Seat belts won't retract...had about enough.
 

Does anyone have experience with rebuilding/replacing the front seatbelt reels on a 1983 300D? Mine were always slow to retract, but now it seems like they've nearly stopped working entirely, and it's starting to irritate the snot outta me to have to deal with the stupid belt flapping around every single time I exit the car. This can't be an uncommon wear item, surely, but if there's a DIY for repairing the retractors anywhere on the site, I didn't see it. I'd be obliged if someone could point me at one.

And if they do have a spring or something that can be replaced, is there any safety reason not to do it? No airbag, no antilock brakes, I'd sure like the seatbelts to work right if I needed them, or, well... :grim:

Some time back I swapped a right front seat on the '83 for a much better one from an '85 parts car. Only one problem, the belt left in the 'B' pillar of the '83 would not mate with the socket part attached to the seat from the '85. Long story made short, had to move all of that belt apparatus in the 'B' pillar over as well. This all happened long before I read threads on this forum indicating that the '84 and '85 belts have explosive retractors in the 'B' pillar portion. In hindsight, should probably have disconnected the battery while doing the swap. Also, as you have noted, this is a safety item, so just any parts car parts should not be reused !!

Try cleaning the belt guide and the belt itself.

Over time, the belt picks up gunk and grime and transfers it to the little bar in the belt guide.

Pull the belt out to full extension, and using only gentle soap and water, clean the belt and leave it pulled to full extension until it is completely dry.

Clean the guide using q-tips and alcohol.

See if that helps.

On my 1991...
 

On my 1991 300d, my mechanic opened the reel (be careful if you mess around in there, I hear there's a gunpowder thing in there in case of a crash), and wound it tighter. He just did it by eye, and though it helped a lot, it turns out it wasn't enough. But you might want to try that. Scope out some YouTube videos first. If you open it up, it's just coiled metal that can pop out and then it won't recoil at all!

I think the explosive belts had funky antennas sticking out of them and in any case were not OE on the 1983. But they could have been installed since.

Depending on where you live, the jy may be your best bet.

Probably 15 years ago the belt in the 85 got to where it wouldn`t come out, and wouldn`t go back in or somewhere in between, then would work etc... got fed up with it and just bought a new one from the dealer. They are a safety item, and this is one thing iam not cutting corners on or trying to DIY hack.


I do remove the front belts once in a while, pull them all the way out and soak them in a bucket of hot water and soap to clean them. they do get pretty grimy from sweaty hands, hand lotion etc... ya I rinse them etc....

I used a cloths pin to keep them from retracting.

When I get a new to me car, I do all the belts and scrub up the grimy steering wheel.


Charlie

I would have to google the thread....by the pyro charge thingy was on all models after the year 1979....chances are your car was in a wreak....it went off and was never replaced....go grab a set from a pre 80s car but you will also need to change the receiver/latch too..

Thanks for the input, everyone. Junkyard parts aren't an option for me 'cause there aren't any w123s in the junkyards hereabouts. I guess I'll look at the YouTube stuff and decide what I want to do from there. Hope these aren't as expensive new as I suspect they are, because since they are a safety item my first inclination is to buy a new one.

The ones that go boom are only in cars with air bags, AFAIK. My 1983 300SD does not have that style but the 1990 parts car did. I imagine you could swap the explosive one into the same chassis model but you won't be hooking up the SRS wires.

Seems like newer cars just want to explode if you bump something in traffic. I don't feel like having my face smashed in by and explosive bag because someone rolled into my car on a hill start.

My note above was not to imply that the explosive charge retractors were orig equip on '83 123's. In fact they were NOT, and they were not factory installed until sometime in '84 or '85. The '85 parts car that had the 'go boom' style belts for sure did NOT have air bags. Also, all prior belt latches are, at the very least, different from these '84 - '85 belts and will not connect together.

And YES these items are safety equipment, so be careful about what parts are reused, and how they are even cleaned.

I cleaned the visible lint and dirt out of mine, and then lubed with powdered graphite.
That was three years ago and I haven't had a problem since.

Commonly the belt web twists as it retracts inside of the B pillar. After several twists the belt binds and does not retract easily. In this case the fix is easy, just open the B pillar cover and untwist the belt.

I believe the latch change occurred sometime in mid to late 1983 production cars. I have two 1983 300SDs and the early one has the Repa buckles and the later 300SD has the RS buckles. The later one may have the exploders but I have not opened the B pillar to look. I don't see any other SRS systems, though.

I believe my late 83 240D had RS buckles.

Hey Greazzer? what kind of buckles are in that car?

The car did not have pyros on the seat belts from what I recall.

My late 84SD had front belts with antenna. The buckle fit an early 84SD without the antenna.