R34 GTT - Seatbelt retractor - Stuck

[jrm]

Hey guys,

After extensive sound-deadening work in the car floor, I've re-installed the carpet and now re-installing the center console, seats and seatbelts into car - and found that the seatbelt retractor on the passenger side seems to have gotten stuck and won't let me pull the belt out any further.  I didn't have this issue on the drivers side, but I didn't have to remove as much stuff around the retractor there.

The car is an R34 GTT Sedan.  Has anyone run into this before?  I'm wondering if maybe I've let it retract too much, and I've hit a safety mechanism?

Is there a trick to loosen up a cam or something inside to get it to work again?

I notice there's a 4-pin plug on the retractor - maybe something needs to happen there to activate it?

Any clues or help would be appreciated. 

[GTSBoy]

You probably tipped it upside down and/or gave it a good bang and it's jammed.  Take it back out and try to repeat or reverse the accidental step you performed last time.

[jrm]

All I did was unbolt it and put it to the side.

If I let it - it will wind more belt in - more belt will not come out, suggesting that there's something preventing it - perhaps a safety mechanism?  Oddly enough, the ones I see on eBay are all wound up like that, so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.  The only thing I can think is it needs to be plugged back in, and the car turned on so it can reset the pre-tensioner stuff inside it.

Either way, there isn't really anything to repeat or reverse, and with it wound up as far as it is, I can't even bolt it back in (or plug it back in, without removing the entire belt) - because there's no room left.

Anyway, if anyone has any ideas...

[GTSBoy]

The normal mechanism inside is a one way clutch type thing.  If you pull on the belt hard, the force of the pull is enough to make the clutch lock (like a peg being jammed in a tooth on a sprocket) and that is your safety mechanism.  It stops the belt being pulled out any further.  Once they unlock they usually allow belt to move both ways.  You may well have a little piece of something broken floating around in there, hence why I suggested turning it upside down or banging it again.

The pre-tensioner is pyro-technic.  They are single use.  If it has fired then a) you should have noticed it and b) it would be a throwaway anyway.  If you think you might need to plug it back in (and I can't imagine why, unless there is an electronic lock also) then all you have to do is get 3 or 4 lengths of wire to make a bodgy extension to get the 2 sets of pins in the 2 loom plugs to connect.  Some alligator clips or whatever it takes to make the connections.

[jrm]

So I spent this evening mucking with it - and I eventually got it to let me pull the belt out.

For anyone reading this or having the problem in the future - it basically requires you to put the belt into a completely 100% vertical position, the right way up, with no side to side angle - and then it eventually - with many false-starts and stop-starting - let me pull the belt out enough that I could remount it back into the spot in the car - and from then on it was working as usual.

Thanks for all your help GTSBoy - it's appreciated.  Hopefully this will help someone in future running into this.

[xtermin8or]

Thank you so much , got mine un stuck thanks to you ! Happy new year !