Remove 60/40 Rear Center Headrest

[tooberand]

Anyone know if there's a simple trick to removing the center headrest from the rear seat of a 2004 XC70 with the 60/40 folding seats? The manual says nothing about it, and I don't want to try forcing the headrest too much past what seems to be the "natural" stopping point.

The reason I ask is that I have a front facing baby seat installed there now and in order to avoid creasing the material on the headrest, I raised it all the way. Now it blocks a good deal of my rear view mirror viewing.

Thanks.

[qeff]

You can find some info here: http://apps.volvocars.us/ownersdocs/...70_01a.htm#pg3

Seems like its a page out of the owner's manual.

Hope it helps.

[tooberand]

Thanks, but unless I missed something, it does not discuss how to actually remove the headrest, only adjust it. I can take it all the way to the up position using the adjustment button, but then it appears to stop and I don't want to force it past that position.

[cbob]

The reason I ask is that I have a front facing baby seat installed there now and in order to avoid creasing the material on the headrest, I raised it all the way. Now it blocks a good deal of my rear view mirror viewing.

If you raise the centre headrest, it locks. To get it back down flush with the top of the seat, and level with the seat back, you have to pull forward on the headread while pressing down. No buttons to push, or latches to unlock.
It should mold right into the seat contour.

[HeadXC]

Tooberand, Be careful with a rear facing seat in the centre position. if your model has a rear centre armrest it can come down on the child in a (heaven forbid) accident, as the childs head lifts up the rest comes down and results are not nice. We had this in our 09 and my dealer pointed this out to on a service one day.

[tooberand]

It's a front facing seat, so no worries about the armrest. Duly noted, however, in case there's ever another child in the family.

I'll probably ask my service rep if there's a way to remove the center headrest since no one here seems to know how. I could put it in the down position, but I don't want to put a permanent crease in it after the two years of this child seat pushing against it is over.

[nightrider]

Tooberand, the hardest part is fighting with the main plastic trim piece on top of the seat back. Extend the centre head rest all the way up. Unscrew the 2 torx screws on top of the seat back (under the small plastic squares), as well as one on the seat side, facing the 40 seat and the three on the passenger's side door - have to drop the 60 seat foward to see those 4 torx screws. Slip the seatbelts out from under the plastic trim by sliding the small ribbed sliders (note - it's worth pulling the seatbelts all the way out of the reel then tying a big knot in them to prevent them rolling back into the reel - last time they went in too far and locked up).
Once you manage to work the main plastic trim piece up, as well as freed from the passenger's side rear headrest posts (look carefully to see the trim is split on the front side of the headrest posts) you will have access to the underside of the push button/slide release used to raise the centre headrest.
This is hard to explain but just as you push the slide towards the front to release the catch and raise the headrest, so you have to slide it a little to the REAR to unlock the final notch on the post and allow you to pull headrest all the way out. I did this by lifting the underside of the slide and pulling it towards the rear with the corner of a screwdriver - you only need to move it 1mm to the rear /release the tension to pop out the headrest. Only one side (passenger's side post) has a catch, the other just slides freely.
Pix below showing the main plastic trim piece still surrounding the headrest posts, but lifted up and free, and the screwdriver engaging the little catch underneath the slide release. There's a close-up of the catch without the screwdriver. Was a lot of messing around but in the end I have all three headrests out now...(in a previous thread I said the side headrests were held in with 7mm bolts but on the passenger side I found they were 8mm). Phew...