In general, I'm tired of loose seatbelt straps. It's understandable that the car isn't new; the belts and mechanism have been dusty for 20 years. I read that this can be easily resolved with a simple wash. So it's time to wash them!
I found articles online on how others do it, but couldn't find specific instructions for my car when removing the driver’s side belt. I ended up taking off a lot of unnecessary parts, while on the passenger side everything was simpler. That's why I decided to describe this process in detail. Maybe someone will find it useful…
So let's start. We remove the plastic trim pieces from the door sills.
Then we unclip the lower part of the door panel. The clips are metal and not easy to break; I used a regular flathead screwdriver without damaging anything!
After that, we need to unscrew three bolts securing the belt to the car body:
The bottom bolt is under a rubber decorative cover.
We unscrew the bolt and remember how the washer and locknut were positioned.
Then we unscrew the top bolt. I didn't find it right away; turns out it was very simple.
We will need two 'straight' hands and a flathead screwdriver.
With one hand, hold the screwdriver while pressing on the adjustment buttons with the other hand to disengage the cover from below.
All clips come off easily and we see that bolt.
This bolt, of course, needs to be unscrewed. There's still another one at the bottom.
After you've removed the last bolt, don't pull too hard since there is a wire connected to the spool. Disconnect it and…
…and now the whole belt is in our hands.
We take everything home and start disassembling. Washing the belt along with the mechanism together would be foolish.
We unravel the entire belt and pull out one end from the spool.
We remove the locking clip from the belt.
After that, we completely pull out the belt from the spool. We insert something thin and long instead to prevent the spool from unwinding in reverse. I inserted a knife so the spool wouldn't unwind backwards.
We leave the mechanism aside and head to the bathroom.
We soak the belt with warm water mixed with detergent powder, leaving it for some time to soak.
Afterwards, we take a scrub brush with soap and clean both sides of the belt as much as our strength allows.
The water was not fresh after the first attempt.
But by the third wash, it looked much better.
We rinse the belt several times in clean water before hanging it up to dry.
Meanwhile, I returned to the mechanism. With a toothbrush, I cleaned all visible dust and wound the spool of the seatbelt another two turns so that the belt would rewind more quickly into its original position.
After drying, we insert the belt back into the spool and reinstall the locking clip in place. We check the functionality of the mechanism — it's noticeably livelier now.
We go to the garage and put everything back into the car, reversing the steps.
Upon reassembly, we once again ensure that the mechanism works properly and enjoy our work.
It looks completely different now, just like on a new car. As soon as you disengage the button, the belt moves to its place automatically.
A lot of text but very detailed )
If loose seatbelts bother you too, feel free to take them apart and wash them! It's worth it; there are no costs involved except for a little bit of your time…
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