Passanger Seatbelt Locking!!!!

[jayj1021]

I am having a little trouble with the seat belt on the passangers side of my AV. The belt on the passangers side has a feature that locks it if you extend it all the way. This is for child seats I guess, or at least that is what the manual says. this is fine unless you are over 110 pounds and are wearing a winter coat. every time myself or my wife ride on that side in the winter if we move foward it locks!!! VERY ANOYING!!! Does anyone know if this feature can be disables Thanks in advance for the help!!

 

[Y-Guy]

I only noticed this happen to me once while my DW was driving, I couldn't reproduce the problem later though. This was a big problem on my 02 TrailBlazer and was a known issue with them.

 

[Bruno]

I am having a little trouble with the seat belt on the passangers side of my AV. ?The belt on the passangers side has a feature that locks it if you extend it all the way. ?This is for child seats I guess, or at least that is what the manual says. ?this is fine unless you are over 110 pounds and are wearing a winter coat. ?every time myself or my wife ride on that side in the winter if we move foward it locks!!! ?VERY ANOYING!!! ?Does anyone know if this feature can be disables Thanks in advance for the help!! ?

Just to confirm, yep happens in mine too (its a feature). My whole family is supersized so whoever is in the co-pilot seat ends up locked in place just as soon as they lean forward the first time. Bad, very bad. Hopefully GM has a fix for this. gotta be a rachet lever we can break off somewhere.

 

[mmdavidw]

I thought you weren't supposed to put child seats in the front seat because of the airbag? So why would they need this "feature" in the first place?

David

 

[Bruno]

I thought you weren't supposed to put child seats in the front seat because of the airbag? So why would they need this "feature" in the first place?

David

Who knows, probably designed with a corporate lawyer saying what if...

 

[ShapeShifter]

I thought you weren't supposed to put child seats in the front seat because of the airbag? So why would they need this "feature" in the first place?

Because, depending on the current load configuration, you may have had to fold the rear seat, meaning that the child seat must be up front.

Of course, if you subscribe to that logic, the real question is: why don't the '02s have a passenger air bag cut-off switch?

-- SS

 

[vlkwagen]

Well, over the weekend my family rented a 2003 suburban to go to vermont with, and as I am a larger sized man, I noticed that this problme would happen all the time - seems as though the problem still persists


For a school project, I dismantled a 2001 suburban, and broke the latch the locks the seatbelt after the second full extension, but i then noticed that you were not able to lock the belt unless you braked hard enough

just my .02



Anthony

 

[pktwatch]

JayJ, It will only lock if you pull the belt all the way out BEFORE you buckle it. Just get a seat belt extender, thats what I did. GM will give them to you for free, just ask at your parts dept. I liked them so much that I got one for both sides of the AV and also my wife's Tracker. They allow the sholder belt to lay lower on your sholder for more comfort. They come in 9" & 15" I think.

 

[RJLACK]

JayJ, It will only lock if you pull the belt all the way out BEFORE you buckle it. Just get a seat belt extender, thats what I did. GM will give them to you for free, just ask at your parts dept. I liked them so much that I got one for both sides of the AV and also my wife's Tracker. They allow the sholder belt to lay lower on your sholder for more comfort. They come in 9" & 15" I think.

Wow what a great post - and very helpfull - could you post the GM part #s so that the people above could check into getting these.

Thanks, Richard.

 

[pktwatch]

I don't have the GM part number but I know that it depends on what seats you have! I found that hard to believe, but they gave me the wrong one at first then ASK what seats I had and got the right one. Any GM parts dealer can most likly order them for free for you, mine did.

If you do not pull it all the way out (about the last 6" will cause it to lock) before you latch it, you will have all the movement you want. This is only in the front pass seat, the drivers seat is not that way, it is a safety deal for small kids. When you buckle small kids in you are susposed to pull the belt all the way out to buckle them in. When you retract it, it lockes them back to help prevent the air bag injury in case of a wreck.

 

[jayj1021]

PKTWATCH, Maybe there is something wrong with mine. It locks after being fully extended before you latch or after!! where did you find out that it should not lock when fully extended after you latch it? Thanks for all the responce.

 

[pktwatch]

After all the conplaints by the wife, I ask what the problem was when I had it back at the dealers for service. They gave me a demonstration on both the AV and then on a new car. If yours is locking up and you are not extending it almost all of the way before you buckle, then you are have a problem and should take it back to the dealer. Now, having said that, there are instances when it will lock, if you are on a downgrade, hit your brakes hard and probley other times, but it should unlock shortly thereafter. If it is staying locked take it back to the dealer!

Ohh and the pktwatch stands for POCKET WATCH, I used to collect them but am now saving my $$$ for mods!

 

[jayj1021]

Thanks for the input everyone. Just to clear things up. Is the belt supose to lock when fully extended only before you latch it or both before and after. Mine locks both before and after. this happens every time that you reach for something like the radio. If once you buckle it, it should not lock after being fully extended (unless you jack on the breaks or get into an accident) then someting is wrong and i will go to the dealer. If it should lock before and after then i am looking for a mod to fix it. Someting to disable the "feature". . Will the extender help form fully extending the belt when reaching for some thing??

 

[ShapeShifter]

Mine locks both before and after.

Don't know what's "normal", but mine works exactly like you describe it, jay.

Drives my wife nuts!

-- SS

 

[Chief]

Because, depending on the current load configuration, you may have had to fold the rear seat, meaning that the child seat must be up front.

Of course, if you subscribe to that logic, the real question is: why don't the '02s have a passenger air bag cut-off switch?

