This is what RUclips is all about, good informative info like this! I did this in my car and it’s made a HUGE difference, I’m so happy I didn’t have to buy a new seatbelt. Thanks for taking the time to make this video, much appreciated....
Nothing like good informative info. This made absolutely no difference for me. I'm guessing the internal parts of the seatbelt mechanism is what's dirty and possible clogged.
This video was a labor saver. I thought my retract spring was bad and I was going to replace the whole unit. But using your trick my belts retract like they were new. Thank You
I have had this problem for some time and had assumed it was the spring mechanism aging. After this video, I went out and as a test extended the belt fully. Sure enough I could visibly see the transition from "virgin" belt that never gets exposed to "aged" belt that suffers daily. And, yep, the flexibility between the two zones is appreciable. As a final test, I released the fully extended belt and ZIP! it ran back like new right up to that transition point where it suddenly changed to the CREEP that I have been seeing. Definitely the belt and not the mechanism. Can't wait for warmer weather to follow your cleansing instructions.
Thank you for this very helpful video...followed your steps exactly...let it soak in a bucket of soapy water, let it air dry and it worked like a charm...my 2007 Camry Hybrid driver's side shoulder belt is as good as new! It even looks and feels new...And to think the dealer wanted $375 to replace it. Thank you again!
tried that this morning, It's made such a difference :) MY passenger front seatbelt was being a real pain in the butt to retract. Soaked, rubbed and cleaned as suggested. Wow!! what a difference. Will do again, and do the others too. Thanks for the tip :)
NICE !!!! TO THE POINT, MADE IT EASY TO UNDERSTAND. You didn't talk too much nor too little. Perfect. A lot of people like to hear themselves talk. Great job!!! 👍
Have to admit I was skeptical that this would work, but after soaking my seatbelt in my Ford Escape it now retracts perfectly. Saved me several hundred dollars of having the dealer replace my seatbelt. Thanks!
I cleaned my seat belt as suggested. It didn't worked till I applied silicon spray. It really works!!!! I didn't expect it would work, but it definitely does!
@@adamcz1864 He cleaned it as shown on this vid. THEN, as an extra step, he lightly sprayed it with a silicone spray... which made the belt "slip" past the shoulder hanger and retract quickly....
I tried this on a sticky seat belt that I thought would otherwise be due for replacement - I used non-biological washing powder - Yes this fix works and makes the retraction work fast and as new. I also un-clipped the center pillar trim out at the bottom and vacuumed around there, there was a lot of dust behind there!
Great video and great idea. Also, for those that have access to a high pressure washer, you can do the same by leaving the belt extended *outside* of the car with thw door closed, then hit it with high pressure wash. Works well.
Oops, I just commented this ( more or less ) to somebody's reaction, but the reason I came up with taking the belt outside was because this is the best way to pull or push a car! Stand next to driver's side, extend the belt completely, close door and pull the belt with your shoulder! And if you have a passenger, they can help by doing the same at their side! Pulling becomes pretty easy then (in comparison to pushing car in reverse uphill, and much safer this way) And for pushing the car just open drivers side, pull seat belt out, close door and put it on your shoulder like a laptop bag (over your head) and this way you'll have the most force to push a car AND have one hand free for the steering wheel! I learned this a long time ago in some course and I was so amazed by how easy pushing or pulling my car suddenly became for me, I'm pretty small so that's a life changer in such a situation!! 😆
I always soak the seatbelt in a bucket of water with purple power and then after a good soak, close the door with as much of the seatbelt on the outside as possible, hose it off, and allow to dry. Soap residue will attract more dirt!
I take hot yoga and HIIT classes and boy howdy, do I sweat... never in a million years would I think that a build up of sweat, lotion, etc from always wearing tank tops would affect my seatbelt, but that's exactly what happened. Thank you so much for posting this!! You're a sweetheart! ❤😊
yeah exactly, a good first step before investing the time to take the whole mechanism apart. certainly worth a shot and cant hurt anything and hey now your seat-belts smell like spring breeze TM :)
I'm a vehicle inspector - my job is to carry out regular safety checks on cars. This video is quite accurate, but I find another problem with belt retraction is the top guide, shown at 0:06 which, over time, accumulates a hardened layer of dust from the movement of the belt through it. The dust build-up restricts the movement of the belt and a quick, simple fix is to clean the dust layer off.
