Civic Seatbelt Question

I have heard other people talk of this, so I hope some one out there
knows the answer.

The passenger seat belt in my 2000 Honda Civic DX is unlike the driver
side seat belt. The driver side belt will extend and retract as the
driver moves about, and only locks up if you try to extend it quickly
(implying a collision). The passenger side belt, on the other hand,
will only retract, and retract, and retract, strangling the passenger.
I of course am always in the drivers seat, so I don't get to
experience the problem first hand.

Anyway, are there any fixes out there? I called a Honda dealership
and asked about ordering a belt like the one on the driver's side,
and I was told that it is a "controlled item".

 

Hey,

I believe every car and I know Honda for sure has a LIFETIME WARRANTY on
Seatbelts. Look at any warranty info for any honda vehicle.

Also search on Google, I found this link when I did a search:
http://auto.consumerguide.com/Auto/Used/reviews/full/index.cfm/id/2172/act/usedcarreviewreliability/

That link and the webpage it takes you to mentions that " Seatbelts may
not retract or may retract slowly. Also, the button that keeps the
seatbelt tongue from sliding down breaks. The belts should be serviced
under the Honda Lifetime Seat Belt Limited Warranty".

If I were you, I'd take it to the nearest dealership and get that looked
at ASAP!

Nope that helps a bit...

AH

 

Hey,

I believe every car and I know Honda for sure has a LIFETIME WARRANTY on
Seatbelts. Look at any warranty info for any honda vehicle.

Also search on Google, I found this link when I did a search:
http://auto.consumerguide.com/Auto/Used/reviews/full/index.cfm/id/2172/act/usedcarreviewreliability/

That link and the webpage it takes you to mentions that " Seatbelts may
not retract or may retract slowly. Also, the button that keeps the
seatbelt tongue from sliding down breaks. The belts should be serviced
under the Honda Lifetime Seat Belt Limited Warranty".

If I were you, I'd take it to the nearest dealership and get that looked
at ASAP!

Nope that helps a bit...

AH

 

This is specific to Honda. There is no legal requirement for seat belts to
carry any sort of warranty outside of the kind normally offered on any
other part of the car.

 

Thanks Tegger

 

It's not broken. I will try to describe the problem one more
time:

The driver side belt works differently from the passenger side
belt. The driver side belt will retract to stay snug, but will
also extend if you lean forward. If you try to pull the belt
out quickly (as would happen in a collision) it stops you.

The passenger side belt is of a cheaper design. It retracts to
stay snug, but the only way to get it to extend again is to
unbuckle it, let it retract all the way, then pull it out again
as if you were getting into the car all over again. While you
are wearing it, it will retract but not extend. Over time, the
belt becomes snugger and snugger because of this one-way action.
This is only a problem for overweight passengers, so no one feels
any obligation to improve upon it.

The belt retracts just fine. It retracts and retracts and becomes
uncomfortable. What it won't do is *extend* while someone is
wearing it; it never did, even when the car was new, and was never
meant to as far as I can tell.

The people who have suffered my passenger side seatbelt have
encountered this problem in other cars, so it is not just a
Honda Civic thing. What I am looking for is an after-market
seatbelt that doesn't have this problem.

 

I have heard of seat belts that do this only if they are pulled out
all the way before being buckled, in order to provide a tight fit
for child seats (although child seats should not be in the front seat
with an air bag). I haven't noticed such a thing normally occurring
with any front passenger seat belt in any recent car (including
1996-2000 Honda Civics), but I don't pull the seat belt out all the
way before buckling it.

You may want to check the owner's manual to see what the intended
behavior of the seat belt is (and whether pulling it out all the
way before buckling it can trigger the one-way mode). If the seat
belt is not acting as the owner's manual says it should, have it
replaced under the lifetime seat belt warranty (assuming you are in
a place where that is offered by Honda).

 

Thank you. As I mentioned, only large people seem to have a problem
with this seatbelt, and that could well be explained by them pulling
the belt all the way out before buckling it. It would be nice to
get a belt that doesn't have this "feature", but it would probably
be illegal to sell one. :-( It ought to be possible to verify
with a moment's experimentation whether the belt is behaving as you
describe.

 

And just for clarification, the lifetime warranty that others mentioned
covers parts AND labor. You shouldn't pay a dime.