Hello,
I have a 1997 Ford Taurus Wagon.
The rear passenger side seat belt is jammed. I can't pull it out when pulling it down hard. I also can't push it backward either. It's stuck in a position where the passenger can't put it on either.
Does anyone have any ideas?
My guess is that that the belt is twisted. Try taking a long shanked, thin screwdriver and see if you can push the belt further in. If that isn't the problem your whole mechanism may have to be replaced.
Yes - I think that it's twisted too now that I looked down inside of the hole.
Do what part of the seatbelt should I try to aim for?
Do you mean that I need to try to push the seatbelt backward near the locking system or anywhere in the middle between the hole and locking system?
I've had some luck just pushing it back in as far as you can and then it will unlock. You won't have to push the seatbelt all the way in. At a certain point it will unlock. Then try to pull the seatbelt all the way back out and untwist it. Try not to damage the seatbelt webbing. Good luck. This won't always work.
No luck - any idea on how to pull the panel off to take a look at it.
Is it safe to mess with?
'97 Ford Taurus Wagon.
Some belts have an explosive device that is triggered in a crash that sends a bolt into the belt mechanism to keep it from unrolling. While I don't think there's any more danger dealing with these than with an airbag, if your paranoid there's that to consider.
You really need a factory service manual. You can buy a bootleg copy of the factory service manual on CD for about $10, check Ebay auction 300195826378 for an example. Or you can pay $25 for 1 year of an online version here
So is it safe to even try to use the screw driver method trying to push it back into place?
Leave it locked and adjust the buckle instead. Unless you had a terribly fat person in there last there should be plenty of extra belt once you adjust the waist buckle. Yank the belt hard many times to make sure it is definitely locked first though.
Pah
"pahtoot" wrote in news:eU1qj.17590$C61.158@edtnps89:
WOW!!!!!!!! If you only had a clue. KB
If only you were not so rude.
Pah
"pahtoot" wrote in news:nojqj.9311$w57.759 @edtnps90:
many belts are not set up that way, so you are advising him to do something that is not possible or not safe. Messing with some ones safety is not ok if you have no idea what your saying. KB
He said the model he has. Read for comprehension next time before being rude. He's not a moron, he will know if it is safe or not. What I suggested works. End of.
Pah PS: Plonk, you're not worth my time.
To John: Read the owners manual and see if your car has the explosive pretensioner retractors or not - it's mostly a high-end car thing. And if the book doesn't say, call the car maker and tell then the VIN
- they will look it up. If it does have pretensioners, the Owners Manual should tell you how to disarm them to work on the car.
And if it doesn't, then you have nothing to worry about. ;-P
The most likely way they disarm is the same as the airbags, you disconnect the car battery and wait at least one to two minutes before doing anything. The airbag controls have a capacitor to supply initiation power (run the crash sensors and if needed fire the blasting caps that set off the airbags) even if the power is cut right at the beginning of the accident, and you have to wait for that backup power capacitor to bleed down.
I'd take the time they say, and triple it at least - if the book says two minutes, fifteen minutes is about right. That is one very expensive and potentially painful "Oopsie!" you don't want to make...
And don't unplug any airbag system cable connectors (red or yellow cables and connectors, often with flags or warning tags) with the battery connected, or reconnect the battery with any of the cables unplugged.
Applying power will make the airbag system run a Self Test, and anything unplugged will set a persistent Airbag Fault code that normally takes "divine intervention" from a mechanic with a special scan tool to clear. And they'll probably insist on doing a full airbag system inspection and checkout before clearing that fault light, and charge you a healthy chunk of change for the service.
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If it's anything like the seat belts on older card, it's just held on with one bolt. You might just see what a junk yard has. Of course after reading some of the replies on here, I really never knew seatbelts could get so complicated.....
I know on my older vehicles, there was a removable cover that exposed the spool. Once you get to the spool you shoulkd be able to see if something is twisted, or the spool is broken or has a broken spring.
The newer the car, the more complicated they seem to get.... It's like how complicated can someone possibly make a simple device like a seatbelt?
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