Want to sincerely thank you. My 2004 base Tacoma had this problem for years. Tried everything a somewhat handy person with common sense would try. I used dish detergent since I forgot what you instructed. It still worked. No more slack preventing my door to close properly. Who woulda thunk.
This RUclips video worked for me. My seatbelt now is much more user friendly. It was driving without a seatbelt. Cleaned it and now it slides up and down with less hesitation. Thanks for this trick-- no cost and worked.
The best ever tutorial I could find asked many shops thinking the belt machine has gone bad as everyone suggested it had to be changed only and I couldn't find e39 belt here but this video saved me thank you soo much the belt work perfectly fine now
Thanks! I was a little skeptical, I'll admit, but since I gave it a good wash as shown, the seatbelt on my 12-year-old Mini is retracting perfectly well again.
Matt Gibson ah nice! glad to hear!, i done mine yesterday, and thanks to this youtuber it retracts fast now, it wouldn't pass a yearly inspection of fitness, but now it will mwhahah
I was also sceptical. He appears to push it back in on both of the attempts on the very hurried ending.. But, if you say it works, I’ll try it on my 17 year old mini. :)
Watch the video a while back. Thought about it. Tried it today and it worked GREAT! Thanks. It was really quick. The seat belt dried in less than an hour.
The belt on our 2020 Forester was retracting very slowly. Soaked and worked the belt in soapy water, gave it a clean water rinse and let it dry. Was surprised how much dirt came out of the belt. Works great now. Thank you.
Awesome, I was just about to pull the trigger on a new seat beat and low and behold I tried to clean the existing belt, it worked!!!!! One happy RUclipsr 🫡
Thank you, thank you; you saved me a whole new seat belt bill will follow through and wash really well. A guy said today he used the lightest grade sandpaper and the mechanic said to wash it and clean around the top mechanism like you have done
I replaced my seatbelt in my Scion tC with one that I took off a tC at Pull A Part. It was slow to retract like my original. I kept my original seatbelt and I just performed this cleaning and it is much quicker to retract. I plan on reinstalling this seatbelt this weekend to test the results. Cannot. Wait! Thanks for this video!
I didn't have any clips, so I just put some masking tape around their ends to immobilize them. I washed them like you showed, even after the initial soaking I lifted the bucket to get the top portions and gave a solid 5-minute wash to my front seat belts by squeezing them continously. They look kinda cool hanging, both attached to the steering wheel with some tape. Thank you, I enjoyed every second of doing it, remembering how annoying they were before.
Chris, I was skeptical after watching your video but it made total sense. I tried this on two separate Toyotas that are notorious for slow retracting seatbelts. This process worked like a charm. Thank-you!
good idea but i would recommend in addition to using quality soap flakes that won't degrade materials like cheap detergents, you should thoroughly rinse the soap once or twice after washing as any residue soap/detergent will end up attracting even more dirt in the future
Thanks Chris, this seat belt cleaning of yours did work as for over 1 year I experienced dents in the side door frame of the driver's side from seat belt not retracting! Very Appreciative of your help again! I live in a very damp area of Nova Scotia & am in and out of the car at least 6 times per day w/ volunteer work!
I tried this and it worked a charm. The water was semi dirty but I cleaned around the top plastic holder so it can pivot easier. Also on the underside of the belt I sprayed a light dose of silicon spray then wiped it down with a towel. This makes the belt slide easier now through that top bit. Also silicon spray around that top plastic thing to help it pivot.
This sort of skill is what we gotta learn at school ! All we were taught is mitochondria is powerhouse of cell 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️. Great video Thanks mate it did work for me !!
Just tried it and really works! I thought I had to change the seat belt which would have cost me a lot of money... thanks for sharing this! you deserve every $ you are getting on advertising out of this.
I see you love buckets. Great idea. I was searching for seat belt issues but this wasn't the exact one. But it was helpful. So thank you Chris for taking time to explain some of your dirty tricks to help us cope with normal day life issues.
