Seat Belts defective 1989 Accord

In My Girlfriend's 1989 Accord, the seat belts do not tighten when
pulled under any circumstances. The door seat belt warning light is
also always flashing. So I assume that for some reason, the mechanism
in the door, where the belt reels into is some how defective. This is
the same for both driver and passenger sides.

Any ideas? Can I get these used fro the junkyard and swap them out? I
heard that seat belts have a lifetime warranty per Honda. I haven't
checked if this is true and if I can take advantage of that.

The title is "salvage" so I doubt Honda would honor such a warranty in
this case. Any suggestions welcome.

 

I've just gone through this with a lady who has a '91 Civic with the same
problem. Her warranty request was denied because the car had been in a
collision prior to her ownership.

Apparently the most common source of trouble with this unit is the B-pillar
position switch. You may wish to get one from a wreck, or try to shoot some
contact cleaner through yours, before committing to more drastic measures.