[HacKage]

Hi folks,

After multiple threads I'm sure some are wondering why I bother trying things myself!

I have removed my interior, and am in the process of replacing it. The back seats are in fine, no issues, but I am having issues with the seat belt on the front seats.

With the "new" passenger seat installed, the reel will withdraw the belt, but not release. After testing it with the seat I had just removed, the same was happening! This led to much frustration as I've never came across any issues with a seat belt before!

I removed the larger of the 2 white sides which revealed the white locking wheel and spring, and the ball bearing cup. The ball bearing cup was broken, but I'm not sure if this was caused by me opening it up...
With the ball bearing removed, the belt allows insertion and withdrawal of the belt fine, but will not lock. I guess this is where the ball bearing and small arm are involved?

I removed the same from the "old" seat to get a better understanding of it, and it would seem that if i remove the BB, withdraw the belt and the put the BB back on, it locks and works exactly as expected. The minute I move the reel in any way other than vertical, it locks the seat belt which is expected behaviour, but even when I put back to vertical it still will not work the way it should.

My question is; Do I need to make sure that the inertia reel and BB is kept vertical at all times during installation, or do I need a replacement? I would be very surprised if they are broken as they were working perfectly fine prior to removal.

Any help would be very greatly appreciated as I'm slowly but surely losing my sanity with this car!

[Icekube]

not sure i would be messing about opening up the seat belt reel, the only thing i would say is that you should test it when everything is bolted into the car, as it may not react as expected with it sitting in your hand.

if its not working when fitted in the car, bolted to the seat and B pillar, then i would be looking for replacements.

[HacKage]

Yea, I have left it totally disconnected atm and anyone who wants a lift can sit in the back in the mean time.

The cover I am talking about is just a plastic cover that is clipped on, and only houses the ball bearing, the spring and locking wheel are still part of the main reel.

My only worry about buying another seat belt is that if these 2 have possibly failed just through moving them, I am curious as to what has broken, and how to make sure this wouldn't happen with a replacement.

[muffking]

I had a similar issue with one of my rears,nthey are slightly different, but found that the vertical position changes if the sides are not fitted correctly.

If it helps i have a the ones that came with my new seats when i swapped to leather if interested.