Really works for me..many thanks man..but i washed and soaked the whole seat belt box overnight.dry it and reinstall back. Its not locked/stucked anymore..thanks again for sharing your knowledge..really appreciate it man..cheers
Thank you for demonstrating how to resolve the issue. I recently was given a car and the seat belt wont retract on its own and I wasn't sure how to fix it. I will definitely give this a shot. Thanks again!
after using 3 in 1 silicone spray from halfords after watching this video worked fantastilly saved me about £120 for second hand replacement belt thank you
ULTRA cool! I would NEVER believe such a thing could make a difference. WOW. No disassembly, no trouble, cleaner car, better working seat belts... Gonna try that RIGHT NOW.
Uzurpat0r Yep, it did. Of course you will achieve even better results by pre-winding the spring a bit more (which requires disassembly), but even this quick and easy hack improved the situation a lot.
I thought this was pure BS but it is the easiest suggestion out there SO WHY NOT GIVE IT A TRY. Know what? IT FRIGGING WORKS! It really does. My seat belt was getting caught in the door when I slammed it and the exterior door handle eventually broke from the extra force needed to open the door. That was a PIA to replace. Decided I'd have to completely disassemble the retraction mechanism and get a couple of more raps on the spring to fix the retraction problem. But decided to try this washing method first and am absolutely flabbergasted at such an easy and effective fix. Many, MANY thanks Chris.
Excellent video, Chris. You’re a natural at this! The towel technique is spot on, you must be an engineer 😂 Bonus tip - use the towel to give the steering wheel a good once over too
Wow, 25 y. o. Car and this tip worked fine, it is not as new but really better than before. I was actually surprised that just the grease accumulated comprimised the work
This 100% worked for my daughter's Civic. Thank God I saw this video - my man-brain was already convinced I'd have to disassemble the seatbelt and somehow add tension, etc. Nope! Just a dirty belt. Thank you for the video!
Thank you, got quite a few dents in my door from the seatbelt unfortunately, so..lucky I had the paint touch up for the scratches, hehe. Was soo irritating too that it blocked my door from closing, hehe. And it also saved me from getting a whole new assembly too.
Just tried this on both my sticky, slow retracting seat belts in my 99 Camry that I just bought and boy did detergent and oxy clean just save me time and money...Thanks!
My seatbelts do this and I went to the dealership and they told me I could replace them for 300 each 😮. Just saw this video and can’t wait to try it this weekend.
Damn and here I was thinking I needed to open up the mechanism and hit it with some silicone, thing just needs a scrub, never thought about that, thanks for this.
Thank you thank you, I just bought a car and the belt was sticking, sure enough this fixed it perfectly! I've given it 3 rinses though, just cold water in the bowl, more dirt came out of the rinses than the actual wash. It's now like new, soft and clean and retracts perfectly. I've realised the passenger one stuck as well so I've done it today. It was rigid really, compared to the soft washed one. So simple and yet I would have never thought of it.
That's great! This is over looked when dealing with a poor retracting seat belt. Everyone points towards the spring mechanism which is never the cause. Glad it helped you.
We did this on my bf's Toyota truck and it worked great! The only thing I'd add is, in the end my bae pressure-washed the "clean" seat belt and it made a HUGE difference. If the dirty belt was rated a 0%, then the clean belt (as in this video) would be rated a 50-60%, and the pressure washed version would be an 80-90% ... with a NEW belt being a 100%. As he pressure washed the semi-clean gray seat belts, they went from a dark gray to a shiny, clean light gray factory color!!! To keep the interior from getting wet, pull the seat belt as much as you can, outside, then shut the door on it while you pressure wash the belt by itself.
Thank you sir for this very helpful video; this fix, though have not yet tried it, sounds so reasonable and is so easy, it brought a smile to my face. Cheers. Happiness and blessings to you always.
Yeah I've always thought "lazy springs" and slightly thought about friction after trying polishing the plastics which works for a small period of time....
