Seat belt hell-- inertia reel wouldn't unlock
Discussion
Managed to take the Chim out for its first 'proper' run yesterday since acquiring her at the beginning of March,
All was well until until we came back to the car at Hever castle, only to find that I couldn't get the driver's seatbelt out far enough in order to put it on...
Remembering some old thread I once read about the tilt of the car possibly affecting the mechanism (dug the thread out here: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... )I moved the car onto level ground, and after some 5 minutes of fumbling managed to pull enough out to put it on, and continued our hoon..
A few hours later, came back to the car parked up on Brighton sea front- and again, same problem... after moving car the 4 times to change 'slope', and about 25 minutes of fumbling, cursing, swearing and generally getting more and more wound up I eventually managed to coax enough out to be able to wear it.. the only upside was that the OH was laughing so much she was unable to get any photoevidence of my increasingly frustrated and reddening face.....
Any way.. all was forgiven when we passed under the A23/M23 bridge exiting Brighton heading north and was able to give it the beans to the glorious RV8 roar just as it hit the NSL..
Anyway..point of this thread/post is... it was not fun spending 25 min trying to unlock the locked seatbelt reel, not knowing whether it would unlock or whether I'd have to give up and ring for a low loader... so question is how can I avoid this in future.. are there any mods I can do to fit a non-tilt sensitive mechansim or is it just a sign that the mechanism is on its way out?
Help v. much appreciated...
All was well until until we came back to the car at Hever castle, only to find that I couldn't get the driver's seatbelt out far enough in order to put it on...
Remembering some old thread I once read about the tilt of the car possibly affecting the mechanism (dug the thread out here: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... )I moved the car onto level ground, and after some 5 minutes of fumbling managed to pull enough out to put it on, and continued our hoon..
A few hours later, came back to the car parked up on Brighton sea front- and again, same problem... after moving car the 4 times to change 'slope', and about 25 minutes of fumbling, cursing, swearing and generally getting more and more wound up I eventually managed to coax enough out to be able to wear it.. the only upside was that the OH was laughing so much she was unable to get any photoevidence of my increasingly frustrated and reddening face.....
Any way.. all was forgiven when we passed under the A23/M23 bridge exiting Brighton heading north and was able to give it the beans to the glorious RV8 roar just as it hit the NSL..
Anyway..point of this thread/post is... it was not fun spending 25 min trying to unlock the locked seatbelt reel, not knowing whether it would unlock or whether I'd have to give up and ring for a low loader... so question is how can I avoid this in future.. are there any mods I can do to fit a non-tilt sensitive mechansim or is it just a sign that the mechanism is on its way out?
Help v. much appreciated...
Check that the actual reel has not become loose on its mounting bolt.
Some belts rely on a ball rolling up an incline to lock the belt, others have an overspeed type device using a Paw and Rachet to lock the belt.
The ball type also requires the belt to be mounted in the car level.
Whats access to the reel unit like?
Some belts rely on a ball rolling up an incline to lock the belt, others have an overspeed type device using a Paw and Rachet to lock the belt.
The ball type also requires the belt to be mounted in the car level.
Whats access to the reel unit like?
odyssey2200 said:
Check that the actual reel has not become loose on its mounting bolt.
Some belts rely on a ball rolling up an incline to lock the belt, others have an overspeed type device using a Paw and Rachet to lock the belt.
The ball type also requires the belt to be mounted in the car level.
Whats access to the reel unit like?
The reel seems pretty firmly attached- I spend 30+ minutes holding it/trying to feed/coax the seat belt out yesterday...Some belts rely on a ball rolling up an incline to lock the belt, others have an overspeed type device using a Paw and Rachet to lock the belt.
The ball type also requires the belt to be mounted in the car level.
Whats access to the reel unit like?
...the car originally was not on level ground however, its only once it had locked and I moved it that it was..
Not sure what you mean by access...its in the space behind the drivers seat so very accessible.... did some Chim's have buried away somewhere?
Edited by HiAsAKite on Sunday 27th April 15:57
The reel unit is very sensitive to angle, I've found you can make a quite a difference depending on where its been tightened up, I would loosed the mounting bolt a little and try swinging it either way to see if you can improve it.
Also its not unknown to have then bunged up with fluff, in which case unwind it all the way and give the belt a good wipe along its length
Matt
Also its not unknown to have then bunged up with fluff, in which case unwind it all the way and give the belt a good wipe along its length
Matt
I am having exactly the same problem with my passenger belt, it appears to be free from dirt etc but is impossible to unravel when the car is on a slope and to be honest even on flat ground is hit and miss. Could it be that the reel is out of alignment, it looks to be ok though so I have no idea where to go from here?
It can also stick when the seat is set right back.
My wife can have problems getting the passenger belt out and quite often it won't retract properly. (Don't read any more than necessary in to that).
As above, alignment is critical and I was told that a new belt won't necessarily help.
I had to drive ½ mile in a hilly part of Brighton last summer to find a level piece of road so I could put the belt on!!
My wife can have problems getting the passenger belt out and quite often it won't retract properly. (Don't read any more than necessary in to that).
As above, alignment is critical and I was told that a new belt won't necessarily help.
I had to drive ½ mile in a hilly part of Brighton last summer to find a level piece of road so I could put the belt on!!
I had the same with my Chim , I did read somewhere if you tap the reel ,gently , with a hammer it can free the mechanism . This did not work with mine, I cleaned out any dirt and fluff I found ;sprayed some WD40 into it mechanism; worked the belt back and forth till it became free. It's been ok ever since.
Is your car car damp in that area?
Is your car car damp in that area?
sbrind4734 said:
I had the same with my Chim , I did read somewhere if you tap the reel ,gently , with a hammer it can free the mechanism . This did not work with mine, I cleaned out any dirt and fluff I found ;sprayed some WD40 into it mechanism; worked the belt back and forth till it became free. It's been ok ever since.
Is your car car damp in that area?
No dampness there at all.. pretty sure it isn't the seat fouling on it too..Is your car car damp in that area?
Will have a play with it at the weekend to see if I can 'clean it' of any stuff on it..
Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff