To make a long story short, my seatbelt has a knot in it and it is stuck retracted in as far as it will go (the knot keeps it from fully retracting) and will not extend anymore. The knot was placed near the latch point to keep it from tightening on my passenger. It retracted and extended fine when the car was stopped, but when the seatbelt was released for a moment while the car was in motion it got stuck and will not release. Any ideas on fixing this? Does anyone know how to remove the covering over the seatbelt assembly so maybe we can release the belt?
I have had mine partially off, I believe the plastic covering just pulls off, and then the belt can be threaded out for more slack so you can take the knot out. their is one major bolt I think. To put a knot in basically lessens it's strength, not a good practice.
I got the molding off but cannot figure out how to get the retractor mechanism to release more belt. Also, somewhere along the line it stopped automatically pulling back, now it is just stuck. It looks like if we could undo the bolt at the top of the seatbelt mechanism we could get more slack and at least get the knot off, but the bolt is just too tight. I've given up and will either bring it to my local garage (around the corner and can take me same day) or back to Toyota (needs appointment and is much farther away).
That's a bummer. You are wise to stop where you have stopped. If you take it completely apart or somehow manage to unwind some of the belt off the side of the reel it's a PITA to get it back together with the right tension. Once it's fixed, there are clips you can put on your seat belt to keep it from retracting. My wife added a sheepskin cover to her shoulder harness strap that kept it from retracting too far for her. She is attitudinally challenged and the shoulder harness was annoying her. They are available form various sources. Here's onehttp://www.amazon.com/dp/product/B0002ADQOU?tag=priuschatcom-20
What a glorious slip of the tongue! I dare you to tell her she's attitudinally challenged! (Psst -- the "word" you're looking for is: altitudinally)
So I brought it into my dealer...they are treating it as a warranty repair! YAY!!! Someone else I know has suggested the baby seat locking clips so there will be one in the car from now on.
