Hobgoblins in my seat belts?

[kyleroc]

Hey all,
So I've got an '86 that I bought about a year ago. I noticed after a few months (probably should have checked out before purchase) that when I pull hard on the driver and passenger side seat belts, the locking mechanism doesn't kick in. I was about to buy new ones and took the old ones out. Low and behold, they locked up when I pulled on them!! So I put them back in and couldn't get them to lock up again. Took 'em out and they locked, put them in and they wouldn't lock. What's going on here? Will these belts protect me in a crash?

[keith]

Take it out on a quiet road, no traffic that is and then from about 60 mph, go hard on the brakes. While the vehicle is decelerating, pull on the seat belts, they should be locked. The reason that they are working when you pull them out is due to the angle you are hold them at.

Most seatbelts have an inertial reel as well as a swinging pawl. I don't remember if the Tercel has an inertial reel or not but it looks like the pawl is working.

[Neu]

hard braking is the best way to find out like keith said. There's something about the way it pulls that locks it up.

[Petros]

You might try spraying some light solvent (like brake parts cleaner) in them and blow them out with compressed air while pulling them in and out, and then follow up with light corrosion inhibiting oil (like LPS-1). Repeat several times until they work well

They can get gummed up with dust, hair, etc. and they they work unreliably. I have seen the same problem in some of my older cars (all of my cars are older come to think of it), and I have always made them work well after this. It is possible the parts can wear to the point where they do not work anymore, but I have not seen it.

[Mattel]

I took some rear seat belts off a wreck recently and they seemed to work OK in the car but not so well when out. It's about getting the appropriate angle as well as velocity. You should be able to violently grab the belt and suddenly push it forward (as in an accident) and it should lock.

I threw up in a friends retractable seatbelt once.. the week before he was meant to sell it. His '83 Subaru wagon stayed on the market till we could take it out and clean it. The stench remained for a while longer.

[Neu]

I threw up in a friends retractable seatbelt once.. the week before he was meant to sell it. His '83 Subaru wagon stayed on the market till we could take it out and clean it. The stench remained for a while longer.

lol, this kind of stuff is awesome.