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i was putting my sound deadener on my rear speakers.. so i took my center seatbelt off.. i mean i unscrewed it from the back area.. but when i was putting it back the seatbelt had locked itself and i could pull it anymore.. i tried everything... so i wa so pissed i opend it up(the seatbelt) and when i pulled the white things(the spring and the other gears) i heared the spring losing the tension.. ... my center seatblet is f*cked up now.... so for you guys whos planning to remove the seatbelt make sure you don't pull let it pull itself all the way once you separate it from the back part or else it will lock itself and you'd have to buy a 130 dollar replacement(this is the cheapest that i found btw)...

btw.,.. has this happend to anyone? what did you do?

 
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Hey Ferio,
I was having the same issue today when I was removed the rear panel to access my speakers. I removed the seat belt where it was bolted to upon the deck and let it retract to a place where it wouldn't bother me. After getting ready to reassemble my car, I tried pulling on it to put it back in place and alas it was stuck. After doing a quick Google search, I was brought here, as this was the only place I could find someone in a similar situation. I ended up unbolting the seat belt in its entirety from the car and started tinkering with it. After fiddling for around 120 minutes, I found a way to extend the seat belt in a rather meticulous manner, which did not result in it working at full functionality. After giving up, I started removing the white covers all the while taking head to your warning. I started with the translucent side and found the problem; a small metal ball. This was no ordinary ball though. It sat in a little cradle with an arm attached. This ball would move out of position and move the arm forward to stop the seat belt from releasing more slack. If the ball was anywhere but the center of the cradle, it would tip the arm and cause the locking mechanism to trigger. I discovered that if I set the belt mechanism on a level surface, the ball would sit in place and would allow full functionality of the seat belt. I re-installed the seat belt in the deck and it worked fine, as it was intended to. I am sorry I couldn't reply sooner, but I hope this helps you out! I hope you didn't go end up wasting $130 that you could have spent on a new pair of speakers. Good luck in your future ventures and I hope you are able to reconfigure your car to proper functionality. If it wasn't the for the fact that I was 6 years of age at the time, believe me, I would have replied sooner to help you.

Cheers,
Carsondm

 
Rep Power: 517

I'll guess you flopped the seat down.
This extended the belt to the end of its travel.
This engaged the ratchet mechanism.
The ratcheting mechanism is used for securing a childs carseat.
This is explained in the owners manual, and is common on almost every car made over the last 20 years. Or more. I remember it in cars from the early 70s.
All you had to do was get the belt to go all the way in, the ratchet would reset.
With the retractor reel unbolted from its mounting, the tilt-lock mechanism (that ball you found) keeps the belt from extending because it is no longer mounted level. The mechanism LOCKS the belt when the car is braking or turning. The mechanism only allows the belt to move when the tilt is less than about 10 degrees from level. Tough to do that in your hands.

Now that you took yours apart, I bet it no longer operates as designed. I bet it will no longer lock when a passenger is thrown around. Seat belt mechanical failures are a lifetime warranty item.

 
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The seat belt locking mechanism works just the way it did when I got the car. I only took a small part off of it rather than the whole device like Ferio did.