I just removed the rear seat belts from my 1999 2-door LS... and I was going to check the belts before I put them into freezer bags, and they won't pull out of the retractor! The damn thing locks up even if you pull really slow on the belts. Am I to assume these are forever fucked, or is there some trick to getting them to release?

 

They lock with an internal pendulum, so if it's pitched from its intended mounting position, they will not extend. Like when you're braking and the car pitches forward. Try holding them at the same angle that they were mounted and slowly pull. That should do it.

 

According to the service manual, it can tilt 15 degrees before the pendulum locks the retractor. I've tried holding it in the same manner in which it was mounted, and pulled slow with no result. Suppose there's any other way to get it to release?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kchungb17a &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">They lock with an internal pendulum, so if it's pitched from its intended mounting position, they will not extend. Like when you're braking and the car pitches forward. Try holding them at the same angle that they were mounted and slowly pull. That should do it. </TD></TR></TABLE>

that's the only way.

 

Hmmm, that's weird dude. I guess the sure fire way to check is mount them back in the car (you've stripped the interior, I'm guessing) and see if they extend. But I have been able to extend the belt on units I've removed before... *shrug*

 

The interiour is stripped, yeah. I'm replacing my tan one with black... and I can't really sell the tan belts if I can't get em to work.

I'm going to go weather the cold, and bolt them back in the car to see if that does anything.

 

You're a brave man... a SoCal boy like me can't hang in that harsh environment. I don't know how much you might be able to sell them for. Honda has a lifetime warranty on seat belts so long as the car has a clean title, but maybe someone wants to change their interior from black to tan?!?!?!?

 

Actually, that worked... but I couldn't replicate that angle. Once it went back in the car though, the belt works like a damn charm. Thanks, guys. I appreciate it, and you saved me a HUGE headache.

 

SWEET!