Guys, I have had this problem with both of my front seat belts since I've owned the car. I'm not sure if it is common or not.

If I lean forward while driving, the shoulder belt unwinds with me. Fine. But then when I lean back again, the shoulder belt stays unwound. It will retract if I give the belt a quick tug with my hand. It is really annoying as I have to tug the belt constantly while driving. The belt does not stay snug on my chest.

Does anyone else have this issue? Will new shoulder retractors fix this? Can I use the shoulder retractors from newer models that hopefully work better?

Finally I am in the process of swapping in some Fiero seats. Just something to keep in mind.

Thanks,

John

 

it sounds like they just need a good cleaning

 

Or you can swap to 4th gen ones I hear they fit.

 

Now that is an interesting answer. I am pretty sure its not a cleaning issues as the car has low miles, and everything i have taken apart has been extremely clean.

 

They can wear out too.

The 4th gen ones only use a single retractor as well instead of the dials on a thirdgen.

 

Hello 87350IROC!!

I made up a fix for your problem, complete with pictures, takes fifteen minutes to do, and you'll never have that problem again!!

Click the link, it takes you to the FAQ thread https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/faq-...ro-z-28-a.html



P.S. Any questions, just PM me!!!

 

Reviving another inactive thread...

The issue in this thread... is not an issue. There's nothing wrong. This is normal operation.

I've owned 4 thirdgens, 3 of them brand new, and all of them have done this. This is how they were designed to work. Apparently this can be changed, as DAN has shown in his thread. But it can't be "fixed" because it's not broken.

It's like a window blind: pull it down, and you can make it stop at any level. Then to retract it, just give it a little pull, and it will roll-up.

I like this design-feature. I can give the shoulder belt some slack, and I don't feel "pinned" into my seat.

At that time, shoulder belts weren't designed to pin you into your seats like they are today. IMO, it's today's shoulder belts have the design problem. They can, literally, LOCK you into your seat, pinning you against the seatback, forcing you to find a way to get yourself free. THAT'S dangerous. I've usually got the shoulder belt in one hand to keep it off of me while I drive newer cars. In my Formula, I don't have to do that because I can put some slack into it.

 

I'm pretty sure that is the normal operation of the belts.