Does anyone know if there is a way to service the rear seat, drivers side intertia reel unit ?

The seatbelt will not rewind fully into the reel.

I have tried fully pulling it out and then carefully letting it rewind, but nothing seems to work.

The belt appears to be in good condition and I am not aware of any incident where pre-tensioners (if they exist on this model) have fired.

Any comments re removal and replacement would also be appreciated.

Mike

Not much you can do for them other than making sure the belt is not twisted. I don't remember what needs to be removed to replace the belt assembly.

Viewing seatbelt reel
 

To be able to actually see the reel, all you need to do is to remove the rear seat. To do this, first remove the lower cushion by pushing in the two orange levers at the bottom front of the cushion, then lift the front of the cushion and remove the cushion from the car. Next, remove the 3 screws that hold the seatback in place. One is dead-center, the other 2 are out at the sides. With those screws removed, lift straight up on the cushion and unhook it from the chassis...it lifts out pretty easily. That done, just pull back the wool liner behind the seatback cushion and there's your reel. If you need to replace it at that point, it'll be a piece of cake. Good luck.

PS There are no ETRs on the rear belts of a W124

Thank you both for the advice, I am trying to locate a used one as we speak, if I am going to take it apart I may as well change it as I am pretty well convinced its "had it".

Mike

I doubt the reel's shot...have a look at it first and see if either the belt's twisted or the wool insulation is interfering with the belt take-up.

OK Michael thanks, I will hold off spending the money until I've checked it

Mike

On the 400E that I bought had a broken rear window and pieces of glass were in the seat belt mechanism. Because of the mounting position of the take-up reel, the pieces will not fall out. I had to remove the units and pull the belts all the way out so that the debris would fall out. With the debris in there, the reel gets 'lumpy' and works improperly.
This also may be your problem...debris.

TobiasMB
4 MBs

Rear Seatbelts
 

OK, I finally got the time to take the seats out to inspect the reels.

They seem OK with good tension. I think the problem lies in the door pillars, where the belts go through. The last 18 inches or so of belt show higher friction from the top to the bottom, when holding the belt in both places and manually feeling it as it goes back and forth.

I managed to get the belt in by inching it in and out of the reel quickly until it was all in.

Its a pain but do-able. I assume that inside of the pillar there is some insulation bunching up the more the belt reels in.

I do not like the idea of going inside myself without guidance from someone who has done this before....any takers ?


If not, at least I know the belts do work now, which is better than I was before.

Thanks guys, especially Michael for the perfect instructions.

Mike
1990 124, 300E 2.6 (daughters car)
1999 ML430
2000 Lexus RX300 (Wifes Car)