New owner of a 2015 ILX Dynamic. I don't remember ever having an issue with a seat in the car, other than it being uncomfortable, so this one is new to me. I can hear and feel popping in the driver's seat backrest, especially when going over bumps in the road or accelerating from a stop, easily reproducible by applying pressure to the lumbar area of the backrest. If I adjust the seat so that my lower back is not aligned with the backrest I can somewhat minimize the issue, but this is far from a comfortable driving position. Is there anything I can do about this?

 

perhaps the lumbar area is broken?

at first, I thought maybe the seat has come off the rails...but further reading your post, something inside the seat is broken. the back seat cover needs to come off to reveal the inner workings of the seat....maybe it will reveal something broken and then we can progress further.

 

Yeah, something in there must be broken. It really sucks. I hope this is something I can DIY

 

interesting; I thought the seat would be like other acura's with a back plate, that can be removed.
after looking at some pictures, it looks to me that you have to pull off the whole leather skin to reveal the inner workings.



is the lumbar adjustable???? after looking at the pictures, doesnt seem to be anything inside?

 

No, the lumbar is not adjustable. Looking at this diagram, it looks like the popping could be coming from the heater. I don't know what material it's made of but when I press the lumbar area in with my hand and hear the pop, the sensation is similar to deforming a thin sheet of metal, and it popping back into place when pressure is released.

 

My 2016 ILX has a very similar if not the same issue. I have not been successful with reproducing it by pressing on the seat back by hand but feel the pop every now and again while driving. This happens especially if I press my back again the backrest while trying to adjust my position in the seat. I would describe it as a spring shifting position slightly where it is mounted and it "popping in and out of place"". Just like a spring in a mattress.

I thought this was just my car and that the seat was damaged but I drove a 2018 with low miles for a few days and it did the same thing. Seems like a design or improper assembly issue.

 

My 2016 does the same.

 

I am sure that most of this is not considered an approved manufacturer repair but I wanted to share what I had found since there does not seem to be a lot of documentation out there. If you are under warranty, definitely take your car in! That is what the warranty is for and it will run out one day.

Decided to take a few minutes and investigate the seat popping / clicking issue. It is actually quite easy to pull the back cover up on the seat. Once open, I found that the lumbar support torsion bar (lower one in image) is what causes the issue. This bar loosely connects on both ends to a mount (I don't have pictures of this) and presses on a spring loaded lever that allows the lumbar area to be pressed back and keep constant pressure. Unfortunately what seems to happen (at least in my seat) is that the seat pad wears over time and the padding is no longer as thick as it once was. When this happens, it does not keep the already loosely connected bar pressed against the spring loaded levers on both sides. In my case the issue is more with the left side of the lumbar area. With the added clearance, the metal bar ends will tap against the mechanism and slide around causing it to flex and make popping / clicking sounds and vibrations when under pressure from your back. Honda definitely saved a few dollars on this design as it sure does not work well for long. Could also be part that the torsion bar gets bent out of original shape a bit and there may have been some rubber coating on the ends of the bar that have work off.

From what I can see, the fix is to either replace the seat pad with the OEM part or try to pad the area between the really thin plastic backing material and the seat pad. This puts pressure on the torsion bar and keeps the clearance nice and tight. So far, I have folded a small rag over a few times and placed it behind the plastic plate right where the lumbar support bar is. Just that alone has made a huge difference and there is no more clicking. May end up getting some nice high density foam to put back there as the OEM pad is not cheap and you have to then swap the entire seat-back cover and seat heater. Doesn't look like a complicated job but I don't like messing with upholstery. Always seems to get wrinkles in it somewhere. Another thing I have thought about trying is to replace the bar entirely or add a very thick rubber coating back to the ends where it presses on the lever.

Tips for opening up the seat:
Keep in mind that there is an airbag mounted on the door side of each front seat so be very mindful of this and be careful what you touch. You should at least disconnect the car battery for at least about 5 minutes before starting. If you do not feel comfortable working on this, I would suggest brining the vehicle in for service. No use in causing more problems or hurting yourself.

• If this is the driver's side seat, you will want to raise it up all the way, tilt it forward and slide it all the way to the front. This is to give you more room behind and under.
• Disconnect the battery for at least 5 minutes to make the airbag (more) safe. Just be aware that you may need your security code for your audio system and other items may lose memory or settings. Some cars can be a real pain to get everything back in working order and in many cases require a nice bi-directional scan tool once the battery has been disconnected. This is more true for German cars and I have never had any problem with my ILX but I wanted to have the warning here.
• The lower flap (that your feet hit if you sit in the back) is held back by an elastic strap. This strap is pressed under some of the seat cushions springs to hold it snug. Find where it is hooked and remove the strap. Keep in mind that it is a full loop.
• Behind the flap there is a plastic upholstery hook that runs the length of the seat back and there is a zipper on each side.
• I recommend unzipping the two sides before unclipping the hook but do whatever works best. Using a small screwdriver or something with a blunt end to pull the zipper up and down works great. Just be careful and go slow so you don't damage the zipper or parts inside of the seat by pressing the screwdriver in too far. The zipper just has a small hole in it so you just need enough to get a good hold on it. Pulling down evenly on the lower part of the zipper to hold it in place will also help.

2016 ILS Driver's Seat-back