164 Seat Belt

[Bruce Murray <bmurray@xxxxxxx>]

>Date: Wed, 06 Jan 1999 18:56:49 -0400
>From: Chip Schug <schuga@domain.elided>
>Subject: 164 problems
>
>Today the drivers side seatbelt got stuck somehow and will not withdraw
>or come out.  How do I fix this problem?  Has anyone encountered this
>before?

Yes I have.

I was able to tap the casing of the seat belt retractor once I had removed
the trim piece on the column.
This is removed with both doors open. Undo the top bolt and then pull off
the sealing rubber along the vertical edges of the trim. This will free up
the flange of the cover and allow it to be pulled away exposing the
retractor. You may need to pry the black cover off the retractor and reset
the small nylon rachet piece.  

My problem was caused by wear on the velocity sensing part of the
mechanism. After you have cleared the fault, try and pull the belt out
gently when putting it on.  If you pull fast it will probably exhibit the
same problem again.


HOWEVER, AFTER YOU HAVE CLEARED THE PROBLEM, YOU NEED TO BE COMFORTABLE
THAT THE RETRACTOR IS GOING TO WORK WHEN YOU NEED IT. 

A replacement is about $300 when I checked.


Cheers

Bruce Murray

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