my driver side seat belt is slow to retract and needs some feeding. anyone have a fix besides replacement? dealer suggested soapy water. i wonder if it's a lubricant issue or spring.

 

even though the belts does not look twisted... it can be twisted in the pillar section that can affect the spring return...

 

mine is he same way...let me know if you find out anything

 

+1. hopefully something other than replacement.

 

+2 It's starting to get annoying as it started about a month ago for me.

 

I know this is an old thread but did anyone find a solution? Replacement the only option?

 

No, mine's doing the same thing, you have to help it a little. I'm going to just live with it.

 

I am going to pull the seat belt to its max and try a little silicone spray on just the edges. If it discolors or doesn't work then I will replace it.

 

Just to update, the silicone spray worked.

I took a new tooth brush and water with a splash of soap and scrubbed the entire seat belt. It was really dirty. The black plastic eye loop at the top seemed to have worn its top coating onto the aging belt. I used Scott blue towels to get the belt as dry as possible.

Then I used the silicone spray on about 1/3 rd of the seat belt (the bottom end that retracts in). The seat belt soaked it up like crazy. I retracted the belt multiple times. The only drawback is the odor the spray gives. I knew this already as I use the spray all the time on the rear window of my Ford F250.

After two days I sprayed (soaked) the seat belt in febreeze (max strength), wiped it down with Scott blue towels, and the smell is almost gone. I will do another round of febreeze this week and I think I will have saved half a grand. Total time less than one hour.

 

Usually I can correct this by simply pulling the belt all the way out and then letting it retract. I like the cleaning ideal though - I may try that.

 

whats the name of the spray you used?

 

Trust me, I tried that first.

 

Liquid Wrench brand silicone spray. I know there are others but that was the only one I could find when looking to fix my truck a few months ago (so I had it on hand already).

It is a strong odor (like WD40 but stronger) especially in the Texas heat so keep that in mind. The frebreeze is neutralizing it though.

 

Ok, just to follow up...

The second round of frebreeze did not neutralize the silicone spray odor enough for me so I was thinking of ordering a steam cleaner like the Wagner 915 or something. (about $100 and I can use it for many other things). Then I remembered I had a cheap hand held steamer I haven't used in years for clothes.

I steamed the seat belt for about 20 minutes and I think that did the trick.