My friends 85 California 300TD seems to be having seat belt problems.The belts will not pull out at various times... they are intermittent.
The part of the belt that goes down n the B pillar and covered by a plastic shroud is the area in question.
What is the best method for freeing up the belts and what is that tubular canister thing that attaches to the belt and has a electrical connection to it.
It has some sort of danger explosive sign on it?

I did a short search but found zippo...

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81' 240d 4 spd 140k on the clock

Part of SRS that's a step up from the older RS is seatbelt pretensioners. Under severe deceleration such as on impact, an explosive charge will reel in the slack and lock the seatbelts. Once this happens, the seatbelt assembly has to be replaced.

My guess is the pendulum mechanism that temporarily locks the belts around turns or while decelerating is sticking and temporarily locking the belts. This might also occur when the car is on an incline.

Sixto
87 300D

The TD must be an 85? My 85 300 has the same set up, think from what I have read 85 was the first year.

when we first bought the car the seat belt either would not pull out, or would stay out, and not rewind, or 1/2 way in between.
So bought a new one from the dealer.

rather pricy, but Iam not cutting corners on a seat belt. Seems like it was $200.00 or so. that was about 10 yrs back.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Yup, its your seatbelt pretensioner. Another safety first, from Mercedes.

-Jason

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1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.