ZDOG2KXX

I called into a Honda dealership and they told that the belts are "not covered for the life of the car."

holmesnmanny

And it sounds like you're gonna believe him. He probably didnt think it was gonna be that easy.

Kunkel_17

I Have had the same problem ( driver's side). This thread helped me a lot. Thanks!!

mattButeo

My girlfriend's 91 Accord has a slightly different seat belt issue, but the answer I got from Honda seems pertinent.

Her front seat belts both do not tighten across the chest anymore, or catch you in case of an accident. Looks like the retraction spring mechanism is gunked up or something.

Our Honda dealer was - after the second try - accepting it as an issue covered under warranty, but they cannot find the part anymore anywhere. I looked at a few used car parts sites with the same results.

I guess this is how Honda is getting around the life-time warranty.

Out of curiosity, can you. i.e. some body shop, modify the car to use regular seat belts instead?

TheMuffinMan

iTrader: (1)

Serious question, do you expect a car manufacturer to keep and stock parts for a 25 year old car?

I don't think they're trying to get around the warranty, just they don't have the parts. I'd give Honda America a call and see what they can do.

mattButeo

Ok, fair enough. But then answer me this: what does life-time warranty mean?

We'll try the Honda route. Since these cars last so damn long I guess we might not be the first with this issue.

TheMuffinMan

iTrader: (1)

So, it's not a lifetime warranty in the sense it's 100 years long. It's for the usable lifetime of the vehicle. I don't believe there to be a solid "30 year limit" on the warranty and it's vague/fuzzy for a reason.

Obviously within the vehicle warranty/lifespan they're required to. So a vehicle with a 3 year warranty and was sold from 90-93 would safely mean that a 1990 vehicle would have parts available for it to 1996 (three years after 93). Given people are still buying NOS (new old stock) it's probably a safe bet to say most parts are ~10 years or more.

Once you start getting to 25 years or more, you're starting to creep to the usable lifetime limit (IMO)

aamccarty

If you're in the same position as I am, you'll find that the Dealerships aren't willing to even take a look at the car anymore for issues like this. I'm still working out how to fix this permanently, but for now I've manually retracted the shoulder belt and have the fuse out (radio/clock doesn't work but I have a seat belt.)

I found a great video tutorial on troubleshooting the problem. The guy is kind of a goober, and there's a part of the video where he's got two voice tracks going simultaneously, but the content seems solid!

steven foust

Automatic seatbelts are only covered for 10 years been through it a couple of times
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McDesign

Just posted this in the YouTube comments - any thoughts, anyone?

Great vid - thanks! I've a different issue - the solenoid in the retract mechanism stays energized - always - even with the car off; key out. Slow drain will kill the battery over a week or so. Motor and seatbelt function and all works fine. Unplugging the four-pin retractor plug (to/from solenoid and to/from solenoid position check microswitch), and leaving the lap belt buckle wiring engaged, gets me a fast beep and seatbelt light. Anyone got ideas? I may just put a rocker switch to manually de-energize the solenoid when leaving the car. Car's pretty perfect though; '91 Accord with 318K - needs its third paint job pretty soon.