As can be anticipated from many years of use, there are a ton of things that can go wrong with a seat belt. One of the main problems people face is having a safety belt that will not pull out. If you are experiencing this same issue yourself, read on. I will be addressing a few possible techniques to fix a seat belt that isn’t pulling out—hopefully, one of them works for you! With any luck, you won’t need to ask the question, “Why does my seat belt keep locking?” any longer!
To start with, one obvious option you have is purchasing brand new seat belts at the dealer. Of course, this will come with a hefty price tag, but you’ll be left with brand new safety belts that shouldn’t give you any problems for the next couple of years.
If you don’t want to spend all that money required at the dealer, you can try to fix your seat belt from home. One thing that may be the cause of your seat belt having a difficult time pulling out is grime or sweat buildup on the belt. You may not want to think about it, but sweat does come off of our bodies and builds upon our clothing or whatever our body comes in contact with—seat belts included. Pair that up with dirt caused by constant handling, and you have a pretty gross situation at hand. Over a few years of use, the sweat and dirt can be so packed into the seat belt that it becomes rigid and pretty firm to the touch. A simple solution that you can apply from home is the tried and true soap and water. Soak your belt(s) in the soapy liquid for a few hours, then let it air dry. After doing this, you’ll probably notice how much more flexible the belt will become, and hopefully it will retract into the seat belt mechanism much more smoothly.
If this technique doesn’t yield the results you are looking for, the problem may lie in the retractor itself. You’ll have to manually disassemble the mechanism and use a screwdriver to spin the spool. Hopefully, this will let the seat belt retract into the mechanism more easily.
Of course, this may be a whole lot of wasted time for you depending on your regular day-to-day schedule. Or, you may just not want to put in the effort yourself. It could even be that you don’t trust yourself to repair such a crucial component in your vehicle. Fortunately for you, there is another route you can take. Rather than heading to a dealer, or attempting to perform the repairs yourself, you can ship out your seat belt(s) to the company Safety Restore. This is a professional seat belt company that works with seat belts of all kinds and will surely be able to fix yours too!