Automatic Seatbelt Stuck

[fairhavenranch]

I have a 1992 Festiva and the driver's side front automatic shoulder seatbelt is stuck in the forward position. I kept grabbing the belt inadvertently as it was so close to the steering wheel so I just unhooked it. Now I'm driving around with no shoulder belt and a lap belt that won't retract.

The passenger side works so it's not the fuse. How do you access the mechanism? Is it just stuck or is there some wiring/motor issue?

I have another 1993 Festiva that the passenger side front automatic seatbelt is stuck in the back position so at least you can manually hook and unhook it. However the buzzer goes off intermittently for no reason.

So, how do you fix these stuck automatic seatbelt issues?

Thanks.

[GenevaDirt]

there is a spot just past the door that you can pop a cap off of and use an allen wrench to bring the belt to up position so you can at least use it like your other car.

[hckrphil]

Mine has been doing that lately..... sometimes it stays stuck forward. I grab it and wiggle it back and forth, pulling it towards me and then it kicks in and moves.

Not sure why this is happening...... hopefully the motor isn't starting to fail..........

[DrMaxwellEdison]

the motor is easy enough gotten to... I don't have any of the interior panels in the back of my car at the moment (sound proofing in the works) so it's easy to tell how you get it out..... I'd just get it up to the back and pull the fuse... then just manually d/c each time you get out like if you had the 88-89 Manual belts (sorta)

[crazyrog17]

The 323s had a recall on their passive restraint systems (automatic seatbelts) and Mazda replaced my girlfriend's for no charge.

Check for a recall