mystery solved

[littlefeller]

ok, its been bugging me for a while - why does the passenger seatbelt guide brake.
I stumbled across the answer to this that I will share in an attempt to prevent any further breakages.
at the weekend I decided to swap my centre console back over to wood now I have completed my project.
I had removed all the screws except for the two behind the seats, I moved the drivers seat forward and undid the screw, I then moved the seat back and climbed back in (I'm lazy, what I should have done was walk around to the passenger side, but then I wouldn't have stumbled across the answer)
I reached over and moved the passenger seat forwards, I found it awkward to undo the screw so I walked around to the passenger side.
it was only now that I noticed the seat had moved forward but the seatbelt had locked, pulling the guide backwards, it was very very tight, so there you have it, as the passenger seat gets moved the most its more likely to break, especially if the driver just reaches over to move the seat, so BE AWARE when you move the seats.

 

[hard top]

You ginger people are very, very clever......

 

[littlefeller]

I just happened to stumble across it

 

[hard top]

That's what I said when I got arrested.....

 

[t-tony]

That's what I said when I got arrested.....

T**t!!

Tony.

 

[Zeti]

Brilliant , as all simple things are!
Thank you!
I'll keep this in mind, if seat adjustment is needed with seat belt on.
Dan

 

[Grandparipper]

They break easily and are inexpensive, but very difficult to replace. A complete seat teardown is required!

 

[FRANKIE]

ok, its been bugging me for a while - why does the passenger seatbelt guide brake.
I stumbled across the answer to this that I will share in an attempt to prevent any further breakages.
at the weekend I decided to swap my centre console back over to wood now I have completed my project.
I had removed all the screws except for the two behind the seats, I moved the drivers seat forward and undid the screw, I then moved the seat back and climbed back in (I'm lazy, what I should have done was walk around to the passenger side, but then I wouldn't have stumbled across the answer)
I reached over and moved the passenger seat forwards, I found it awkward to undo the screw so I walked around to the passenger side.
it was only now that I noticed the seat had moved forward but the seatbelt had locked, pulling the guide backwards, it was very very tight, so there you have it, as the passenger seat gets moved the most its more likely to break, especially if the driver just reaches over to move the seat, so BE AWARE when you move the seats.

A funny thing that you should mention that. I had the cover off the Z the other day (finally) and decided to leave it off as we are in for several days of sun and warmth. I had been walking my dog on my 2 mile loop around the neighborhood and passed by a man I know who liked Mer. Benzs and Porsche. I told him I'd be around with the Z as soon as I got home and put the dog in the house. This I did and was soon at his house with the Z. I was going to let him drive it around the block (one of the few people I would let drive the car) but told him I had 2 small errands to do and asked him if he'd like to do the driving. He easily agreed and I jumped into the passenger seat. I went through hell trying to get the seat belt on as it wouldn't release very far out ot its bracket. It would come out about a foot and stop. It took about 20 to 30 tries to get it fully extended. He had owned a BMW and told me he had the same trouble with it. He took me to the store I had to go to and when getting back in the car, same thing. I can see if you release the seat back lever to bring the back of the seat to lean foward, this belt isn't going to move.
Also, another thing came to mind. I told him that my Mercedes does the same thing as the BMW. When you turn the ignition on to start the car, if for any reason you don't start up, you must turn the ignition key completely off before the key can be turned to the ignition position again. I believe this happens so that people don't hit the start position by accident while the engine is already running. You would think that by now, they'd realize that if it was such a great saftey feature that everyone else in the world would have copied it, but NO ONE has because it's such a f@&*ing dumb feature. Just think about it. Think of all the possible extremely dangerous possibilities of situations you could be in where you're car stalles out, whether it's your fault or not and you have to move your car yesterday or get hit and you have to take the time to turn the ignition all the way off to get to the start position., By then you could be dead meat. I don't know what you guys on the other side of the pone think about it but it just drives me completely nuts...........................Frankie on a rant............................

 

[hard top]

FFS Frankie, go back to bed.....
On a serious note, try some silicone spray on your seat belt.