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Re: Seat Belt Problem

The belt probably got twisted when it retracted. You can usually pull

>on it *gently* until you reach the entanglement. Pulling on it hard >will only cause it to lock up, as you've witnessed. Pushing it back >in does nothing but risk further entanglement.

I can look inside the panel and see the seatbelt spool.

Is it ok to try to spin it with a screwdriver or something?

I heard that some seatbelts have an device like an airbag that will cause it to explode or something. I'm wondering if a 1997 has that sort of device. If it does the screw driver can come flying back at me.

Reply to
John
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LOL. Explode or something?

Like a few previous posters stated, it probably got twisted as it retracted back into the housing. As a long shot, take a long thin screwdriver and try to push the webbing back into the housing. If you are successful depends on luck and how much of the seatbelt is currently retracted. If this does work, check the webbing carefully as the screwdriver could chew up the material. If so, it's time to replace. If this does work and the seat belt works again, pull the seat belt completely out and spray it with some aerosol starch that is used for ironing clothes. Let it fully retract properly and let it dry so there's less chance that it will wrinkle the next time it retracts back in.

Reply to
Kruse

Yes see here:

The central element in this pretensioner is a chamber of combustible gas. Inside the chamber, there is a smaller chamber with explosive igniter material. This smaller chamber is outfitted with two electrodes, which are wired to the central processor.

When the processor detects a collision, it immediately applies an electrical current across the electrodes. The spark from the electrodes ignites the igniter material, which combusts to ignite the gas in the chamber. The burning gas generates a great deal of outward pressure. The pressure pushes on a piston resting in the chamber, driving it upward at high speed.

A rack gear is fastened to one side of the piston. When the piston shoots up, the rack gear engages a gear connected to the retractor spool mechanism. The speeding rack rotates the spool forcefully, winding up any slack belt webbing.

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Reply to
John

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