Home  |  Forums  |  914 Info  |  Blogs
 
914World.com - The fastest growing online 914 community!
 
Porsche, and the Porsche crest are registered trademarks of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG. This site is not affiliated with Porsche in any way.
Its only purpose is to provide an online forum for car enthusiasts. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
 

Welcome Guest ( Log In | Register )

 
 Reply to this topicStart new topic
> Uncooperative seat belt, won't release
EJP914
post Jun 23 2025, 12:00 PM
Post #1


Member
**

Group: Members
Posts: 273
Joined: 14-June 03
From: Monroeville, PA
Member No.: 821
I cannot get my retractable seat belt to release. I've tried to pull it up or down, quickly or slowly, but it just clicks and stays locked in place.
I've read taking the sides off of the belt reel up portion is not a good idea as there is a tightly would spring inside that may let go.
Can you spray some kind of lubricant in the reel up part to get it to release?
Would appreciate any ideas on how to make this work as it's supposed to.
Thanks in advance for the replies.
Ed
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
930cabman
post Jun 23 2025, 12:53 PM
Post #2


Advanced Member
****

Group: Members
Posts: 4,166
Joined: 12-November 20
From: Buffalo
Member No.: 24,877
Region Association: North East States
QUOTE(EJP914 @ Jun 23 2025, 12:00 PM) *

I cannot get my retractable seat belt to release. I've tried to pull it up or down, quickly or slowly, but it just clicks and stays locked in place.
I've read taking the sides off of the belt reel up portion is not a good idea as there is a tightly would spring inside that may let go.
Can you spray some kind of lubricant in the reel up part to get it to release?
Would appreciate any ideas on how to make this work as it's supposed to.
Thanks in advance for the replies.
Ed


do a bit of searching, I think you will find washing the belt will get a good result. I have been considering this for some time now, just lazy and retracts ok
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
Tonyooc
post Jun 23 2025, 01:36 PM
Post #3


1974 2.0
***

Group: Members
Posts: 704
Joined: 6-January 18
From: Fort Mill, SC
Member No.: 21,763
Region Association: South East States
I've had this problem for quite a while only on the passenger side. I even bought new ones and now the passenger side still locks up. Very frustrating.
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
willieg
post Jun 23 2025, 01:50 PM
Post #4


Member
**

Group: Members
Posts: 147
Joined: 13-August 18
From: Pleasant Hill
Member No.: 22,389
Region Association: Northern California
I have taken the sides off the seat belt. A really horrible disaster. Had to go to Seatbeltplanet.com to get a new seatbelt. The spring inside the housing was impossible to put back correctly.
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
emerygt350
post Jun 23 2025, 04:02 PM
Post #5


Advanced Member
****

Group: Members
Posts: 2,979
Joined: 20-July 21
From: Upstate, NY
Member No.: 25,740
Region Association: North East States
I was able to reassemble mine and have it work but it took a little patience. I did end up buying new ones from seatbelt planet though since even after cleaning and lubing they still didn't retract like I wanted.
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
windforfun
post Jun 23 2025, 04:43 PM
Post #6


Advanced Member
****

Group: Members
Posts: 2,057
Joined: 17-December 07
From: Blackhawk, CA
Member No.: 8,476
Region Association: None
Buy new ones.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer3.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer3.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer3.gif)
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
emerygt350
post Jun 23 2025, 10:03 PM
Post #7


Advanced Member
****

Group: Members
Posts: 2,979
Joined: 20-July 21
From: Upstate, NY
Member No.: 25,740
Region Association: North East States
Seatbeltplanet has really great customer service too.
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
barefoot
post Jun 24 2025, 08:06 AM
Post #8


Senior Member
***

Group: Members
Posts: 1,407
Joined: 19-March 13
From: Charleston SC
Member No.: 15,673
Region Association: South East States
I took mine apart and had the spring explosion. Was able to get re-wound OK with some patience .
Just be VERY careful taking the over off (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

Attached Image

Barefoot
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
Osnabruck914
post Jun 24 2025, 11:17 AM
Post #9


Member
**

Group: Members
Posts: 137
Joined: 19-December 22
From: United States
Member No.: 27,038
Region Association: South East States
If you are dealing with the original 50-year-old seat belts, do not hesitate to trash them and buy new ones. Seat belts are the one item where originality must take a back seat (no pun intended).

