Sticking Seatbelt Retractor

Not hard to fix. there is a swing weight inside that swings forward when you breake and lock,s the belt.it is not free swinging annymore,just clean and lub schould do the job.

 

I washed mine out with some spray stuff like WD40 (keeping it off the belt), then washed out the WD40 (WD40 gums up), with s spray silcone.

Then finally just replaced everything with DMC belts when I couldn't stand the fraying strapping anymore.

I probably could have had the original belt assemblies rebuilt and rewebbed by Snake-Oyl, teh the DMC tag doesn't bother me

Doug

 

I also switched to DMC belts on my 78 when I bought it. The belts were a bit frayed and the inertia reels were not smooth. For me it was a safety issue.The DMC versions are not 100% identical cosmetically but are very close (closer than contemporary Alfas that also used the same series of Klippan belt) and operate perfectly with the existing stalks. I transferred some of the mounting hardware form the old to the new. $170 each side delivered if I remember well.

Are there similar 'old, new stock' belts available for the 328?

 

I was able to fix this exact problem simply by spraying a little WD-40 on either side of the retractor mechanism. Works like a charm now.

 

Make sure you wash the WD40 off with some other lubricant. WD40 turns into a gummy varnish after the light ends evaporate after a year or so,and your problem will be worse.

Doug

 

So I have the same problem as the OP's. Would it be fine to just use a silicone spray lubricant and forget about WD40 alltogether?

 

Uh oh. Seatbelt retractor covers in leather? How many have these I wonder? Love the idea. Hmmm.....


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Bump

 

It was quick and easy to follow the procedure mentioned by many others which I did about 2 months ago. Got mine fixed in about 10 minutes. And it is in fact covered with leather too, so I was extra careful!

 

I am pretty sure all 328s had leather covered belt retracters.

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Hello everyone.

seatbelt in my 2010 California is completely extended and won't go retract.
Is there a trick to make it work without disassembling and if not how do I get to it?

 

The Cali probably has an ECU controlling the retractor.

I replaced mine with DMC parts during my car's green period.

 

Just love it when these threads re-open right at the time I'm having the problem for the first time, love the site and the knowledge

Beyond that any thoughts about using WD40 with PTFE or the similar DuPont/Chemours spray lubricant with Teflon so you have that providing longer lubrication after drying?

 

WD40 might mask a problem but what Ive seen is the clock spring inside the round cover gets all tangled up. It still acts as a retractor spring but it causes the mechanism to lock when you go to extend it. If you have 10mins to fasten your seatbelt you can usually coax it along.

 

As Tillman said above, I've also replaced mine ('87 328) with the DMC Klippan belts. For all intents and purposes, an exact match. And pretty cost-effective, too (as compared to yellow-box parts). Seat belts are not something I wanted to take chances with,so I just went with replacements.

-Matt

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I've been using the coax it out method for a bit and was hoping for an easy fix as some were describing earlier in the thread with the spray lubricants.
If I go down the replacement path (I've got to replace coolant hoses first), how do you get the the belt free from the shoulder point on the shelf?

 

Pull the triangular cover off closest to the belt slot. Its snapped onto the loop then slide it back off towards the back window. Its hooked under the anchor. You'll expose the bolt.