Seat belt retractor r/r w107 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

meltedpanda · #1 02-01-2008, 10:49 AM

I have several sets of seat belts attached to retractors for w107 models. the ones I have in the car have the best belts, but bad retractors. The ones I have out of the car have bad belts and ggod retractors. Can the belts be swapped. I see no way to dissasemble the retractors without ruining them. I am concerned the spring will go wacko if I take them apart. It seems that I should be able to slide the belt into the slot on the reel , but I cannot figure out how to do it.
Any one been there done that????

donbryce · #2 02-01-2008, 05:55 PM

Yes, I had to flip the belt over on the driver side of my 560SL, no idea how it happened, but somehow the belt's male buckle was the wrong way round and it was really annoying to have a twist in the part coming out of the shoulder-height socket....
Anyway, take off the paneling and expose the retractor at the floor. Pull the belt all the way out until you can see the slot where it is attached to the cylinder. As I recall, I rigged up vice grip pliers (and a screwdriver wedge, I think) to hold the spring loaded cylinder stable, with the slot facing up so it was easy to work on.
You need a thin screwdriver to work the metal plate out of the slot, which is what retains the belt on the cylinder. Once this is out of the slot, you can flip the belt over, or put in a different belt with the same size plate.
Sorry I can't remember the details of how I clamped the cylinder while working on it, but you'll figure it out I'm sure.

meltedpanda · #3 02-01-2008, 07:25 PM

thanks, I will give it a whirl,a s they say nothing ventured nothing gained

meltedpanda · #4 02-05-2008, 02:26 PM

do these come apart, I cannot see a way to slide out belt as suggested, no room to slide
the ends look riveted , but then again they may be some kind of oblong head dcrew, anyone know for sure?

donbryce · #5 02-06-2008, 06:53 PM

OK, let's try again. I have an old MB seatbelt unit that I hope is similar to yours. Pull the belt all the way out to expose the very end, which is looped around the spindle, in the slot on the upper side in pic1, around the spindle, and out the lower slot. The picture shows the vice grips holding the spring-loaded spindle (actually the rachet disk, one on each side).
If off the car, you might have to hold the bar away from the rachet to be able to pull the belt out, like on a come-along.
Take your screwdriver and push in on the end of the belt in the lower slot and pry the belt out of the slot. As shown in pic2, the belt is sewn into a loop with the steel rod inserted in the loop to keep it in place. It's very tight in the slot because of the double thickness of the sewn loop.
To remove, take the rod out, and work the belt out of the spindle slots. Insert the new belt into the slot, work it out of the other slot, reinsert the rod and pull the sewn end and rod snuglt into the spindle slot.
Hope this helps.

meltedpanda · #6 02-06-2008, 10:38 PM

well then , thanks so much, inspired I went out to attack my seat belt, but i think they are not the same

Mine has a single insert into the slot , I cannot get a screwdriver in it . yours looks like it has a loop that then is held in the slot by that metal piece. Pictures attached of belt insertion point from both sides and side shot of unit . Can it be dismantaled?

donbryce · #7 02-07-2008, 10:01 AM

Rats! You have a different unit. From the pictures, it doesn't look like the sides of the 'reel' (part clamped to the casing) are removable from the center part, the 'spindle', where the slot/belt are. That would suggest that the attaching method is inside the core of the spindle/reel, accessible only when the side cover(s) is removed.

So, if taking those cover(s) off will solve the mysery, it would mean that the belt was inserted and fastened during production before the plastic side pieces were attached, and they look like rivets not screws.

That sounds unlikely to me. I'd think that they would manufacture the assembly first, then insert and fasten the belt later, for example, to have a choice of colors or length for different models.

In pic1, I see what looks like a small staple or rivet. Any chance this is what holds the belt in the slot?

Also, in pic 2, I see a center part on the plastic housing that appears like it is separate from the housing - can it be pried out to access the center of the spindle maybe?

I'll look and see if I can find a unit like yours, I may have one. You might have to grind off those rivets and sacrifice one unit to solve this....

Tims450SL · #8 02-07-2008, 10:13 AM

Contact Mike at Overseas Parts 954.561-9300 if anyone has the answer or the solution it is him. Call is to FTLAUD Florida- tell him Tim told you to call...I call him all the time lol

meltedpanda · #9 02-07-2008, 10:59 AM

MB love - hate - love LOL , now I know why you say this, I am with you , there has got to be a way short of buying new!

donbryce · #10 02-07-2008, 03:01 PM

I found a unit exactly like you have. There are 2 slots, opposite one another on the spindle, and one of them is marked by an arrow stamped into the plastic housing. See picture. That is the slot you insert the screwdriver into, as I explained above.
I was surprised to discover this 2nd slot, must be covered by the end of the belt when you pull it out, or the black plastic cover slides around...anyway, you can put away the grinder, no need to disassemble.
...and the arrow is visible in your 3rd picture in your original post.

meltedpanda · #11 02-07-2008, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by donbryce

I found a unit exactly like you have. There are 2 slots, opposite one another on the spindle, and one of them is marked by an arrow stamped into the plastic housing. See picture. That is the slot you insert the screwdriver into, as I explained above.
I was surprised to discover this 2nd slot, must be covered by the end of the belt when you pull it out, or the black plastic cover slides around...anyway, you can put away the grinder, no need to disassemble.
...and the arrow is visible in your 3rd picture in your original post.

Drum roll

You da man

:

----thanks!

meltedpanda · #12 02-15-2008, 03:52 PM

I am feeling like a big time idiot, I have pushed and pryed by the arrow and all I got was a broken screwdriver. I dont see a second slot, does the black plastic get peeled away.Can I send them to you.............................?

meltedpanda · #13 02-15-2008, 03:54 PM

i am securing the retractor using vice grips that encompase the black sleeve, perhaps that is where I am screwing up

donbryce · #14 02-15-2008, 11:06 PM

It looks like my second unit isn't the same as the one you have either. It's made by Repa, Mercedes part number 114 860 1485. I tried clamping the belt to the frame to secure the wind-up spring, so the plastic sleeve is not clamped. On mine, the sleeve can be moved a very little bit.

The infamous slot with the loop and rod in it are covered by part of this plastic, and the plastic will get broken to remove the loop/rod with the screwdriver, unless you take care to slide the plastic sleeve around a bit to expose the slot.

I'm not sure if the pictures in your original post show the same slot where the belt goes into the center cylinder. I thought they did, and assumed that there was another slot directly opposite. Maybe yours is different... but how is the belt on yours held in the cylinder? On both of mine, the loop and rod is the same, there are 2 slots, and only the ratchet/cylinder design are different.

If I were you, at this point I'd take the worst one of the retractors, one with a good belt, and drill/grind out the rivets holding the side covers on, and completely disassemble it to figure out how it works....and post back please so I can get some sleep LOL