Osnabruck914
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
dr914@autoatlanta.com
post Jun 24 2025, 11:20 AM
Post #10


914 Guru
*****

Group: Members
Posts: 8,185
Joined: 3-January 07
From: atlanta georgia
Member No.: 7,418
Region Association: None
they are easy to get to work, pull them out vertically, then clean the belt and lubricate the bobbin. Call and I will discuss with you


QUOTE(EJP914 @ Jun 23 2025, 11:00 AM) *

I cannot get my retractable seat belt to release. I've tried to pull it up or down, quickly or slowly, but it just clicks and stays locked in place.
I've read taking the sides off of the belt reel up portion is not a good idea as there is a tightly would spring inside that may let go.
Can you spray some kind of lubricant in the reel up part to get it to release?
Would appreciate any ideas on how to make this work as it's supposed to.
Thanks in advance for the replies.
Ed
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
EJP914
post Jun 25 2025, 09:40 AM
Post #11


Member
**

Group: Members
Posts: 273
Joined: 14-June 03
From: Monroeville, PA
Member No.: 821
Maybe I just got lucky, but I got mine to reel out and retract.
Seat belt is out of the car.
I gave each side a couple of good whacks with a small hammer.
Loosened the two screws on each side about 3/4 of the way out. Did not remove the cover.
Liberally sprayed penetrating oil in the gap that remained.
Let sit overnight.
Gave it a few more hits with the hammer and the belt reeled out.
Cleaned the belt with Dawn and rinsed. Surprising how dirty the belts got just reeled up over the years!
Reeled the belt back in and out a few times. Seems to work as it should.
Saved a few $. Hooray for me.
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
Dave_Darling
post Jun 25 2025, 11:32 AM
Post #12


914 Idiot
***************

Group: Members
Posts: 15,192
Joined: 9-January 03
From: Silicon Valley / Kailua-Kona
Member No.: 121
Region Association: Northern California
It's very tricky to get the belts to extend when they're out of the car! The retractor has to be perfectly vertical because the pendulum inside is designed to lock the belt under fore and aft acceleration/deceleration.

BTW, the edge of that spring is pretty sharp. Had to throw away the gloves I used when putting it back in because they were sliced to ribbons! I may also still have a couple of scars...

--DD
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
Root_Werks
post Jun 27 2025, 02:14 PM
Post #13


Village Idiot
*****

Group: Members
Posts: 8,726
Joined: 25-May 04
From: About 5NM from Canada
Member No.: 2,105
Region Association: Pacific Northwest
QUOTE(dr914@autoatlanta.com @ Jun 24 2025, 10:20 AM) *

they are easy to get to work, pull them out vertically, then clean the belt and lubricate the bobbin. Call and I will discuss with you



(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

Seatbelt Planet re-webbed my belts, but didn't clean or lube anything. Took apart the non-spring side, cleaned and lubed everything. Much better. Passenger side would lock a lot and was annoying. Stopped doing that after the parts moved freely.
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
« Next Oldest · 914World Garage · Next Newest »
 

Reply to this topicStart new topic
1 User(s) are reading this topic (1 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)
0 Members:

 

Display Mode: Standard · Switch to: Linear+ · Switch to: Outline

Track this topic · Email this topic · Print this topic · Subscribe to this forum

- Lo-Fi Version Time is now: 1st July 2025 - 01:46 AM
Invision Power Board v9.1.4 © 2025  IPS, Inc.
All rights reserved 914World.com © since 2002
914World.com is the fastest growing online 914 community!
We have it all, classifieds, events, forums, vendors, parts, autocross, racing, technical articles, events calendar, newsletter, restoration, gallery, archives, history and more for your Porsche 914 ...