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2010 prius passenger seatbelt stuck

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by John Doe Prius, May 26, 2019.

  1. John Doe Prius

    John Doe Prius New Member

    Joined:
    May 26, 2019
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    Location:
    Illinois
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    So, just 20 minutes ago my girlfriend and I decided to get our day started. We go out to the car and her seatbelt will NOT pull out. It's not pulling out one tiny inch, it retracts fully but won't come out. I decided to just "give it 30 minutes", and nothing is fixing it.

    I can't get it to come out, no matter how hard I pulled on it. So I took the panels off and it looks complicated and not much space to work with so I decided not to screw with it.

    Any idea what to do here?

    I have a 2010, it's definitely not under warranty because it's past the restraint system warranty. I would really like avoiding taking it to the dealer because I know they are going to charge a metric crap ton.

    This has never happened before, it was working fine yesterday, there has been no trauma to the vehicle or anything.
     
  2. Pluggo

    Pluggo Senior Member

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    May 23, 2016
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    Location:
    Folsom, Pennsylvania
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    Welcome - sorry to meet you under such distressful circumstances. Did you try pushing the belt in that fraction of an inch and then snapping it out at different speeds several times? Are you parked on a steep hill? If so, get to level ground.That's because there is probably a pendulum mechanism in there. I doubt that there's anything electrical involved here, but if there were, then disconnecting the 12v battery for a moment could help. It's just a desperate move- like I said, there's probably nothing electrical about this problem. Anyway, we'd like to hear what finally works for you.
     
  3. John Doe Prius

    John Doe Prius New Member

    Joined:
    May 26, 2019
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    Location:
    Illinois
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V

    Yeah, it's just such a small give. I tried pushing it in and pulling it out slow, fast, etc. I am parked on a regular street, no gradient to it. Perhaps maybe I should go drive it around some hills, lol.

    I guess I'll just take it to the dealer and see what they say.
     
  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    The passenger belt has a 'feature' for securing a kid seat: if pulled out far enough, the feature engages and then it can only retract and tighten, but not pull out any further. The only way it resets is by being fully retracted, all the way back in. Can you make sure it has rolled back in all the way? Sometimes if it gets, for example, a twist, that'll keep it from going all the way back in.
     
    Pluggo likes this.
  5. John Doe Prius

    John Doe Prius New Member

    Joined:
    May 26, 2019
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    Location:
    Illinois
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V

    I ended up taking the seatbelt completely out, mechanism and all and it seems to have fixed. Not sure what caused it in the first place.
     
    Rebound and CR94 like this.