Causes of a Seat Belt That Won’t Retract
1) Broken Retractor Spring
Seat belts are wound on a coil spring similar to the clock spring in your steering wheel. If this spring breaks or comes off the spool that holds the webbing, the seat belt may not retract properly. A broken retractor spring will usually require replacement of the seat belt retractor.
2) Misaligned Reel or Webbing
Seat belt retractors are designed to rewind the webbing at a specific angle. If your vehicle has been modified in such a way that the seat belt retractor or the angle of the webbing moves as it enters the retractor, the seat belt webbing may not retract properly. It can also cause seat belts to sag.
Examples of such modifications include the installation of aftermarket seats, roll bars, or roll cages.
3) Dirt in the reel
Excessive dirt and debris in the seat belt retractor can slow down seat belt retraction. Cleaning the seat belt should improve webbing retraction.
4) Twisted seat belt
If the seat belt webbing is twisted in the retractor, the retractor may not have enough slack to fully retract the webbing.
What causes a seat belt to get stuck?
1) Seat belt pretensioner explosion
Belt tensioners are disposable items. If your car has been in an accident, it’s possible that the seat belt pretensioner has exploded. This will require replacement of the seat belt pretensioner unit.
2) Hard braking
If you have just slammed on the brakes on race day, at an autocross event, or during a sudden stop in traffic, the seat belt may stay in the locked position after you have stopped.
This does not necessarily indicate a problem with the seat belt assembly. This temporarily activates one of two locking mechanisms on the belt retractor.
3) Seat belt fully extended
Seat belts have a feature that locks them into place if the webbing gets too stretched. This is especially useful for securing child seats.
How to fix a seat belt that won’t rewind
Clean the seat belt
If there is debris in the seat belt retractor, cleaning the webbing can help keep the seat belt from getting stuck. Fully extend the seat belt and remove any obstructions you can reach from the retractor assembly.
How to fix a stuck seat belt
After hard braking
If the seat belt seems stuck, try gently pulling the belt with your fingers and holding it against your chest.
If this does not release the belt, unbuckle the seat belt and reel it in a little. Then try to pull the seat belt out again slowly. The seat belt should now move freely.
After fully extending the webbing
When you fully extend the webbing, the belt will lock. This means that you will not be able to pull any more webbing out, even if you pull it back a little.
To solve this, retract the belt fully. This will release the locking mechanism and allow the belt to extend and retract freely again.
Seat belt buckle is stuck
This prevents the tongue from clicking into the lock. This usually happens in older vehicles where the lock is dirty. Try cleaning the buckle to see if the button will come loose. Press the button and use a little soapy water and a microfiber cloth to remove any visible residue. Press the button a few times to see if the mechanism disengages.
How to Untwist a Seat Belt
It may not seem like it, but there is actually some room to untwist a seat belt by folding the webbing and sliding the belt tongue over that folded piece.
Once the folded piece sits on the tongue, pull the tongue up further while pulling on the folded side of the webbing. This should untangle your seat belt. This might be a little tricky and require some force, but this trick will help you untangle a twisted seat belt.
Conclusion
There are a few ways you can fix seat belt problems yourself without having to take your car to a repair shop. However, when in doubt, it is very important to have your primary restraint system checked by someone who knows how to operate it.
This system could save your life one day. You want to make sure it is working properly so it can still function if the unthinkable happens.