Honda Car Forum

The passenger side front seat belt often locks up (i.e., retracts) at the
slightest increase in g's such as braking, accelleration, hitting a bump,
etc. My wife feels that the seat belt is out to get her (no snide remarks
please).

The dealer says that this is normal and that the belt cannot be adjusted.
Any suggestions for a fix?

"rochelle benguiat" <rbenguiat@si.rr.com> decided to join the
conversation on 01 Sep 2003 with message
news:R1I4b.74524$Sq.14199715@twister.nyc.rr.com:

> The passenger side front seat belt often locks up (i.e., retracts) at
> the slightest increase in g's such as braking, accelleration, hitting
> a bump, etc. My wife feels that the seat belt is out to get her (no
> snide remarks please).
>
> The dealer says that this is normal and that the belt cannot be
> adjusted. Any suggestions for a fix?

My parents' 99 CR-V does the same thing with all the seats except the
driver's .. It will lock up and give you NO room to move.. if you pull it
in a little (to try and unlock like on most cars) it just clicks another
notch tighter.. You have to actually unlatch the seatbelt, retract it
almost completely then *SLOWLY* bring it back out and relatch it. It's
like a damned boa constrictor.

--
-Chris

http://www.ChrisGarcia.com <- My Homepage
http://www.chrisgarcia.com/cars/ <- *NEW* My cars
http://www.chrisgarcia.com/dogs/ <- *Sort-of NEW* My dogs
http://starwars.chrisgarcia.com/ <- Centerpoint Station, the "ghost-
town" of the Star Wars Universe!

Chris Garcia wrote:
> "rochelle benguiat" <rbenguiat@si.rr.com> decided to join the
> conversation on 01 Sep 2003 with message
> news:R1I4b.74524$Sq.14199715@twister.nyc.rr.com:
>
>> The passenger side front seat belt often locks up (i.e., retracts) at
>> the slightest increase in g's such as braking, accelleration, hitting
>> a bump, etc. My wife feels that the seat belt is out to get her (no
>> snide remarks please).
>>
>> The dealer says that this is normal and that the belt cannot be
>> adjusted. Any suggestions for a fix?
>
> My parents' 99 CR-V does the same thing with all the seats except the
> driver's .. It will lock up and give you NO room to move.. if you
> pull it in a little (to try and unlock like on most cars) it just
> clicks another notch tighter.. You have to actually unlatch the
> seatbelt, retract it almost completely then *SLOWLY* bring it back
> out and relatch it. It's like a damned boa constrictor.

What you are desrcribing, to me at least, is the child seat lock mechanism
that is on all seats except the drivers seat. If you pull the seat belt all
the way out, it then goes into ratcheting lock mode and that can only be
reset but putting it all the way back in. It's done this way so that when
you put in a child seat, you can lock the seatbelt rather than having it
loosen up.

"rochelle benguiat" <rbenguiat@si.rr.com> wrote in message
news:R1I4b.74524$Sq.14199715@twister.nyc.rr.com...
> The passenger side front seat belt often locks up (i.e., retracts) at the
> slightest increase in g's such as braking, accelleration, hitting a bump,
> etc. My wife feels that the seat belt is out to get her (no snide remarks
> please).
>
> The dealer says that this is normal and that the belt cannot be adjusted.
> Any suggestions for a fix?

dealer is right... non-adjustable. maybe give it a little more slack after
putting it on?

On 9/1/03 11:07 AM, in article 09K4b.3003$mX1.477@news01.roc.ny, "Seth"
<seth_lermanNOSPAM@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Chris Garcia wrote:
>> "rochelle benguiat" <rbenguiat@si.rr.com> decided to join the
>> conversation on 01 Sep 2003 with message
>> news:R1I4b.74524$Sq.14199715@twister.nyc.rr.com:
>>
>>> The passenger side front seat belt often locks up (i.e., retracts) at
>>> the slightest increase in g's such as braking, accelleration, hitting
>>> a bump, etc. My wife feels that the seat belt is out to get her (no
>>> snide remarks please).
>>>
>>> The dealer says that this is normal and that the belt cannot be
>>> adjusted. Any suggestions for a fix?
>>
>> My parents' 99 CR-V does the same thing with all the seats except the
>> driver's .. It will lock up and give you NO room to move.. if you
>> pull it in a little (to try and unlock like on most cars) it just
>> clicks another notch tighter.. You have to actually unlatch the
>> seatbelt, retract it almost completely then *SLOWLY* bring it back
>> out and relatch it. It's like a damned boa constrictor.
>
> What you are desrcribing, to me at least, is the child seat lock mechanism
> that is on all seats except the drivers seat. If you pull the seat belt all
> the way out, it then goes into ratcheting lock mode and that can only be
> reset but putting it all the way back in. It's done this way so that when
> you put in a child seat, you can lock the seatbelt rather than having it
> loosen up.
>
>
Actually, I think he is describing the inertial locking mechanism that is
designed to make the belts lock up when the car suddenly stops. Once the
car stops stopping and the pressure relaxes, the belt should unlock and move
freely again. It sounds like his is too touchy and is not releasing after a
stop the way is it supposed to. I think there is a counterweight that
swings forward when the car decelerates that engages the lock. He should
demand they replace the inertial locking mechanism in the belt roller.

