Location of seatbelt sensor

I have the following problem: My right passenger side seatbelt won't retract
most of the time. My local dealer shop has told me the problem is with the
sensor. But it's the first time I've been to this particular shop, and the
mechanic's manner didn't inspire confidence. He didn't appear totally
convinced himself this was the problem, though he recommended I order a new
replacement sensor.

My questions:

(1) I've been quoted $400 parts and labor. Is that a fair price?

(2) Where is the sensor located? I have a friend who's an electronics whiz
whom I could ask to look at it. I've bought and looked through the Haynes
guide, but it's a bit lacking in this level of detail.

(3) From my googling, this doesn't seem to be a common problem. Is there
something else I could suggest might be a problem, so I don't appear to be
the total rube that I am?

Thanks!

Nina Jensen
'91 Accord 4-door LX

 

Check the warranty for your car. This may be covered.

My 1991 Civic had driver's seatbelt retraction problems. Two years ago the
dealer repaired it at no cost. I checked the warranty and seatbelts were indeed
covered for the life of the car.

Your dealer may be mistaken.

 

Please don't pay, or at least please don't pay that much! If you can, I
(also) recommend asking the dealer to consider the lifetime warranty on the
safety restraint stuff. You have the warranty, and they should help you
out. If you don't have an owner's manual and if you want, I will email you
a scan of the appropriate page of mine.

If you don't want to do that, or if your local dealers refuse to help and
you don't want to get Honda of America involved to convince them otherwise,
then this group can solve your problem.

In that vein, here are some questions...
When you say retract, I'm assuming you're referring to the automatic
shoulder belt. If it's the lap belt, then that's a separate discussion
altogether!

How (exactly) does it behave? It's the passenger side, so it should stay in
the locked position all the time, except when the passenger door is opened
(regardless of key position). It should return to the locked position if
the door is closed and the ignition is turned on.

---

Finally a quick stab in the dark. Assuming you are talking about the
shoulder belt, and assuming the problem is that when the ignition is on and
the passenger door is closed the belt doesn't always move to the rear and
lock...
I would guess that the switch which detects that the passenger door is
closed has failed. Don't confuse this with the switch mounted on the body
at the door jamb, that one does everything else: dome light, door ajar
light on the cluster etc. The switch you want is actually part of the door
latch assembly (inside the door).
Try this: since it's intermittent, with the door open (and the ignition ON)
use a screw driver or a wooden dowel to close the door latch (if you look
at how the latch engages with the catch on the jamb, you'll be able to
figure out how to "trick" the latch in to latching on something else (aka
your screw driver). Engage the latch and then pop it open again with the
handle a few times. If the belt moves back and engages, see if you can get
it to move forward again by jiggling the latch mechanism.

Good luck,
-Arthur