Thanks man i took your video and have applied my own method, do on a hot day or have your AC on hot, get spray bottle > fill with laundry detergent > add water > pull out seat belt > spray on seat belt or on cloth or rag > scrub thoroughly > let it dry for a little bit, not really necessary as its no soaked. and Done it should be able to retract faster now. but one way to tell if its the dirty or the retractor spring is pull it from below the seat belt hold. if it retracts fast below the hold then its the dirt.
99% of the time it's a dirty belt. They build these retractors to not fail. They don't want people going in to adjust or tighten the spring. With it being connected in to the air bag system these retractors should not be tampered with. Squirting detergent on is a good idea, that should work.
Chris Notap well i just made sure it wasn't soaking wet before retracting the seatbelt, so its ok, but your method would be more througher, and would clean the seat belt for a long time, as my way may only last a few months.
Well knock me down and steal my teeth! I was looking at seat belt repair and new seatbelts until I ran across this. It worked like a charm! THANK YOU!!!!
Another suggestion to keep your seats from getting wet while doing this is to lay down some empty garbage bags or plain, plastic sheeting. It looks like I've got some seat belt cleaning to do in my near future. I'm tired of seatbelts getting caught in the door because they aren't retracting properly. They are really getting dirty because of that.
Helpful video. I later discovered another way of doing it when cleaning my tan coloured belts on my jag xk. Pull the belts all the way out so there hanging outside of the car, shut the door so it don't go back in the car and jet wash em.
There's a lot of schmucks here on you tube, you know who you are..... those of you who'll post a rude remark about the guy who made this video. Guess what?.....1- the guy tried to help 2- he didn't get paid anything, it was done out of kindness. 3- he didn't say it's guaranteed to fix every seat belt problem. He's offering free advice that you can try if your seatbelt isn't working correctly....or perhaps you'd rather bring it to a shop & get charged $100 or $200 for some one else to fix it for you. (Probably using this method too) 😉 4- lighten up & try being grateful to the guy who made this video....whats it gonna cost you? A kind word?............ schmucks!
you are wrong. he is getting paid. once u get more than 1000 subscribers and 10000 hours of viewing, youtube pay u. the only reason he is doing the vids, is for the money. forget this notion that he is doing it out of the kindness of his heart. nevertheless, a good vid, he deserves what he gets.
Yep, thanks Chris. I used your method, although I did trap the belt in the door and wash it outside the car. Also, gave them a light spray of furniture polish (Mr Sheen) instead of smearing laundry detergent. Worked a treat.
My seat belt wouldn't retract all the way anymore. I found this solution highly unbelievable, but hey nothing to lose. Whooha! It actually worked :-) No more sloppy belt between the door!
Chris Notap mine is not retracting at all and I tried this but it didn’t help is there something behind the cover that the seatbelt goes in that’s broken or something would really appreciate any help thank you
Thank you so much for the informative video. I thought the seat belts are no retracting quickly because there's a fault in the mechanism (or the previous owner could have met with an accident). I cannot wait to try this asap.
Wouldnt have believed it.. but just purchased a used vehicle with the same problem. Soaked for 25 minutes in the solution, agitating it every few minutes. The filth that came out was astonishing. After drying.. the belt glids as if new. Thanks for the video, even if it took me 8 years to say so.
Find my favourite tools here! www.amazon.com/shop/chrisnotap
This is what RUclips is all about, good informative info like this! I did this in my car and it’s made a HUGE difference, I’m so happy I didn’t have to buy a new seatbelt. Thanks for taking the time to make this video, much appreciated....
Hahah
Nothing like good informative info. This made absolutely no difference for me. I'm guessing the internal parts of the seatbelt mechanism is what's dirty and possible clogged.
Amen !
What if your car is from 1994 loool
I totally agree. Absolutely perfect explanation for dealing with a sticking seat belt
This video was a labor saver. I thought my retract spring was bad and I was going to replace the whole unit. But using your trick my belts retract like they were new. Thank You
Does yours have an AIRBAG in the same ("B") pillar?
That makes it a whole-'nother-job!
I'll give it a try. Sometime in future. The explanation was clear. Good job. The problem is just me who is lazy. Yeah
Dum
Been 5 years. Maybe it's time to do it now
@@CSch-n7r 🤣
I have had this problem for some time and had assumed it was the spring mechanism aging.
