Seat belt retractors
 

What's involved in rejuvinating an old and lazy seat belt retractor? Anybody done this?

You think Porsche retractors are bad you should see the ones in the 90's BMW's

Great topic.

I about have to stuff mine into the holder.

I had to do a search :rolleyes: to find the answer when I had this issue (for example: http://986forum.com/forums/performance-technical-chat/39598-seat-belt-not-retracting.html ). A liberal spraying of silicone spray on both sides of the full length of the seat belt cured the problem for me. This fix has lasted 3 years now.

Hey, don't give me the :rolleyes:....

I assumed the OP wasn't one of those selfish jerks who just throws out a question looking for conversation based on a topic and that he actually searched this first. He's no newbie. I know, I was wrong to assume.

I'm ashamed to have posted in this thread, and the OP should in fact feel bad.

This is a relevant subject to me as I have to sit there and do short little tugs to finally get it to retract. I'm getting old, this is not what I want to spend my time on earth doing
I can see where the PO shut the door on an un-retracted belt and the buckle put a dent in the door jam
I've heard the Silicon spray but won't that get all over the belt and then your shirt???

The real solution would be getting to the spool, clean and lubricate it - Anyone done that

Mechanical thingees and Lube
 

I seem to remember reading somewhere that you were never supposed to lube the ratchet mechanism on a seat belt retractor, the thought was it could cause it to slip during high stress (crash). That is the reason I have never cleaned and lubed mine. I would love to see some more input on this.

I can't get out of the habit of assuming it is going to retract. When I get out of the car, I go to shut the door and see the belt laying across the door jamb and I break myself trying to stop the door from shutting on it.

I really need to get in the habit of unbuckling and giving the belt a few tugs before exiting.

Seems as though this can be caused by something as simple as a seat belt that needs cleaning.

Might be worth a try before digging into the mechanism...

Link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XL8QbooM84

I can't believe how much grunge came out of this guy's seatbelt.:eek:

Thanks Joe for reminding me about the search tool. I guess I need lessons on finding the right keywords! :rolleyes:
I did however, find the cleaning video on youtube as well as another one on how to disassemble/reassemble the reel in order to clean an tighten the spring. :)
https://youtu.be/sGMV8d0R2lM

Did you try the silicone spray? It works like a charm.

In mine the actual belt is stiff as hell and it cuts into my neck, I installed those soft pads but they slide often off the proper area, I'm considering change/upgrade to a harness or something else, any ideas or should I just downy the damn things?, I'm 6' 5" so perhaps that has something to do with it

If the belt can be removed as in the video take the belts and put them through a was cycle ion the washing machine, hot water and let them air dry...I bet they will loosen up.

Be careful if you try to disassemble the retractor. In then newer models (2001+?) there have an explosive charge in them to retract and lock the belt in the event of an accident

Uh,yeah,maybe I won't try that. :eek:

2002+ I think