
In the pic below, you can see there are holes in the fabric that the hog rings go through. Use these holes when you are re-attaching the leather to the seat.
Step 5.
After you cut the hog rings in the front of the seat move to the back of the seat. There are two hooks on elastic (one on each side of the seat) that are holding the rear middle-leather area to the seat. Unhook them:
Step 6.
Locate the rear seat transmission. On the driver's seat it will be on the bottom right (as seen in the pics below), on the passenger seat it will be on the bottom left. Right above the transmission there is a spring, remove it. Vice grips are helpful here.
Step 7.
Remove the 10mm bolt holding the transmission to the seat frame. The bolt is on the outside of the seat (expose it by pulling back the plastic trim). The bolt goes through the seat frame, through a spacer, and then into the transmission.
Step 8.
There are two c-clips holding the motor on the square seat adjustment shaft. One in front of the motor, and one behind it.
First, remove the c-clip in front of the motor.
Remove the c-clips from the inside of the transmission
Next, pull the shaft out of the hole closest to the transmission. If you can't pull it out by hand, you can gently tap it out with a screwdriver and mallet.
This will expose the second c-clip, and allow you to remove the transmission from the shaft.
Step 9.
Remove the transmission from the shaft. Unscrew the 4 phillips head screws to expose the internals, and remove the cable.
To remove the cable, I pulled out the internals enough so that I could get the old cable out and put the new cable in. If you find it easier, you can completely remove the internals. The transmission itself is a very simple mechanism.
Install the new cable, and reassemble the transmission.
Step 10.
Cut the zip tie in the upper middle area of the seat holding the old cable to the seat.
Step 11.
Locate the motor. On the driver's seat it will be on the left side in the middle area, on the passenger seat it will be on the right side in the middle area.
The seat back cable is attached to the motor by a retaining bracket held on by two 8mm bolts. The bolt closest to the seat frame is difficult to get to with a socket wrench. I used an open ended wrench to loosen the bolt a couple of turns, then used a ratcheting wrench to unscrew it.
Install the new cable and re-assemble the motor.
Reassembly is the opposite of removal. If you don't have hog rings or hog ring pliers, zip ties work fine.
The only slightly tricky thing on reassembly is at the bottom corners of the seat back. In step 3 above, when you remove the leather from the plastic pieces, you will also pull out extra leather material. When you are putting the leather back on, you will need to fold the extra leather up under the seat back in a way that is difficult to put in words. I recommend doing one seat at a time so you can use the other seat as an example for how to fold up the leather. The best way I can describe it is (sorry for being crude), fold your finger(s) up, sort of in a hook shape, as if you are trying to hit a girl's g-spot. That is exactly how you should fold the leather up.
Picture for those of you who don't know how to find the g-spot
Finished!
