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Seatbelt tensioner

mobz

By mobz
in Skoda Fabia Mk I (1999-2007)

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mobz Rising Star

mobz

Posted
Posted

My seatbelt fails to auto retract, this happens every winter, I assume it's to do with the damp weather. It's usually fine in the dry/summer. Will replacing the seatbelt fix the issue or is there a underlying root cause?

It's been cleaned btw so not relating to dirt I assume

Front doors have also been sealed up

Might have to end up replacing the bugger lol

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VWD Mentor

VWD

Posted
Posted

Try something silocony like furniture polish. Mine get slow to retract at times ,so to stop MOT man from adding advisories I pull the belt out regularly ,give it a good dollop of mr Sheen and work it in and out for a few minutes.

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rum4mo Experienced

rum4mo

Posted
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This seems like it can be a problem with any VAG car of a certain age, I've seen it happen quite early on in the life of my wife's 5 door Polo 9N 2003MY, and a bit with my previous car which was a Passat B5 2000MY.  The driver's belt on the Passat was just annoying and needed a help or was slow to retract, though I was convinced that the (inner) end of the belt was getting a bit damp, so would leave it fully extended sometimes to let it dry off. The Polo belt was the same, ie felt a bit damp/cold in winter but it really needed fed back in frequently, in fact while the car was quite "young" it looks like wife shut the door with the belt in the door closure and that broken the "belt stop" button that stops the clip sliding down to the floor. Prior to recent MOTs, I have sprayed the belt with Pledge etc - spray on to a cloth and run the belt through it for as far of the belt's length as you can, then let it retract fully, pull out fully, let it retract fully etc etc.

 

I've never removed the trim panel from the pillar so I can't comment on what it looks like in there, but, if I was a betting man, I'd reckon that in the whole, this is mainly only a problem with 4/5 door cars from VAG. If that is correct, then I'd reckon that there is road inflicted moisture and other atmospheric dampness collecting down where the seat belt retractor reel assembly is located - ie a basic bad design feature from VAG.

 

Some years ago (!!!) the seat belt retractor assembly was low down but inside the car's cabin, so it would benefit from the cabin air circulation and heating, now that they seem to have gone into hiding they are in trouble!

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mobz Rising Star

mobz

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Right, after 2 hours I've fixed it this afternoon. The roller mechanism needed lubricating.

1. Loosen top panel, remove middle panel, loosen bottom panel. Top and bottom panels don't need completely removing IMO as you can access the required area.

2. The seatbelt mechanism will now be exposed. Spray WD40 to the side parts of the roller.

3. Pull seat belt in and out, spray more wd40. I repeated doing this 3 times

4. Replace all panels (can be a pain, just keep at it) fix bottom part, then middle, then top, be careful of the fixings as they interlock/overlay)

Difficulty 3/10

Satisfaction factor 10/10 :-D

Feels like new again now

post-85085-0-38851000-1390147926_thumb.jpgpost-85085-0-23610800-1390147991_thumb.jpgpost-85085-0-85165900-1390148059_thumb.jpg

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TMB Mentor

TMB

Posted
Posted

Right, after 2 hours I've fixed it this afternoon. The roller mechanism needed lubricating.

1. Loosen top panel, remove middle panel, loosen bottom panel. Top and bottom panels don't need completely removing IMO as you can access the required area.

2. The seatbelt mechanism will now be exposed. Spray WD40 to the side parts of the roller.

3. Pull seat belt in and out, spray more wd40. I repeated doing this 3 times

4. Replace all panels (can be a pain, just keep at it) fix bottom part, then middle, then top, be careful of the fixings as they interlock/overlay)

Difficulty 3/10

Satisfaction factor 10/10 :-D

Feels like new again now

attachicon.gifimage.jpgattachicon.gifimage.jpgattachicon.gifimage.jpg

 

Brilliant, thanks for this, you've spurred me on to do mine. They have never retracted properly ever since I've had the car.

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mobz Rising Star

mobz

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You're welcome :-)

I thoroughly cleaned the belt, got the old hair dryer out (to dry up potential damp), nothing worked. Had me head scratching for a while. Then the penny dropped and out came the wd40 haha

Yeah it retracts viciously now! Love it!

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LWhite92 Collaborator

LWhite92

Posted
Posted

Cheers for this!

My passenger front belt has been getting worse and worse recently to the point that it was now just not retracting any of the belt at all.

Gave this a go yesterday and it now works perfectly! Thank you!

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TMB Mentor

TMB

Posted
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I decided to try the easy route first. I pulled the seatbelt out and cleaned it with Mr Sheen and now it retracts like a new one!

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TMB Mentor

TMB

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Especially in this cold weather, might get brave next summer!

 

Yeah, I gave the trim a good pull but it felt like it was going to break so I left it.

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rum4mo Experienced

rum4mo

Posted
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I always try and figure out do things properly so I don't break anything ...but it somehow always decends into brute force and ignorance

 

No, these words of encouragement don't do it for me, still sounds like cracked hard trim and very sore hands, Mr Sheen or Pledge until next summer!

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mobz Rising Star

mobz

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Try and get a big flat head screwdriver around the side and keep tugging away. It's hard to explain, I'll try and upload a pic.

Once you see how it's connected, it's really easy to pull off, just need to apply pressure and leverage in the right place : )

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Breezy_Pete Veteran

Breezy_Pete

Posted
Posted

I took all that trim off a while back to try to work out what to do.  Hoped to find a big ball of fluff or hair or something obvious to fix, but didn't, so put it all back together again!

Always easier the second time... :happy:

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Thisday Proficient

Thisday

Posted
Posted

Was gonna say, its easier once you know how they go together which is unfortunately generally after you've broken it apart.

Sounds like someone is thinking of making a guide with photos to get pinned to the top of the forum!

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  • 4 weeks later...
BlueSilver Enthusiast

BlueSilver

Posted
Posted

Hi mobz,

 

Thanks for posting...I'm trying it right now! Any issues at all afterwards? After the quick lube job, will the belt be as safe as before it was playing up?

 

 

 

 

Right, after 2 hours I've fixed it this afternoon. The roller mechanism needed lubricating.

1. Loosen top panel, remove middle panel, loosen bottom panel. Top and bottom panels don't need completely removing IMO as you can access the required area.

2. The seatbelt mechanism will now be exposed. Spray WD40 to the side parts of the roller.

3. Pull seat belt in and out, spray more wd40. I repeated doing this 3 times

4. Replace all panels (can be a pain, just keep at it) fix bottom part, then middle, then top, be careful of the fixings as they interlock/overlay)

Difficulty 3/10
Satisfaction factor 10/10 :-D

Feels like new again now

attachicon.gifimage.jpgattachicon.gifimage.jpgattachicon.gifimage.jpg

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BlueSilver Enthusiast

BlueSilver

Posted
Posted

Quick update: Just finished. No chance of correctly getting the trim panels back properly tonight (will try again with more light after work tomorrow)...but, the belt appears to be much better! I did the old silicon polish trick and lubed the belt as shown in the pics above. I "simulated" a very quick stop by lurching forward and it did work. One important factor of course is the seat back angle...too far forward and the belt engages on the next available "notch", so tilting it back to a more relaxed postion seems to reduce your forward travel in the event of a sudden stop. Hope I can get that darn middle panel back tomorrow ;)

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@Lee Grand Master

@Lee

Posted
Posted

If I can manage to pull all the trim off with a flat headed screwdriver and put it all back together without breaking anything, you guys will be fine! lol

If they can't I shall have a belly laugh ;)

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