seat belt retraction
 

hey randy,
got a quick question regarding seat belt parts for my 02 v6 coupe. The driver and passenger belts don't really retract that well, the driver's side especially. when i pull it out, it often gets twisted at the top where it swivels. Also, it often does not retract on it's own, i sort of have to force it down to retract. is there something i can do/replace to make em work properly?

2 things you can do, buy new ones or go-to your local dealer and see if they'll help as there is a TSB on this and see what they can do for you.
if they act like schmucks, let me know and I'll help you out wth the price on a new set.

is there any kind of restriction on the tsb as far as date/warranty on the car? if you have any other info on where i can actually find the TSB thatd be great too

I'll look but since its a saftey related item there should not be any restrictions on it

Randy, Im having the same issue with my 1998 GT, would/should a dealer take a look at it under the tsb? or is there even one for mine?

thanks

lol, same here on my '98 Sixer... :nunu:

I think the TSB was for 2001 up, check wth your local dealer on the pre 2001's as its worth a try

I took my '02 gt to my ford dealer, and they installed a "teflon kit". I guess it makes it easier for the belt to get thru the loop just over my shoulder. I saw a difference, but I'll know more when the weather breaks and I can drive it more. My dealer told me if that didn't work, they would replace my belts.

what exactly was the teflon kit? my belt, the driver side at least, doesn't retract very well if at all sometimes. also at the top where it changes direction, it often gets stuck because the material will fold over and get jammed.

I took the car to the dealership so they could put gears in it. This was a "Hey while you guys are at it..." kind of thing. My car is garaged for the winter, so I didn't get a real good look at it. But from what I could tell, they put teflon tape on the inside of the loop. My belt was hanging up too, and it drove me crazy. I would shut the belt in the door all the time. It seems to work well now, but I haven't driven it much since then. As far as it folding over, mine did that too, and with the fix, it seems like it's not an issue. The best thing about this was that it didn't cost me anything. It was covered under warranty, but I only have 30k miles on it. Hell, it's worth a try. Evebn if you have to pay for it, I think the kit is only about 30 bucks.

either way, i'm gonna take it in. its driving me nuts having to manually wind up the seat belt every time i get out, plus my seat is like loose and it squeaks so i wanna see what that is gonna cost me, grrr.

You had your dealership put in gears??? Wow, I never heard of that. Mind me asking what they charged?

yup, thats the fix, the teflon tape is suppose to help. let us know how well it holds-up

are you talkin about the plastic loop attached to the seat or the loop that is attached to the side of the car itself? where exactly did they put the tape? do you happen to have any pics? if i can do this myself id rather do it than have to go to ford and wait around for them to do it

you dont want to do it yourself as the kit is @$60.00 to buy

from what it sounds like, theyre just putting pieces of teflon tape on, is it more than this?

well, pretty much thats all that comes in the TSB kit

and where do they apply it to? i think i have some at home, i might give it a shot

Im not 100% sure but I think around the guide at the top in the roof headliner

on the metal part where the belt material contacts? thats where it would make the most sense to me.

When they dug into the rear end ( that doesn't sound right ) they found that one of my axle shafts needed to be replaced. Total cost for Ford Racing 3.73 gears, right side axle shaft and labor $926.xx. A lot of money, but there aren't really any speed shops around here that aren't just ricer shops, and I wanted this to be right.

yes, doobie, on that metal ring. I also found that the plastic loop on the seat back makes it function better, but that loop is a nightmare. I saw somewhere that somebody, I thing roush makes a replacement for that loop that looks 100 times better, and they say it works better.

the loop is sold here in the section for convertible light bars.

the more i fiddle around with it, it seems like it's something behind the panel that isn't retracting the belt. i'm getting a lot of slack between the metal loop at the top of the belt and the hole where the belt goes into the panel. think im just going to take it to ford and let them replace what they need to

good luck. Keep the news coming about how it went, it's a real common problem.