Seat belt retractor is stuck

Osprey TJ · Dec 31, 2025

Happy New Year Ladies and Gentlemen,
So, my passenger seat belt is ≈80% out and won’t budge in the retractor.
Please do not ask me why I’m spending the last day of the year on this…
Sprayed WD40 on all parts yesterday - partly unscrewed the DO NOT REMOVE spring cap and anointed it as well.
Looked thru search results here, and related YouTube stuff, to NO avail.
It is coldy unresponsive to all of my fiddling with it.

Ah well, plenty of new and used on Ebay, BUT…
Would anyone know why it’s stuck? (Didn’t include ballbearing item in photo)
Should I just ignore the dire warning and take off the spring cover? (I could do it on the stroke of MIDNIGHT.. LOL)

John Cooper · Dec 31, 2025

Osprey TJ said:
Happy New Year Ladies and Gentlemen,
So, my passenger seat belt is ≈80% out and won’t budge in the retractor.
Please do not ask me why I’m spending the last day of the year on this…
Sprayed WD40 on all parts yesterday - partly unscrewed the DO NOT REMOVE spring cap and anointed it as well.
Looked thru search results here, and related YouTube stuff, to NO avail.
It is coldy unresponsive to all of my fiddling with it.

Ah well, plenty of new and used on Ebay, BUT…
Would anyone know why it’s stuck? (Didn’t include ballbearing item in photo)
Should I just ignore the dire warning and take off the spring cover? (I could do it on the stroke of MIDNIGHT.. LOL)

View attachment 663620

Welcome to the forum!!

I've never taken one completely apart. So I'm not much help.

macleanflood · Jan 1, 2026

I replaced mine with ones from Seatbelt Planet. Pretty disappointed.

I'm with you and see if you can fix it.

-Mac

mrblaine · Jan 1, 2026

Osprey TJ said:
Happy New Year Ladies and Gentlemen,
So, my passenger seat belt is ≈80% out and won’t budge in the retractor.
Please do not ask me why I’m spending the last day of the year on this…
Sprayed WD40 on all parts yesterday - partly unscrewed the DO NOT REMOVE spring cap and anointed it as well.
Looked thru search results here, and related YouTube stuff, to NO avail.
It is coldy unresponsive to all of my fiddling with it.

Ah well, plenty of new and used on Ebay, BUT…
Would anyone know why it’s stuck? (Didn’t include ballbearing item in photo)
Should I just ignore the dire warning and take off the spring cover? (I could do it on the stroke of MIDNIGHT.. LOL)

View attachment 663620

The ball bearing has to be in the cup pushing the lever down or the belt won't move.

KennethS · Jan 1, 2026

I disassembled mine several years ago. That Do Not Remove cover has a long spring wound up inside it - it’s a thin, flat metal band 3 or 4 feet long (from what I remember) that can uncoil like a striking snake if you are not careful, and the metal band edge can cut you. I had mine apart 2-3 times as I was rewinding the spring to get sufficient tension to retract the belt fully, and on the last time it uncoiled and launched the cover straight down into the garage floor, and it shattered. I had to buy a junkyard belt to get a replacement cover.

So if your issue is only the belt does not retract fully, you could add a wind or two to the spring. Just be careful to ensure the spring doesn’t unwind on you.

Edit:

Re-reading I see the belt is out and doesn’t retract, so not the same issue I had. Does the belt pull out any at all, or its it stuck? If stuck, might be the ratchet locking mechanism as noted above.

Osprey TJ · Jan 1, 2026

mrblaine said:
The ball bearing has to be in the cup pushing the lever down or the belt won't move.

Without using the ballbearing, then pushing the lever by hand should surely also allow the belt to move?

mrblaine · Jan 1, 2026

Osprey TJ said:
Without using the ballbearing, then pushing the lever by hand should surely also allow the belt to move?

Should but I've never tried it.

Osprey TJ · Jan 1, 2026

KennethS said:
I disassembled mine several years ago. That Do Not Remove cover has a long spring wound up inside it - it’s a thin, flat metal band 3 or 4 feet long (from what I remember) that can uncoil like a striking snake if you are not careful, and the metal band edge can cut you. I had mine apart 2-3 times as I was rewinding the spring to get sufficient tension to retract the belt fully, and on the last time it uncoiled and launched the cover straight down into the garage floor, and it shattered. I had to buy a junkyard belt to get a replacement cover.

So if your issue is only the belt does not retract fully, you could add a wind or two to the spring. Just be careful to ensure the spring doesn’t unwind on you.

Edit:

Re-reading I see the belt is out and doesn’t retract, so not the same issue I had. Does the belt pull out any at all, or its it stuck? If stuck, might be the ratchet locking mechanism as noted above.

Thanks for that info. I’ll take the spring cover off completely tomorrow to see if somehow the mechanism is jammed on that end ( since no tweaking seems to do anything on the other ‘tab end’.

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Seat belt retractor is stuck

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