Renault seat belt jammed - a good dealer for repair?

Auscast

A little while after buying our 2nd hand Renault Clio 2000, the rear seat belt jammed in the 'completely out' position. After having a look this morning, the belt's lock is jammed as well, meaning I cannot plug it in.
The wife tells me that some friend's kids were in the back seat the day it happened, so perhaps they pulled on it too hard?

My question is, I assume I have to get a dealer to either release it or replace it. Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced and honest Renault dealer that I can take the car to? There'll be a baby seat going on that side once it's fixed.

Anan1

They can usually be freed with a couple of good sharp tugs on the belt. Re the bit where you plug the belt in, are you sure the kids didn't jam something in there?

slimjimmc

Seat belts sometimes get stuck if the belt got twisted and was someone kept pulling it.

However if the inertial reel is jammed then the safest thing to do is replace it, same with the lock.

You don't need to go to a dealer, they're easy to do and any mechanic will be able to do it in about an hour. You might get one second hand but you'd want to be 100% sure it wasn't used in a crash.

Auscast

Sharp tugs proved no good. I even managed to get behind the panel to the reel. There were no twists. And there is nothing jammed into the seat belt - it's locked like the plug is in it.

Anyone recommend a good mechanic that specialises in Renaults?

slimjimmc

Auscast wrote: »

Sharp tugs proved no good. I even managed to get behind the panel to the reel. There were no twists. And there is nothing jammed into the seat belt - it's locked like the plug is in it.

Anyone recommend a good mechanic that specialises in Renaults?

You don't need to specialise in Renaults for this, any mechanic is more than qualified to sort this out for you.

You might let people know where you are so that folks here can recommend someone.

Anan1

Auscast wrote: »

Sharp tugs proved no good. I even managed to get behind the panel to the reel. There were no twists. And there is nothing jammed into the seat belt - it's locked like the plug is in it.

If you can get at the reel itself, the end of a wooden spoon (or something similar)against it and a tap of a hammer against the other end might do the trick. I had the same thing with a Mercedes years ago, a big pothole ended up fixing it.

Unless - and this would be bad news - the seatbelt pretensioner had somehow fired? I thought they were linked to the airbags, maybe someone else could advise farther?

Auscast

Anan1 wrote: »

If you can get at the reel itself, the end of a wooden spoon (or something similar)against it and a tap of a hammer against the other end might do the trick. I had the same thing with a Mercedes years ago, a big pothole ended up fixing it.

Unless - and this would be bad news - the seatbelt pretensioner had somehow fired? I thought they were linked to the airbags, maybe someone else could advise farther?

Thanks mate! The wooden spoon fixed it! I gave it a small spray of WD40 first, then on the second tap with the spoon it released.

You just saved me around €100 for a replacement seat belt and labour!

Guy:Incognito

Theres no way the car has been in a bit of an accident is there? I'd be more worried that it's damaged and might not lock when it needs too.

Auscast

Stekelly wrote: »

Theres no way the car has been in a bit of an accident is there? I'd be more worried that it's damaged and might not lock when it needs too.

As it was bought as a second hand car, I cannot guarantee that it wasn't in an accident before I bought it. But the seat belt was working fine when we test drove it and purchased it.

I have also since found out that the baby seat is only legal if placed behind the passenger seat, so it won't be used for that anyway.