Seat belt retractor

Hi all,

I want to tighten up the seat belt retractors on my '98 Tercel -- I don't want to spend money and buy new ones as that's an old car and all I want is for them to pull harder on the belt (they get actually worst in the winter when it's -30 celcius).

I've managed to remove one and somewhat figure out how it works; it has two plastic covers, one on each side, with each the dreaded "DO NOT REMOVE" mention written on them. The right cover seems to protect the clutch mechanism (the mechanism that makes it block if you pull too hard or if the unit is not straight up). It also protects the min/ max limits of the actual mechanism.

I'm pretty sure the left cover hides the spring that would need to be tightened up. The questions is: when I remove that cover, does the spring pop up flying around like crazy? has anyone done this before?

I know the retractor is not normally a serviceable part (that's what the Toyota deal told me anyways), but I'm just wondering if there's anything I can do about it.

Thanks, Jonathan

Reply to
Jonathan.Fillion
Loading thread data ...

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote in news:1189025332.747499.163840 @k79g2000hse.googlegroups.com:

Are you having trouble getting the belts to retract? Clean the upper loop where the shoulder belt starts. It may look clean, but it's not.

Reply to
Tegger

If you don't know what you're doing, PUT IT BACK AND LEAVE IT ALONE!!!!

Sorry, but don't mess with it. You may 'fix' it, and it may look ok, but then, if needed, it may not catch.

Take Tegger's advice and clean it. If that doesn't work, go to a wrecking yard and buy another or two, and try them, or, at least, PRACTICE on them first and see what happens!

Reply to
Hachiroku

Yeah, you're absolutely right that I don't want to mess with it unless there's an obvious way to tighten it up (which there doesn't seem to be)...

I tried cleaning the upper loop where the should belt starts but it wasn't really that dirty (I used rubbing alcohol), so it didn't improve the situation much. I cleaned up other exterior parts (the retractor's 'pulley') and it still didn't really improve. At this point I'm pretty much convinced that the internal spring mechanism gets lose over time.

It all seems like I'm going to have to live with it :(

Reply to
Jonathan.Fillion

There are no serviceable parts in the seat belt retractor. As TeGGer mentioned, try cleaning the loop in the seat belt guide. Also look at the belt itself where it passes through the guide. If the belt has become fuzzy, especially at the edges, the fuzz adds friction. You can use very fine sandpaper and enlarge the guide so that the fuzz causes less resistance. Make sure you polish the guides so that they are shiny again.

Reply to
Ray O

I have done what you want to try before with unsuccessful results. I managed to tighten it, and then the spring wound tight before reaching the belt limit which in turn limited the belt length. I would advise you to do what Ray mentioned and in addition, if you think that it needs lubrication which normally it does not, use a spray silicone lubricant only. Do not use a petroleum based product as the residue will collect unwanted dust and dirt possibly fouling the mechanism. If you can't get it to work and safety is a concern, I would opt for a new OEM part. IMHO.

Reply to
user

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.