Seat Belt Retention

[Gisetta]

Has anyone had a remedy for unretentive belts. Basically all my belts suffer from this and I know it's common in older cars but I was hoping there would be a simple fix. I know there has been some gunk on the top holder of my belts which I have removed and that has helped, slightly.

Any other ideas? Is it possible to clean the belt?

[gbhrps]

Normally the belts don't lose retention throughout their lifetime. Are you certain that you cleaned all of the gunk off of the belt loop up by the headrest? Did you do both sides of the loop, the side closest to the outside of the car? This is the most common ailment of seat belts that don't retract back. Next you could try to use an upholstery cleaner on both sides of your belts to see if you can get them any cleaner. Good Luck!

[Gisetta]

Normally the belts don't lose retention throughout their lifetime. Are you certain that you cleaned all of the gunk off of the belt loop up by the headrest? Did you do both sides of the loop, the side closest to the outside of the car? This is the most common ailment of seat belts that don't retract back. Next you could try to use an upholstery cleaner on both sides of your belts to see if you can get them any cleaner. Good Luck!

What do you mean both sides? I've only cleaned one side in which there was some junk built up. Is it possible you can find an image. I'll give your idea a shot and post results so the community can benefit.

[gbhrps]

What I mean is to clean both sides of the loop. You lift up the seat belt at the loop anchor (attached to the B Pillar where you can push the button and slide the seat belt loop up or down to accommodate tall or short drivers) and use a knife blade or flat bladed screw driver to scrap the crud off of the loop. Then lift up the belt on the other side of the same loop, the belt section that is between the loop and the B Pillar where the seat belt disappears down inside the B Pillar, and scrap off that side as well.

Put another way, the seat belt goes up to the loop and back down again. Lift up the belt on both sides of the loop to get at the loop itself and scrap it clean on both sides.

What you might also try is to go to a Lexus dealership. They had a TSB (technical service bulletin) several years ago for certain models concerning this same problem. The factory has some small clear plastic self adhesive covers that wrap up the loop and decrease the friction that hangs up your seat belt when you take it off. They certainly can't cost more than a few dollars at most.

[Gisetta]

What I mean is to clean both sides of the loop. You lift up the seat belt at the loop anchor (attached to the B Pillar where you can push the button and slide the seat belt loop up or down to accommodate tall or short drivers) and use a knife blade or flat bladed screw driver to scrap the crud off of the loop. Then lift up the belt on the other side of the same loop, the belt section that is between the loop and the B Pillar where the seat belt disappears down inside the B Pillar, and scrap off that side as well.

Put another way, the seat belt goes up to the loop and back down again. Lift up the belt on both sides of the loop to get at the loop itself and scrap it clean on both sides.

What you might also try is to go to a Lexus dealership. They had a TSB (technical service bulletin) several years ago for certain models concerning this same problem. The factory has some small clear plastic self adhesive covers that wrap up the loop and decrease the friction that hangs up your seat belt when you take it off. They certainly can't cost more than a few dollars at most.

I'll definitely look into that but I did manage to scrape a fair amount of crud out. I think given that the belt is dirty it might be wise for me to clean the belt too.