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How to solve the slow retracting seatbelts?

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Author Post
mcowly   
Tue Feb 23 2010, 02:21am
Hi guys,

I know this problem is posted before, but the dealer won't fix my seatbelts.
They retract very slow, I have to help it retract.
From the posts it was not clear to me what the problem is.
Is the seatbelt itself the problem or the retracting mechanism?
And what would be the cost you think to fix this?

Thanks a lot in advance!
HoneyMonster   
Tue Feb 23 2010, 03:38am
Member No: #1443
Joined: Oct 28 2007
Location: Wiltshire
What used to work on older cars was some pledge furniture polish or similar on a cloth then run belt through it, as a bit polish on the belt would help it slide through guides quicker.
Bodger   
Tue Feb 23 2010, 10:20am
My belt, driver's side, is sometimes slow to retract but what a good idea, I wish I was clever like what you are..
mcowly   
Tue Feb 23 2010, 02:23pm
Tried that, no results.
Can the problem be solved by just replacing the seatbelts?
southwestsurfer   
Tue Feb 23 2010, 02:47pm
Member No: #10745
Joined: Aug 28 2009
Location: Cornwall
I had that problem with my driver's side and had to have the belt replaced. Luckily under warranty.
Bin-The-L-Plates   
Tue Feb 23 2010, 04:45pm
Member No: #1556
Joined: Nov 12 2007
Location: Stoke-on-Trent
Both side were replaced under warranty, now the car is out of warranty and the driver's side is terrible.
I have never had a problem with a cars' seat belt in all my years of driving, and this looks like a design/manufacturing fault.
Can i make a claim against Citroen UK as there is clearly a consistant problem.
Am i right in thinking that it is a MOT failure?
Regards
Clive
BigJohnD   
Tue Feb 23 2010, 05:04pm

Member No: #82
Joined: Jan 22 2007
Location: Hoylake
Bin-The-L-Plates wrote ...
Am i right in thinking that it is a MOT failure?

Yes. I had a fail some years ago on Fiat for that. The reason is that there should be no slack in the belt when you are wearing it. If you move forward and then back in your seat, the belt must follow you and stay on your chest and shoulder.

You can easily imagine what happens if it's slack and you hit something.

I don't know how easy or hard they are to replace, but I do know they have to be positioned correctly for the inertia mechanism to work exactly.
PPP7   
Wed Feb 24 2010, 06:44am
Member No: #135
Joined: Feb 25 2007
Location: South Midlands
Had both my front belts replaced under warranty nearly 2 years ago and no problem since.

Replacement is the only cure.
amjl2000   
Wed Feb 24 2010, 06:50am
Member No: #5047
Joined: Aug 22 2008
Location: s wales
My driver's side also had this problem. Phoned Citroen just after buying it (not noticing at the time, d'oh), and they confirmed they wouldn't do it for free out of warranty, even though I reckon it is a safety issue?

Didn't ask at the time about the cost of replacement.. though I expect I'll find out when an MOT tester draws objection to it in the future... but they haven't so far.
Bodger   
Wed Feb 24 2010, 09:45am
The polish trick seems to have worked for me, much better now..
amjl2000   
Thu Feb 25 2010, 01:48am
Member No: #5047
Joined: Aug 22 2008
Location: s wales
I will have to find myself an eastern european friend and get him to work his magic on my seatbelt!
the time lord   
Sat Feb 27 2010, 04:18pm
Member No: #3154
Joined: Apr 05 2008
Location: UK
Hi all,

Had one belt replaced under g'tee but dealer refused to do the other as they said it retracted eventually! What a load of .... anyway they are not so hard to change you just have to remove the plastic trim on the door post - which will break all the clips - the recoil mec is held in with one bolt. BUT the seat-belts are pyrotechnic - so you MUST disconnect the battery for a few mins before you mess with them as you can set off all the charges and the airbags! The belts cost about £120 if I recall.

Al.
Jaff   
Wed Mar 03 2010, 06:33pm
Seriously, try hoovering the belts, then shampoo them with Autoglym interior shampoo, finally use some dash shine on the guide on the B pillar where the belt comes through.

I'd say 80% of car owners never even think about cleaning the seat belts but it makes a massive impact. I only found out about it from owning a Clio that had silver belts and got grubby really quickly and I noticed they started to retract slower the dirtier they got. I found a good guide on a VW forum about the red belts on a Lupo or Polo GTi which are also bad for it.

Generally it's the belt's buckle/pre-tensioner that's got the explosive in it, the belt has a snap ratchet, that's why they won't pull out of you pull them too hard.
Dave_Retired.   
Thu Mar 04 2010, 01:50am

Member No: #1
Joined: Aug 07 2006
Location: Northumberland
I put some 'Mr Sheen' on the C6 belts yesterday and it does make a noticeable difference.
 

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