My seat belts will no longer retract back at the top connection. I was looking at prices and didn't realize how expensive new seat belts are! couldn't find a good color match either! Is there a simple fix to make this safety feature work again?

Any help would be appreciated!

 

Have you attempted to take the covers off and see if they are just stuck or are they worn out. You can manually retract them, if they are worn out but the only true fix is to replace them. It only takes about 1/2 hour to replace each one.. It is relative easy

 

Don't Think So I Also Have One With A Sprung Spring In The Retractor,Only Fix Is Replacement And GM No Longer Makes Them Only Alternative Is Used And They Are Hard To Find In Good Condition And The Right Color Match

 

You can rewind the spring and secure the cover with a bail.

 

Hello 30reddogs !!

Try this, it may help you !!

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/inte...?highlight=fix

 

THANKS FOR THE TIPS! PICTURES are a great help!! hope this fix works. ill see when i take her out of storage from the winter.

 

Hello 30reddogs !!

If you need any words of wisdom on this, drop me a PM, or ask right out loud here !!!

I'd be happy to answer anything that I can about this !!



P.S. I had been told that my car was unsafe to drive after a GM "factory trained" mechanic mangled my driver's side latch receptacle, attempting to replace my seat belt buttons, under warranty. So, as I was having other work done also, he wouldn't test drive it on the open road, because my belts wouldn't retract. This left me no other recourse other than attempting to fix it myself, and "The Fix" is what I came up with !!

 

Ik this thread is extremely old, but would anyone know how to fix the lower belt retractor for a 91 convertible? It won't pull out or retract, id rather not have to buy new ones so I'd like to fix this one, also wondering if the seat belts are the same for the hard tops, as if i do have to buy a pair idk if I need a "convertible specific type"

 

Convertible belts are different than hard top cars. Try this place:

https://www.safetyrestore.com/

 

Gotta remove it to see whats wrong. Ive fixed a few. Mostly by just poking it here/there and some spray lube. Yours could be jammed. Might be a nickel stuck in it! Thats what i found in one once.
As mentioned verts are different. Only the 4 receivers are interchangeable.

 

Thanks all for sharing your experiences and for giving me the confidence to tackle this project.

I was able to repair my passenger side upper retractor. As other posts suggest, I took mine one extra step which made all the difference - unbolting it from the roof with a 13mm socket so that I could actually see everything and make sense on how it works.

My belt was completely pulled out and would not retract. Between the inertia pendulum and the intermediate locking/latching mechanism, I was able to fix it.

Not sure how really… but I did notice the clear ish side cover had popped off.

After messing with it for 10 minutes I was able to cycle it several times with expected/satisfied results. The side cover has four posts that have an interference clearance. It appears that this is a dust cover and meant to hold in the plastic geared wheel. Not exactly sure what this wheel does…?

just really wanted to show the image I took to help others with diagnosing and perhaps query those that know more about it than I.

 

There is a company in New Orleans, I think) that makes replacements but it includes the belt, the anchor, the retractor but colours are limited.
The worst part of the procedure, u have to drop the headliner & that is a big pain in the ***!