v70 Seat belt stuck

Discussion in 'Volvo V70' started by Jeff Savage, Feb 21, 2009.

  1. Jeff Savage

    Jeff Savage Guest

    Greetings I posted (new service provider so different account) over a month
    ago about driving a v70 T5 across from east coast Australia to Perth towing
    a boat. All fantastic, even in the 46 degree heat on the Nullabor the temp
    stayed dead center, I was very happy with it.

    The problem I have at the moment is I extended the drivers seat belt all the
    way and as I let it back in it was like a ratchet stopped it coming out
    again. Now it is all the way in and wont come out.

    It did this in a similar fashion to how toyota's and other cars rear seat
    belts do it to lock baby capsules/seats in.

    As it is series 2 and has curtain airbags and pretensioners I am a little
    apprehensive about pulling it all apart.

    Can someone please give me some direction, or words of caution, or even a
    solution would be good.

    Thanks heaps
    Jeff
     
    Jeff Savage, Feb 21, 2009
    #1
  2. Jeff Savage

    Jeff Savage Guest

    For all those with nothing better to do for a few hours this is a task that
    can be done yourself, if you have the patience.

    After 2 attempts I got it sucessfully fixed. Must have saved a bit of
    money, I image these seatbelts aren't cheap.

    If anyone want instructions email me and I'll do what I
    can to help. I nearly gave up twice, but got there in the end.

    thanks Jeff
     
    Jeff Savage, Feb 23, 2009
    #2
  3. Jeff Savage

    blurp Guest

    Hi Jeff,

    I have some experience and some opinions on this subject.

    It is true that you can probably get the seatbelt apart and tamper
    with the locking ratchet mechanism but there are several obstacles,
    not the least of which is the attached pyrotechnic pre-tensioner you
    mentioned (an explosive charge that works in concert with the airbag
    to take the slack out of the belt in the event of an airbag-worthy
    crash).

    The simple fact is that there are two reasons to have a working
    seatbelt:
    1) to avoid getting a seatbelt ticket and
    2) to save your life in the event of a crash.
    If you're only concerned about #1 then go ahead and fix it yourself.

    You can never have faith in a seatbelt you've tampered with or even
    with one that you transplant from a wreck (once a seatbelt has been
    worn in an accident it can lose some of its safety properties like
    specific loads limits on materials and stitching).

    Believe me, I try to do everything posible either myself or on the
    cheap with used parts but once I really thought about it, I opted for
    the dealer-installed replacement (my only trip EVER to the dealer). I
    hate to spend the little money I have if there's any way to save it.

    Here's the bad news... replacing the driver's seatbelt (which failed
    in exactly the way you describe) was the single most expensive repair
    I ever had on my 1995 850. It set me back $600 parts and labour and I
    was very unhappy to pay it.

    Since there is only one way to test the result, consider the chance
    you're taking with your repaired belt.

    blurp
     
    blurp, Feb 27, 2009
    #3
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