After this video, I went out and as a test extended the belt fully. Sure enough I could visibly see the transition from "virgin" belt that never gets exposed to "aged" belt that suffers daily. And, yep, the flexibility between the two zones is appreciable. As a final test, I released the fully extended belt and ZIP! it ran back like new right up to that transition point where it suddenly changed to the CREEP that I have been seeing. Definitely the belt and not the mechanism.
Can't wait for warmer weather to follow your cleansing instructions.
Use the heat from the car to dry the belt if you don’t have time. Windows up full hot on the ac
Thank you for this very helpful video...followed your steps exactly...let it soak in a bucket of soapy water, let it air dry and it worked like a charm...my 2007 Camry Hybrid driver's side shoulder belt is as good as new! It even looks and feels new...And to think the dealer wanted $375 to replace it. Thank you again!
tried that this morning, It's made such a difference :) MY passenger front seatbelt was being a real pain in the butt to retract. Soaked, rubbed and cleaned as suggested. Wow!! what a difference. Will do again, and do the others too. Thanks for the tip :)
NICE !!!! TO THE POINT, MADE IT EASY TO UNDERSTAND. You didn't talk too much nor too little. Perfect. A lot of people like to hear themselves talk. Great job!!! 👍
1/28/2020 USA Grandpa Bill: Chris, your work is a gift that keeps on giving through the years. Thank you very much.
Have to admit I was skeptical that this would work, but after soaking my seatbelt in my Ford Escape it now retracts perfectly. Saved me several hundred dollars of having the dealer replace my seatbelt. Thanks!
That’s great!!
Got it - this really works and saved me money so thanks. I found though, that its important to get the belt COMPLETELY dry.
Thanks again.
I cleaned my seat belt as suggested. It didn't worked till I applied silicon spray. It really works!!!! I didn't expect it would work, but it definitely does!
How did you clean it whith silicone?
@@adamcz1864
He cleaned it as shown on this vid.
THEN, as an extra step, he lightly sprayed it with a silicone spray...
which made the belt "slip" past the shoulder hanger and retract quickly....
ive put up with a rubbish seat belt for over a year, didnt think this would work but surely did, thank you so much, youve made me very happy :)
I tried this on a sticky seat belt that I thought would otherwise be due for replacement - I used non-biological washing powder - Yes this fix works and makes the retraction work fast and as new. I also un-clipped the center pillar trim out at the bottom and vacuumed around there, there was a lot of dust behind there!
Great video and great idea. Also, for those that have access to a high pressure washer, you can do the same by leaving the belt extended *outside* of the car with thw door closed, then hit it with high pressure wash. Works well.
Same here. Sometimes the best solutions are the simplest ones.
Oops, I just commented this ( more or less ) to somebody's reaction, but the reason I came up with taking the belt outside was because this is the best way to pull or push a car! Stand next to driver's side, extend the belt completely, close door and pull the belt with your shoulder! And if you have a passenger, they can help by doing the same at their side! Pulling becomes pretty easy then (in comparison to pushing car in reverse uphill, and much safer this way) And for pushing the car just open drivers side, pull seat belt out, close door and put it on your shoulder like a laptop bag (over your head) and this way you'll have the most force to push a car AND have one hand free for the steering wheel!
I learned this a long time ago in some course and I was so amazed by how easy pushing or pulling my car suddenly became for me, I'm pretty small so that's a life changer in such a situation!! 😆
I always soak the seatbelt in a bucket of water with purple power and then after a good soak, close the door with as much of the seatbelt on the outside as possible, hose it off, and allow to dry.
Soap residue will attract more dirt!
I take hot yoga and HIIT classes and boy howdy, do I sweat... never in a million years would I think that a build up of sweat, lotion, etc from always wearing tank tops would affect my seatbelt, but that's exactly what happened. Thank you so much for posting this!! You're a sweetheart! ❤😊
yeah exactly, a good first step before investing the time to take the whole mechanism apart. certainly worth a shot and cant hurt anything and hey now your seat-belts smell like spring breeze TM :)
I'm a vehicle inspector - my job is to carry out regular safety checks on cars. This video is quite accurate, but I find another problem with belt retraction is the top guide, shown at 0:06 which, over time, accumulates a hardened layer of dust from the movement of the belt through it. The dust build-up restricts the movement of the belt and a quick, simple fix is to clean the dust layer off.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENT. I'll do that, too.
