help with stuck automatic seat belt

[c.ganger]

Hi, I am pretty new to working on my car. I have a 1990 festiva with a manual transmission. It came with automatic seatbelts which worked at the time. However bit by bit the drivers side belt wouldn't go back. it wold go back if you re-opened the door and closed it very firmly. then a week or so into that it stopped completely and wouldn't go up. Then a day later on my way to work I hit a pot hole and it went back. problem fixed., but it has stopped working again. Any how I picked up a haynes manual today to get some info wiring diagrams and all, but suprise suprise once I got the shrink wrap off the manual there wasn;t any info on the seatbelts at all.
could anyone tell me the best starting point to fix the problem? I tried searching here on the forum, but had trouble understanding the info. I am kind of thinkoing that maybe there is a grounding issue, cause a couple of times I have felt a slight shock when I touch a metal part on the door, not much more than static feeling, but maybe. any how where shoudl I start? I'l get the door panel off tomorrow morning and see if I can see anything. any ideas of where to go from there will be greatly apreciated.

chris

[warlocke]

ya first thing would be to pull the door panel off and check the connections at the motor, next check ur fuse just to make sure lol, otherwise trace ur wires to where they go and check the whole shebang, also check ur door open switch.

[c.ganger]

should I just look for obviously loose connections, or frayed wires? I think the fuse is fine unless both belts have separate fuses. the pass. side belt works like a charm. how should I go about checking the door open switch assuming I don't see anything blatantly messed up?
chris

[warlocke]

does it chime with door open and key in switch? i dunno if festis have this, or does ur domelight come on

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

Malfunctioning automatic seat belts

I have a similar problem -- drivers side only -- on one of my 93s. The shoulder belt always stays in the aft position, never moves forward. The passenger side works perfectly.

I don't even know where the motor is located to check connections ... is it aft of the door? Does it trigger off the same "door is closed" switch that runs the overhead light? Through the computer or what?

[skeeters_keeper]

The seat belt-sensor and the "light switch" are different.

My drivers side also does this but the pass side usually works fine, however today my pass side decided not to go fwrd.

on the drivers side sometimes you open the door and are just sitting there and it goes halfway fwrd, then back some, then fwrd again.... other times it just takes 2-3min w/ the door open and it goes. i've been watching for a patter but its just sorta random, temperature/etc doesn't seem to affect it. i'm just too lazy right now to go find the motor and figure out whats loose :roll:

[trigerhappy235]

Does the little black box under the drivers seat, have anything to do with it????

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

under-seat black box

I'll bet it does have something to do with the belts, since I think that box only exists on cars with automatic belts.