Seat Belts Crapping Out

[txdave13]

As we're all aware, the auto seatbelts suck. My driver's side belt works intermittantly, at best. Is there a switch that I can check or replace? I'd love to get the manual belts, but this seems like a quicker and easier fix for now.

[D323]

has your car been to the dealer? The dealer sent out a recall and was supposed to "fix" the seatbelts problem. Talk to your local dealer and see if they will fix it for free, just tell them you lost the recall notice they sent to you.

If they dont, then syou can either ask some of our candian friends to get the manual ones for you, or you can try pulling some off of some j/y's for not too much.

I know of a few good j/y's in the dallas area if interested.

[txdave13]

Thanks for the info, I'll check it out with the dealer.

Yeah, I've been looking for a good j/y. I've got a '94 LX with 166K on it. It runs great, looks great, but just needs a few small items.

[D323]

there is 1 of off 121 in lewisville (near 544 and 121, called North Texas Auto Recyclers) I go to all the time. really nice and the d00d can get OEM parts for not too much if needed.

most of the time I go down loop 12 to jefferson. Make a right on jefferson and there are about 10 different yards. The best one to hit is All Import ( I think) the guy there is named joe and has really good deals. He even got 6-7 protege's when he found out I needed some parts. Go right on jefferson and keep going until you pass the bridge. then make a U-turn at the first left. His shop is like the last one on the right. Really nice there.

I plan on being out at the Import meet over off of Hebron and 35 tonite. You should come, there are only 2-3 1st gens, and alot of 3rd gens.

[charles]

I think the switch is actually in the door latch somewhere. It is *not* the door pin that activates the dome light. Believe it or not, the system is kind of complicated and I don't really understand the diagrams. :p:

[Wombat]

If I remember correctly the 94 did not fall under the door latch switch recall. You can put in your VIN at Mazda's web site to find out for sure.

Do yourself and everybody else with automatic seatbelts a favor and file a complaint at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/
There's still a chance that the government will recall them and force the dealers to replace all of them for free because it's obviously a safety problem when they don't work. They already got a full recall for the 90-94 323s so they get replaced with a better type that lasts much longer and it should extend to the Protegé but the dealers don't want to do it. When you file a complaint make sure that you put in the date that you first had any sort of trouble with the seatbelts, it needs to be within eight years of when the car was new otherwise the government figures you're responsible for it. Ford is trying hard to squirm out of taking care of those on Escorts and Protegés.

I got the standard seatbelts from Canada, but I know that's not a convenient option for most people on this forum so it sure would be nice to get a free replacement of the passive ones.

Has anyone ever tried the seatbelts from a late 80's 323 in a 1st gen? I've noticed them at wrecking yards and they look the same but I've never had time to take one out and carry it over to a Protegé.

Does anybody know who the government idiot was that made companies use passive seatbelts for a while?

[lscrx]

I replaced my shoulder belt reels with ones from a junkyard, they work better... but not perfect. The problem with getting seatbelts from a junkyard is that if the car has been wrecked the seatbelts are probably no good. During a wreck the seatbelts are designed to stretch and lessen the impact, they don't regain their shape afterwards though.

[txdave13]

Well, the complaint with the NHTSA is filed. I also checked the Mazda website and it said that there were not any recalls for my car.

I'll check my repair manual to see if I can track down the culprit on my current belts, but if not I'll likely be pleading with some of our Northerly neighbors to give me a hand. We'll see.