stuck seat belt

[christopher locke]

I know exactly what you mean, I have an avant and a sedan, and the problem is in 
the inertial locking mechanism in the shoulder belt of the rear seat.  It's a 
pain when the seat is folded down and you can only lift it up a few inches and 
it's locked there.

You need slack to get it to release.  What I do is play on the fact that the 
teeth on the inertial locking mechanism aren't perfectly even, and pull out the 
seat belt until it locks (it only moves 1/2" or so before it locks) then 
release, and pull again - over and over.  Every couple pulls you'll get an inch 
rather than the 1/2 inch.  Lift the seat a little, then do this again.  Lather, 
Rinse, Repeat.  When the seat gets to about 60 degrees, the mechanism goes to 
it's "vertical" state, releases completely, and the seatbelt is relaxed enough 
where you can put the seat fully upright.

There is either one of two mechanisms back there:  either a caged ball with some 
hysterisis such that as the ball moves towards the side of the cage, it engages 
a pall that grabs a gear which is attached to the spool around which the seat 
belt winds (this is the mechanism in the front seat belts in the door pillars), 
or, there's a weight similar to a small pendulum that swings and engages a 
similar pall and provides the same locking feature:  i.e. in either of these two 
systems the "mass" of the ball will be sent foward during hard breaking, locking 
the seatbelt at its current (or at most 1/4" longer) position.  I think the 
Procon-10 system is only for the front belts.  The problem is either the cage is 
bent,  crooked, or the little pendulum has come partially unscrewed and is now 
too long, so that when the seat is foward, it engages the pall and locks the 
belt.  


take the rear cover of the seat off, and remove the seat belt spool mechanism.  
You'll see the trouble.  


Hope that helps

Chris
'91 2C20VTQ
'91 2C20VTQW