Rear central seat belt won't operate

[richard999]

Had first MOT yesterday. Failed because the rear central seat belt won't extend. Seems the mechanism is jamed. No one has ever sat in that seat to my knowledge.

 

Anyone had this problem?

 

Took it in to dealer as warranty has a couple of weeks to run... hope this is covered. They say they need to open up the seat to see what's wrong before they order anything. By the time all this is done the free MOT retest period will probably have expired and I'll have to pay again.

[trundlenut]

Potentially daft question, but is the back of the seat definitely locked in place.  On my current and old Octavia, if the larger portion of the back seat hasn't locked into position the centre belt won't move.

[psycholist]

The centre seatbelt reel locks when the seat is tilted forward. Have you confirmed that the seat back is fully locked in place? It's a long shot, but worth a check. Critical safety equipment like seatbelts should definitely be covered under warranty. 

[richard999]

Thanks both...

 

yes the mechanic at the dealer checked that and the seat back  was defo locked in place

[ric04vrs]

Try releasing the seat back and then slamming closed, might jolt the belt free,

I've had dealings with quite a few belts like that at the back, (Volvo, Ford) can't remember changing one though because of it, usually just frees off with slam technique or by pushing the belt into the seat just to allow the lock mechanism to free up

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[richard999]

Thanks..... have slamed the seat back a few times to no avail, but will try again. I can't push the belt into the slot because it is  completely taught. If I fold the seat back forward, a little looseness  occurs, but as stated above the inertia mechanism locks  then.

[Supurbia]

It will be covered and you might as well have a new one before time runs out.

[psycholist]

You could try unbolting the end of the belt from the car body under the seat cushion. You'll need a 12 point star driver to do this though, but it will allow you to get slack in the belt and hopefully release it.

[DGW]

The above tip worked for me when I had a similar problem on a different Skoda model.

[richard999]

Thanks psyco and dgw. Will see if I've got a 12 point star driver. However the manual say we shouldn't attempt to fix belts ourselves and as I've got the car booked in for monday will probably leave it to them.

 

thanks for taking an interest

[richard999]

Had a look under the seat base and can see the bottom end of the belt disapearing backwards but can't see the 12 pointed  bolt.

I can see the bracket and bolt on the side belts so i know what your talking about.

[silver1011]

You are as bad as me, all that rear passenger space and never any rear passengers.

 

My lunch box has the best commute!!

[richard999]

Update .....

 

Car went in to dealer today. The only way you can get at the lower fixing bolt is to remove the seatback. This was done, belt freed and cleaned.

 

Was done under warrenty.

 

They told me they were doing another the same later in the week.

 

Took car straight round to MOT place and they did a free retest.

 

So all sorted thanks