Back seat lap belt suck

by texdave Wed Jan 24, 2024 1:35 am

Recently, I have been unable to pull out the lap belt in the passenger side back bench. When I try to pull it out, it immediately clicks and I can't pull it out any further. It is fully retracted into the seat belt holder assembly or at least I can't push it in anymore.

I was able to pull it out before if I did so slowly. Does anyone have any experience troubleshooting or fixing a similar issue? Is there anything I can do myself or would it require a replacement? Also, what's the best tactic for taking out the bottom seats on the back bench?

by zucchi Wed Jan 24, 2024 9:27 am

Use a coat-hanger wire to hook it and pull it out. If it's locked, you'll need to take the assembly out of the car, disassemble it, clean it, reassemble it, then reinstall it into the car.
The seat is two pieces. No tools needed to remove the bottom part; simply lift the front edge about three inches then pull. You will need tools if you need to remove the seat back.

by bracketchev1221 Wed Jan 24, 2024 10:32 am

The bottom of the bottom section needs to be pushed rearward while lifting up. It just has a hook on the front section that catches the frame.

by Mcarlo77 Wed Jan 24, 2024 12:12 pm

You'll need a T50 torx bit to get it out (they can be a real challenge if the threads are rusted). If the bolt is being stubborn, be careful to not let the bit slip so as to round out the inside of the head. Couple of times of that and it's game over.

by Keith Seymore Wed Jan 24, 2024 12:29 pm

bracketchev1221 wrote:The bottom of the bottom section needs to be pushed rearward while lifting up. It just has a hook on the front section that catches the frame.

Might depend on model year; mine has a bolt on each side through a wire loop. A 1/2" or 9/16" (?) socket is required to remove the bolt to get the seat bottom out.

K

by Keith Seymore Wed Jan 24, 2024 12:30 pm

Mcarlo77 wrote:You'll need a T50 torx bit to get it out (they can be a real challenge if the threads are rusted). If the bolt is being stubborn, be careful to not let the bit slip so as to round out the inside of the head. Couple of times of that and it's game over.

You can get a bite with a pair of vise grips if need be, but not preferred.

It will take about ten thousand ft-lbs of torque to get the bolt out in either case.

K

by texdave Wed Jan 24, 2024 1:23 pm

The seat belt is definitely locked, so sounds like I'll need to use my breaker bar and get it out.

I had tried to take the bottom bench out by pushing rearward and then up but there wasn't much give. I'll take a look at the sides to see if there are bolts there that I need to take out.

by Mcarlo77 Wed Jan 24, 2024 3:11 pm

If those bolts are so stuck that a T50 can't remove them, there is no way vise grips are going to work. There just isn't enough room to get a good "bite" on the heads while allowing for necessary leverage. I've tried just about everything except an induction heating tool and acetylene torch. Unfortunately, I don't own either.

by Mcarlo77 Wed Jan 24, 2024 3:13 pm

There is a bolt down low on front of either end of the lower seat that need to come out.

by TW Monte Wed Jan 31, 2024 11:59 am

Bottom front edge of the lower seat has two metal loops with bolts that hold it in place. Need to remove those two bolts and then lower seat cushion will lift out.
As others have noted, you’ll need a Torx socket (T35 or T50- I forget) to remove the bolt that holds the seat belt assembly in place.

by texdave Thu Feb 08, 2024 1:01 am

Finally got back around to the Monte after focusing on my wife's car and my Trans Am for a while.

Indeed, there were two bolts beneath the bench seat that I needed to remove in order to take it out. For future reference, it needed a 9/16 socket and the bolts were located close to the edges of the car on each side. Easy enough.

To take out the seat belt housing, a size 50 torx socket was needed. I ended up using an extension on the ratchet as well. The angle of the bolt does make it a tight fit but you can get the torx socket in there if you bend the belt buckle out of the way.

Thankfully the bolts weren't rusted so I didn't end up needing a breaker bar, but they were on pretty tight. There's no screws or bolts to disassemble the housing, there only seems to be rivets holding it together. As I was dreading having to drill them out and then buy a riveting tool to put it back together, I looked at the bottom and saw the issue. The belt was retracted twisted and that was causing the jam.

All I had to do was press against the greenest metal tab closest to the belt and to the center to allow the belt to be pulled out fully. I made sure the belt retracted without twists and that fixed the issue. From the bottom, you can see how the locking tab is more relaxed.

I didn't have the appropriate torquing number for the torx bolts so I just screwed them on as close to tight as they were when I first took them out and called it a day. Thanks everyone for pointing me in the right direction.

by Mcarlo77 Thu Feb 08, 2024 11:20 am

Count yourself extremely fortunate that you didn't have a problem removing the bolt. Beauty of living outside the Rust Belt. Anyway, good to hear it was a simple fix.

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