"Seth" <seth_lermanNOSPAM@hotmail.com> decided to join the conversation
on 01 Sep 2003 with message news:lAM4b.3078$a43.637@news01.roc.ny:

> E. Meyer wrote:
>> On 9/1/03 11:07 AM, in article 09K4b.3003$mX1.477@news01.roc.ny,
>>
>> Actually, I think he is describing the inertial locking mechanism
>> that is designed to make the belts lock up when the car suddenly
>> stops. Once the
>> car stops stopping and the pressure relaxes, the belt should unlock
>> and move freely again. It sounds like his is too touchy and is not
>> releasing after a stop the way is it supposed to. I think there is a
>> counterweight that
>> swings forward when the car decelerates that engages the lock. He
>> should demand they replace the inertial locking mechanism in the belt
>> roller.
>
> I would have thought that as well except he says it happens on all
> seats except the drivers. Statistically it doesn't sit right that the
> same error would be happening on all seats except the drivers seat if
> it were a case of a defect or mis-adjustment.
>
>
>

well, it also isn't consistent.. it doesn't lock up every time you pull
it.
--
-Chris

http://www.ChrisGarcia.com <- My Homepage
http://www.chrisgarcia.com/cars/ <- *NEW* My cars
http://www.chrisgarcia.com/dogs/ <- *Sort-of NEW* My dogs
http://starwars.chrisgarcia.com/ <- Centerpoint Station, the "ghost-
town" of the Star Wars Universe!

E. Meyer wrote:

> On 9/1/03 11:07 AM, in article 09K4b.3003$mX1.477@news01.roc.ny, "Seth"
> <seth_lermanNOSPAM@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Chris Garcia wrote:
>>
>>>"rochelle benguiat" <rbenguiat@si.rr.com> decided to join the
>>>conversation on 01 Sep 2003 with message
>>>news:R1I4b.74524$Sq.14199715@twister.nyc.rr.com :
>>>
>>>
>>>>The passenger side front seat belt often locks up (i.e., retracts) at
>>>>the slightest increase in g's such as braking, accelleration, hitting
>>>>a bump, etc. My wife feels that the seat belt is out to get her (no
>>>>snide remarks please).
>>>>
>>>>The dealer says that this is normal and that the belt cannot be
>>>>adjusted. Any suggestions for a fix?
>>>
>>>My parents' 99 CR-V does the same thing with all the seats except the
>>>driver's .. It will lock up and give you NO room to move.. if you
>>>pull it in a little (to try and unlock like on most cars) it just
>>>clicks another notch tighter.. You have to actually unlatch the
>>>seatbelt, retract it almost completely then *SLOWLY* bring it back
>>>out and relatch it. It's like a damned boa constrictor.
>>
>>What you are desrcribing, to me at least, is the child seat lock mechanism
>>that is on all seats except the drivers seat. If you pull the seat belt all
>>the way out, it then goes into ratcheting lock mode and that can only be
>>reset but putting it all the way back in. It's done this way so that when
>>you put in a child seat, you can lock the seatbelt rather than having it
>>loosen up.
>>
>>
>
> Actually, I think he is describing the inertial locking mechanism that is
> designed to make the belts lock up when the car suddenly stops. Once the
> car stops stopping and the pressure relaxes, the belt should unlock and move
> freely again. It sounds like his is too touchy and is not releasing after a
> stop the way is it supposed to.

We've got a 2000 Odyssey that does it as well, and it does NOT release.
I'll often just have to unbuckle, let the belt go into the reel, and
pull it out again. It's annoying as anything.

> I think there is a counterweight that
> swings forward when the car decelerates that engages the lock. He should
> demand they replace the inertial locking mechanism in the belt roller.
>
Hmm. Maybe a talk with my mechanic is in order.
--
aMAZon
zeszutko at nycap.rr.com
"It's never too late to have a happy childhood."

Seth wrote:

> E. Meyer wrote:
>
>>On 9/1/03 11:07 AM, in article 09K4b.3003$mX1.477@news01.roc.ny,
>>"Seth" <seth_lermanNOSPAM@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>What you are desrcribing, to me at least, is the child seat lock
>>>mechanism that is on all seats except the drivers seat. If you pull
>>>the seat belt all the way out, it then goes into ratcheting lock
>>>mode and that can only be reset but putting it all the way back in.
>>>It's done this way so that when you put in a child seat, you can
>>>lock the seatbelt rather than having it loosen up.
>>>
>>>
>>
>>Actually, I think he is describing the inertial locking mechanism
>>that is designed to make the belts lock up when the car suddenly
>>stops. Once the
>>car stops stopping and the pressure relaxes, the belt should unlock
>>and move freely again. It sounds like his is too touchy and is not
>>releasing after a stop the way is it supposed to. I think there is a
>>counterweight that
>>swings forward when the car decelerates that engages the lock. He
>>should demand they replace the inertial locking mechanism in the belt
>>roller.
>
>
> I would have thought that as well except he says it happens on all seats
> except the drivers. Statistically it doesn't sit right that the same error
> would be happening on all seats except the drivers seat if it were a case of
> a defect or mis-adjustment.

The thing is, you'll never be using that driver's seat to put a child
seat in, and the locking mechanism isn't needed there.
--
aMAZon
zeszutko at nycap.rr.com
"It's never too late to have a happy childhood."

aMAZon wrote:
> Seth wrote:
>
>> I would have thought that as well except he says it happens on all
>> seats except the drivers. Statistically it doesn't sit right that
>> the same error would be happening on all seats except the drivers
>> seat if it were a case of a defect or mis-adjustment.
>
> The thing is, you'll never be using that driver's seat to put a child
> seat in, and the locking mechanism isn't needed there.

Which is my I believe it supports my theory of user error in regards to how
the seatbelt lock mechanism works. If they said 3 out of 4 with the drivers
side not being the odd man out I would question the machanics of the system.