Want to sincerely thank you. My 2004 base Tacoma had this problem for years. Tried everything a somewhat handy person with common sense would try. I used dish detergent since I forgot what you instructed. It still worked. No more slack preventing my door to close properly. Who woulda thunk.
This really worked. I was skeptical. But, it was cheap so, I tried it.
Can't believe this gem has been here for 9 years and I've only just found it. Really helpful, thanks for making this.
This is the best "how to fix it" post on utube....l followed it precisely and it works
Thank you so much for this! It ticked my father in law off to no end that it worked. Bless you.
Skeptical I was, but this works. Tried it on my 1997 Infinity QX 4 and no more seat belt in the door problem. Thanks for sharing this tip.
This RUclips video worked for me. My seatbelt now is much more user friendly. It was driving without a seatbelt. Cleaned it and now it slides up and down with less hesitation. Thanks for this trick-- no cost and worked.
Glad it helped
The best ever tutorial I could find asked many shops thinking the belt machine has gone bad as everyone suggested it had to be changed only and I couldn't find e39 belt here but this video saved me thank you soo much the belt work perfectly fine now
That's great! 99.9% of the time its a dirty belt causing the issue which is overlooked by any shop.
Thanks! I was a little skeptical, I'll admit, but since I gave it a good wash as shown, the seatbelt on my 12-year-old Mini is retracting perfectly well again.
still retracting mate?
+Adjmb B yep, no problems since.
Matt Gibson
ah nice! glad to hear!, i done mine yesterday, and thanks to this youtuber it retracts fast now, it wouldn't pass a yearly inspection of fitness, but now it will mwhahah
Wow!!! Proof is all i need, and i got it.. i will do mine too.. thanks guys
I was also sceptical. He appears to push it back in on both of the attempts on the very hurried ending..
But, if you say it works, I’ll try it on my 17 year old mini. :)
This really works! It surprised me by how easy it was and how my seat belt now fully retracts.
Yes! It is totally overlooked when being diagnosed. No one thinks of the belt being dirty.
thanks! I would never of thought of this simple approach! Thanks for making this video years ago, it's still relevant in 2024!
Watch the video a while back. Thought about it. Tried it today and it worked GREAT! Thanks. It was really quick. The seat belt dried in less than an hour.
That's great!!
The belt on our 2020 Forester was retracting very slowly. Soaked and worked the belt in soapy water, gave it a clean water rinse and let it dry. Was surprised how much dirt came out of the belt. Works great now. Thank you.
Perfect!!
Awesome, I was just about to pull the trigger on a new seat beat and low and behold I tried to clean the existing belt, it worked!!!!!
One happy RUclipsr 🫡
It’s the one thing that’s missed 99% of the time!!
Thank you, thank you; you saved me a whole new seat belt bill will follow through and wash really well. A guy said today he used the lightest grade sandpaper and the mechanic said to wash it and clean around the top mechanism like you have done
I replaced my seatbelt in my Scion tC with one that I took off a tC at Pull A Part. It was slow to retract like my original. I kept my original seatbelt and I just performed this cleaning and it is much quicker to retract. I plan on reinstalling this seatbelt this weekend to test the results. Cannot. Wait! Thanks for this video!
Its the one thing that gets missed that the belt may be stiff from use and needs cleaned.
I didn't have any clips, so I just put some masking tape around their ends to immobilize them. I washed them like you showed, even after the initial soaking I lifted the bucket to get the top portions and gave a solid 5-minute wash to my front seat belts by squeezing them continously. They look kinda cool hanging, both attached to the steering wheel with some tape.
Thank you, I enjoyed every second of doing it, remembering how annoying they were before.
Chris, I was skeptical after watching your video but it made total sense. I tried this on two separate Toyotas that are notorious for slow retracting seatbelts. This process worked like a charm. Thank-you!
