Seat belt problems 2005 Vibe

[the_nite_owl]

Hi Everyone,Have any of you noticed a difference between the driver and all other seat belts in your Vibe?In mine, all seat belts but the drivers have the following problem.If you pull the seat belt nearly all the way out it goes into a ratcheting mode where every time a little slack is in the belt it sucks it up and refuses to release it. Rather than only locking in place when sudden tension is applied it is constantly locked. Make the mistake of moving the wrong way and it just clamps down tighter on you like a boa constrictor and will not let up.This only happens when the belt is pulled almost all the way out and it will not stop this behavior until it is let almost all of the way back in.All three passenger belts seem to do the same thing but so far not the drivers belt.I need to find a fix for this as my wife gets pinched into the seatbelt every time she rides passenger with me and often ends up having to let the seatbelt all the way back in and pull it out again while trying to get it latched.

[JustinVGT]

I'm pretty sure this feature is made to secure baby car seats and I think most cars have this feature. Can someone that uses baby car seats verify this? I think I remember reading about it in the Vibe owner's manual a few years ago.

[the_nite_owl]

That would make sense. It is incredibly inconvenient when a larger passenger is using the seat though.Read something in the manual about seatbelt pretensioners but it does not really define how they work. It does not seem to be the same thing though as the pretensioners are supposed to only activate when someone is sitting in the seat with the igniton on and I have tested the seat belt reaching over from the drivers side with no key in the car so...I am disassemble and see if the ratcheting portion can be disabled leaving the pretensioners operating. Everything is tied into the airbag system so there might not be anything I can do safely.Quote, originally posted by JustinVGT »I'm pretty sure this feature is made to secure baby car seats and I think most cars have this feature. Can someone that uses baby car seats verify this? I think I remember reading about it in the Vibe owner's manual a few years ago.

[NSimkins]

Quote, originally posted by the_nite_owl »I am disassemble and see if the ratcheting portion can be disabled leaving the pretensioners operating. Everything is tied into the airbag system so there might not be anything I can do safely.Yeah, I'd take some extra caution if you were to mess with the seatbelt system. The Vibe service manuals state some detailed steps to disable the airbag system when performing work that involves the seatbelts.

[GMJAP]

This is intentional. Most new cars have it- both of ours do. It's for putting in child seats, so you don't need the locking clip on the belt. (Which are a REAL pain to put on).Just dont pull it out all the way. We've never had a problem in normal use.

[joatmon]

Quote, originally posted by the_nite_owl »Read something in the manual about seatbelt pretensioners but it does not really define how they work. I think seatbelt pretensioners are a device that is supposed to take up seat belt slack in the event of an airbag deployment. Maybe tied in to the ratcheting, but I think it is something different. I've also noticed that in the driver's side seat belt it will lock in place during hard braking.I most noticed the ratcheting seat belt of doom when riding in the back seat once. Maybe a seatbelt extender so the passenger can use the seatbelt without having to pull it out to the ratcheting doom stage.

[the_nite_owl]

Not really an option for larger passengers. You do not have to pull it all the way out to hit the racheting issue anyway, just somewhat close.Quote, originally posted by GMJAP »This is intentional. Most new cars have it- both of ours do. It's for putting in child seats, so you don't need the locking clip on the belt. (Which are a REAL pain to put on).Just dont pull it out all the way. We've never had a problem in normal use.

[the_nite_owl]

I may have to get the extender but it would be nice to look into the hardware portion of the system to see if that ratcheting can be undone without affecting anything else.The pretensioners are apparently a triggered device tied in with the airbags and only operate if someone is detected sitting in the seat.They are said to only be good for one accident which causes the airbag to deply and they have to be repaired so it is obviously not the same mechanical lock that grabs the belts when they are pulled suddenly.So it really sounds as if these things upon detecting an incident that will deploy the airbags will suddenly pull in all slack in the seatbelt to keep the passenger from moving as little as possible.Will have to study the setup for a while to see if it is safely feasible to mess with the ratcheting mechanism. That portion should be only mechanical and not related but will have to study it.Quote, originally posted by joatmon »I think seatbelt pretensioners are a device that is supposed to take up seat belt slack in the event of an airbag deployment. Maybe tied in to the ratcheting, but I think it is something different. I've also noticed that in the driver's side seat belt it will lock in place during hard braking.I most noticed the ratcheting seat belt of doom when riding in the back seat once. Maybe a seatbelt extender so the passenger can use the seatbelt without having to pull it out to the ratcheting doom stage.

[GMJAP]

Quote, originally posted by the_nite_owl »I may have to get the extender but it would be nice to look into the hardware portion of the system to see if that ratcheting can be undone without affecting anything else.The pretensioners are apparently a triggered device tied in with the airbags and only operate if someone is detected sitting in the seat.They are said to only be good for one accident which causes the airbag to deply and they have to be repaired so it is obviously not the same mechanical lock that grabs the belts when they are pulled suddenly.So it really sounds as if these things upon detecting an incident that will deploy the airbags will suddenly pull in all slack in the seatbelt to keep the passenger from moving as little as possible.Will have to study the setup for a while to see if it is safely feasible to mess with the ratcheting mechanism. That portion should be only mechanical and not related but will have to study it.Just note- all seatbelts, including the drivers, are intended to lock up when there is strong deceleration- you can notice it sometimes when breaking firmly. This is what keeps you in your seat. Without it, the belt won't do you much good.Just be careful when tearing into the racketing stuff that it doesn't affect the inertial locking. I don't know, but would bet money that they use some of the same hardware and are integrated together.PS - I believe, but can't check since I'm not near the Vibe, that you can test the intertial lock by giving the belt a quick yank or jerk. It should lock and not pull out further.