Lazy Seat Belt Fix ?

So, I investigated the lazy seat belt this morning, and after removing the small panel and the 14mm bolt, I came to a dead end. On my '99 PreRunner, it looks like its necessary to remove the whole plastic panel aft of the door. . .Tell me it ain't so!

 

Yes, the panel must come off to get to the retractor. From what I've been told, it's not worth messing with. You can maybe try to lube it but the spring is wore out and not going to function right anymore.

 

I'd had this same problem and here is the solution. The problem is there are some plastic retainers and pre-tensioners inside of the belt assembly that coils the belt back up. In order to remove the belt you'll have to take off the plastic panel, take out the (2) 14mm bolts one in the sidewall and one on the floor, then there is (1) 12mm bolt that holds the assembly in. Overall it should take you about 30 minutes to take the whole thing out.

Anyways there is a company called myairbags.com that you pay $65, mail your seat belt to them and they replace all the internals with new parts. This price includes 2-day shipping back to you so it's much cheaper alternative to buying a whole other seat belt assembly. I had to do this to my passenger side assembly, and I'm satisfied with their service. They did it quick and works like new.

 

SOP!

 

Thanks for the link, Dave. . .If I get bored with snugging it up before getting out of the taco , it will come in handy!

 

sub'ing for same issue in my 99 taco. funny how I hardly notice my "seat belt dance" every time I get out to make sure the seat belt doesnt get stuck in the door since it has been that way so long. LOL

 

I haven't call toyota but i know honda's got a lifetime warranty on their seat belts and buckle, my brother had an old honda accord and the seat belt didnt work so he called honda and they sent him one for free.

Maybe worth giving it a shot, might get a free seat belt assembly

 

you should try cleaning the seatbelt, yup, soap and water with a brush, does the trick with some.

 

Check the plastic piece attached to the top of the pillar where the belts feeds through. Clean it with an old toohbrush and some simple green. Mine was so dirty, it caused the belt to drag, as others said clean the belts, dirt drags them bit time. Worth a shot before you take it apart.

 

Just blowing 130 psi compressed air into the retractor assembly helped with mine quite a bit. At least now I don't shut it in the door...

 

I have a 2001 that I bought last year. Lazy seat belt. I also had a 1988 I bought in 1989 but it was stolen last year and never recovered. So I bought the 2001 as a replacement. It is a Toyota thing.


There is a TSB that was issued on August 10, 2001. To improve the retraction of the seat belt. The TSB says the repair is covered under the 3 year warranty for a new vehicle. The "fix" back then was to put fluorocarbon tape in the shoulder bolt anchor. I know what Teflon tape is - it is slippery. It is used on my old Boxster where 2 parts rub together. I think they are the same products. So I asked my Porsche mechanic if he had any Teflon tape, and he did.


I did not want to buy the 7305-48011 tape kit from Toyota just to find out it did not work on an 12 year old vehicle with worn seat belts.


So I did the experiment. I removed the shoulder anchor so that I could work on it outside the vehicle, and installed a 2" piece of the tape that was given to me.


I am not going to do a write-up because I don't think this is going to be much of a permanent improvement.

 

Since it has already been risen from the dead I might as well chime in.

I took apart my driver side retractor and got two or three more winds out of it. This preloaded the spring a little more and helped some. I also used some Tri-Flow on the spring. I attempted the passenger side but found it more difficult for some reason or something could have broke...I don't really remember. I ended up having to get a salvage yard belt and just put some Tri-Flow on it and called it good. I used the link below.

http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/minutemods/seatbelt/

 

3 days later of use and the seat belt has been fully retracting when I unbuckle. No more of it hanging out of the door. Not bad for a 12 year old vehicle.


To put icing on the cake, I think I will clean the belt since it is a bit grimy in the section of belt where it was hanging up

 

Weather was warm enough for me, so I got around to washing the belt. Not much dirt came off, but the belt seems more supple which helps it feed through the slot in the shoulder anchor.


So far I am happy with the experiment. I have attached the TSB. I followed the TSB except that I unbolted the shoulder anchor so it would be easier for me to work on it outside the truck when I applied the tape. When it came time to wash the belt outside the truck I unbolted both the shoulder and floor anchors.

 

sub so i can remember to try and clean the seat belts in dads ’00 tundra. they suck and flop around.

 

I tried recoiling my mechanism today, it was almost fully coiled and i have a 95. re-tensioning the spring did not help at all..and yes you have to pop out the rear dr. side plastic panel. i was able to pry it back just enough to get the mechanism out.

 

Try this if nothing else works... It actually fixed my slow retracting belt problem... http://www.diyforums.net/diy-fix-for-a-lazy-slow-seatbelt-retractor-1350.html

 

sorry to rivive a dead post... I sent my D/S belt out to get the belt itself replaced in hopes that this would fix the slow/zero retracting issue due to its age and stiffness. Nope, didnt work. Nice new slick belt and no problems with the company that did the work, it was an experiment afterall. I will try the blowing the retractor mechanism out then lubing the spring next.

 

Still available from Toyota

Stumbled onto these the other day and am seriously considering it for my DS belt.

 

the drilling the small hole and blowing out the dust then silicone lubing works "kind of". It does not "snap" snug agaisnt your chest when you click it into place but after a few minutes of driving down the road it is snugged up. The issue of slamming the door on the seat belt hanging out is still present.