I have a 2003 coup, the drivers side lap belt re-tractor appears to be locked. It retracted the belt but now won't let go? How do I go about debugging this situation? Thanks.

 

sounds like it twisted going back in...is it fully retracted?

 

The seat belt retractor has a cinch feature that is activated by pulling the lap belt all the way out to the point the belt stops. This used to hold people in the seat during high g maneuvers. Once the belt retracts all the way into the retractor the cinch feature is released.

There was a recall on the early C5s due to the issue you are having. Sometimes the belt would pull sideways into the retractor and not seat all the way in thus not releasing the cinch feature. The recall did nothing but add a small plastic insert in the entrance to the retractor that kept the belt straight as it was pulled in. An 03 should have had that insert installed at the factory. My 97 that was delivered in May of 97 required the recall but the 03Z I purchased 6 years later didn't need it. If you aren't the original owner of the car you can't be sure that somebody before you didn't screw things up by using the wrong belt as a replacement.

The first thing to do is to try and shove the belt into the retractor to get it in far enough to release the cinch. There may be enough slack inside the retractor to make this possible. If that doesn't work very carefully remove the door sill panel (careful it has several push pins that go into holes in the frame which can be hard to pull out and you end up with a cracked plastic door sill), once the sill is off loosen the B pillar lower cover so you can get a wrench on the bolt holding the retractor in place. You will need either a Torx 50 or 55 bit (can't remember which) to remove the retractor. Once you have it loose see if you can get it release.

Bill

 

Is there any 'play' in the belt? If it will move a small amount, you should be able to pull it out in 1/8" or so steps. If the belt is twisted, that may be one of your only options. The other being to remove the belt retractors from the car. The plastic belt guides are cheesy clip-on units that get loose over time, so it could be binding the belt.

 

There is no play in the belt, its completely retracted. I'm pretty sure its not folded over on itself also, I've never had that problem.

Whats the safest way to remove the sill?

Where are the push pins that I need to be careful not to break, one in each corner?

 

One other thing you might try. The seat belt cinch feature is basically the same thing as the child seat belt lock used in the passenger and rear seats of other vehicles. I had a rear belt in my Saturn lock up like yours did and when I took it to the dealership the mechanic walked out to the car and gave the belt a huge yank and it came loose. Might be worth a try Vs tearing things apart.

I haven't been into one of these in almost 10 years so I am going from memory so some things may be mixed with my C6 that I also took apart. The door sill has 3 spring like clips under it that are melted/glued to the bottom of the plastic. One in the front one in the middle and one that goes down through the B pillar cover into the frame. The ones I had the most trouble with were the ones going through the B pillar piece. They are near the edge of the door sill and when you pull up on the sill with a tool the clip is so tightly stuck in the frame it pulls down the center of the sill and the sill cracks all the way around the spot where the clip is melted/glued to the sill. One thing to remember is when reinstalling the sill the front of the sill has to go under the plastic trim coming down the A pillar, not the other way around.

With the sill off then you can work to pry lower part of the B pillar cover to make sure you have access to the retractor. Once you get that cover so you can swing it out of the way use the Torx bolts to remove the retractor. Hopefully, that will let you work on it and free it up. If not then you will have to take out the belt. That means going to the inner quarter panel where the shoulder belt mounting point is located and pry the plastic cover that covers the Torx bolt open and remove the bolt.

Here are two diagrams showing how the interior panels fit together:






Once you get the retractor unbolted tilt it slowly to see if the belt releases.

Then check that the seat belt webbing can be pulled from the retractor at an inclination of 15 degrees or less and cannot be pulled from the retractor at an inclination of 45 degrees or more.



As for the earlier C5 seat belt recall I am attaching a PDF document that documents installation of the part that prevented the belt from jamming. Owners of cars after MY 2000 may not know what the part numbered 4 in Figure 2 is supposed to do and removed it if it came loose (the one on my 03 did come loose but I reinstalled it) others may not have bothered. If that part is missing on your belt it could have easily twisted just before the belt bottomed out in the retractor. That would keep it from releasing the cinch mode. The twist (which may be barely noticeable) isn't preventing the belt from coming out, the locking mechanism is keeping the belt from coming out. That is why you may need to work the belt further into the retractor so the locking mechanism can be released.

Bill

 

The sill panels have four metal clips, one at the front, and three along the lower. If you start at the back, near the retractor, and lift straight up the trim comes up and then back. The retractor cover is more complicated, with two metal clips on plastic stalks welded to the back of the cover. Kind of fragile. I pulled the bottoms out, then wriggled the tops out and from under the halo trim. Three #47 Torx bolts -- Harbor Freight has them in one or two of their sets.

 

I had this problem after GM inserted their recall part. As mentioned above it should begin to release if you pull extremely hard. Grip tightly and use a strong jerking' motion. The belt should release about an inch on each pull. If upon reoccurrence you will need to go in and see why its locking up. On mine the locking arm on GM's plastic guide was broken. I removed the guide and no more problems.