-- SS

BINGO! This was by far my biggest pet peeve after I picked up my Av. Getting that switch installed takes an act of congress it seems and because they are already in the x-tra cab GMC's and Silverados - I don't see what the big deal was.

 

[Bruno]

Don't know what's "normal", but mine works exactly like you describe it, jay.

Drives my wife nuts!

-- SS

Mine too...same result-crazy wife syndrome

 

[Congelado]

Don't know what's "normal", but mine works exactly like you describe it, jay.

Drives my wife nuts!

Mine too...same result-crazy wife syndrome

Same story here. It doesn't happen to me when I'm in the passenger seat, though. I thought it was because I wasn't meant to sit there.

 

[carriles]

Ok friends, let me give you my experience with this problem!
We have a 01 Tahoe that had this problem. VERY enoying! It was always my wife that it locked up on. But that is just because if we are not in the AV and I am driving, then we are in her Tahoe and I am driving , (kind of a pattern there huh)
Ok, We have been complaining about this problem to our service writer for over a year, well I guess since the second time it happened, which would be soon after we got the truck. The lady at Cumbie Chevrolet in Moncks Corner SC. insisted that this is a safety feature. We called Bull-sh** on that. When we bought the Tahoe I had a 2000 Silverado, with the same seats. Never had this happen. She just said "I don't know what to tell you" Finally about a month and a half ago, I was tired of hearing my wife complain about it. We brought it back to the dealer and told her of the problem again, same answer. I told her that was CRAP!and I wanted to speak to the service manager. We told him of the problem and he told us the same thing . Ok, now I am getting upset! I asked him to please just replace the darn seatbelt for us. He said OK. but it will probably do the same thing. I told him that we will just take our chances.
We got our new seatbelt, actually I think we got an entire new seat. LOW AND BEHOLD, the problem is gone!

sorry to get on a soapbox and leading you down a long road to a short ending! But, I would insist on a new seatbelt if the problem persists. It worked for us, it just might work for you. KNOCK ON WOOD, this hasn't happened to the AV yet

 

[TXAVy]

Unless I'm misreading this, all the TSB says is...

"The seatbelt retractor and buckle were made by two different vendors. If you have to replace one of those, here's where to check to make sure you got the right one and how to tell that the buckle locks appropriately."

It doesn't say anything about problematic retractors locking when they aren't supposed to.

 

[colek]

Unless I'm misreading this, all the TSB says is...

"The seatbelt retractor and buckle were made by two different vendors. If you have to replace one of those, here's where to check to make sure you got the right one and how to tell that the buckle locks appropriately."

It doesn't say anything about problematic retractors locking when they aren't supposed to.

Right you are...Now I've got to find the one I thought I had.

 

[jayj1021]

Am I missing something here or what. How does a new belt stop the saftey feature from working? The locking I have is completey normal. I tried to get the service dpt. to replace it but it never happened for them. this was before I knew that it was a saftey feture. They would not replace it! I just want to disable it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jayj1021]

I guess I will just go to the dealer and ask for a belt extender. Thanks for all the help!!

 

[carnut]

I have a question mainly for those of us who are on the "portly" side. I weigh in at 280 lbs, and on those (very) rare occasions when I sit in the front passenger seat, I have serious problems with the seat belt retractor locking on me and not releasing. I have tried different ways of fastening the seat belt and it still does the same thing. My service advisor said to slowly end evenly pull the belt all the out of the retractor, fasten it and slowly let it retract, but no matter what I do, the same thing always happens. As soon as I make any move that pulls the belt out of the retractor, It will lock, and not release. If I move VERY slowly it will lock after I lean forward one inch!! If I push myself deeper into the seat to let the "window blind action" loosen the belt, It will only get tighter! I have to remove the belt, let it fully retract, and refasten the belt, but it will still do the same thing!!

Now my service advisor has said two things:
#1. That's how they all work. Every Av does thet same thing, changing the belt will not help.

#2. That's how it's supposed to work, THE PASSENGER SHOULD NOT HAVE/ DOES NOT NEED AS MUCH MOBILITY AS THE DRIVER.

WHAT A CROCK OF DOO-DOO!!

I mentioned to him that my brother has a Yukon XL that has the same problem, but that the GMC dealer was going to replace it for him. His response was, " That is a GMC, not an Av, they are different vehicles and that would be like comparing apples and oranges. Just because it works for a GMC doesn't mean that it will work on an Av." He would not even consider the fact that our interiors are identical and use the same parts.

Now I sat in my brothers Yukon bafore and after. Before, it worked identically to mine. After they changed the belt assembly, IT WORKED LIKE IT SHOULD HAVE. So long as I did not make any sudden moves, it would not lock up on me. Now when it DID lock, I had to unfasten the belt to reset the mechanism.

What I would like to know is for those of us "portly" guys...

1) Does your belt lock up at the slightest movement

2) Has anyone had this problem corrected by replacing the seat belt mechanism. (or in any other way).

For the record, my wife and daughter do not have this problem, nor could the 170 lb service advisor reproduce the problem in front of me. But When I got in and showed him what it was doing, that was when he gave me that cock-and-bull story.

Sorry this post is so long, but I needed to vent too.

 

[colek]

It was happening to my dad in my brother's Tahoe. The dealer gave him a seat belt extender for free. Ask about it, it might help.

 

[carnut]

It was happening to my dad in my brother's Tahoe. ?The dealer gave him a seat belt extender for free. ?Ask about it, it might help.

Thanks for the info, I'll check into that , but hopefully as a last resort.

Paul.