It really is an overlooked area of slow retracting. Glad it worked. Thanks.
good idea but i would recommend in addition to using quality soap flakes that won't degrade materials like cheap detergents, you should thoroughly rinse the soap once or twice after washing as any residue soap/detergent will end up attracting even more dirt in the future
This could explain why when i did this it helped for a while and then got worse.
I was a little skeptical too, but after I made the procedure, I was amazed because the seatbelts started to retract like new. Thanks for the video!
+Daniel Moreno You're welcome.
Thanks Chris, this seat belt cleaning of yours did work as for over 1 year I experienced dents in the side door frame of the driver's side from seat belt not retracting! Very Appreciative of your help again! I live in a very damp area of Nova Scotia & am in and out of the car at least 6 times per day w/ volunteer work!
I tried this and it worked a charm. The water was semi dirty but I cleaned around the top plastic holder so it can pivot easier. Also on the underside of the belt I sprayed a light dose of silicon spray then wiped it down with a towel. This makes the belt slide easier now through that top bit. Also silicon spray around that top plastic thing to help it pivot.
+Missy P Great! This works on 99% of most cars. Thanks for commenting.
Coral P cool!
Yup, I use silicone spray on my seatbelts too, it works wonders.
@@jimbob036 should I wash first or silicone alone will do the trick?
@@lornow71 I sprayed mine with silicone spray, but now they're playing up again. So maybe you're better off washing as well.
Used this fix on the driver's seat belt in our work truck and it works extremely well, it works like brand new again.
This sort of skill is what we gotta learn at school ! All we were taught is mitochondria is powerhouse of cell 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️. Great video Thanks mate it did work for me !!
Tried this on my '02 Honda Accord with over 200k mi. Worked like a charm :)
I have the same exact car haha! Nice.
Worked for me for 20 year old car ‘s loose seatbelt ! I used warm soapy water and rinced. Works like new now.
Just tried it and really works! I thought I had to change the seat belt which would have cost me a lot of money... thanks for sharing this! you deserve every $ you are getting on advertising out of this.
Glad it worked! Thanks man!
I see you love buckets. Great idea. I was searching for seat belt issues but this wasn't the exact one. But it was helpful. So thank you Chris for taking time to explain some of your dirty tricks to help us cope with normal day life issues.
Really works for me..many thanks man..but i washed and soaked the whole seat belt box overnight.dry it and reinstall back. Its not locked/stucked anymore..thanks again for sharing your knowledge..really appreciate it man..cheers
Amazing tip.I too thought I would have to change to mechanism or whatever.Did this and after the belt was dry, it retracted like new. Thanks🤗
Glad it helped!
Thank you for demonstrating how to resolve the issue. I recently was given a car and the seat belt wont retract on its own and I wasn't sure how to fix it. I will definitely give this a shot. Thanks again!
It's definitely worth a try. Fixes it 99% of the time. Good luck.
after using 3 in 1 silicone spray from halfords after watching this video worked fantastilly saved me about £120 for second hand replacement belt thank you
ULTRA cool! I would NEVER believe such a thing could make a difference. WOW. No disassembly, no trouble, cleaner car, better working seat belts... Gonna try that RIGHT NOW.
Did it work?
Uzurpat0r Yep, it did. Of course you will achieve even better results by pre-winding the spring a bit more (which requires disassembly), but even this quick and easy hack improved the situation a lot.
Cool bro, here I was about to disassemble my car and replace the whole seatbelt. Thanks 👍
Give this a go first. It may save you a lot of time!
@@chrisnotap Thanks mate👌
I was going to go to the junkyard and buy an all new retracting mechanism. I am glad I found this video. Worked great 👍
Glad it helped!
I thought this was pure BS but it is the easiest suggestion out there SO WHY NOT GIVE IT A TRY. Know what? IT FRIGGING WORKS! It really does.
My seat belt was getting caught in the door when I slammed it and the exterior door handle eventually broke from the extra force needed to open the door. That was a PIA to replace. Decided I'd have to completely disassemble the retraction mechanism and get a couple of more raps on the spring to fix the retraction problem. But decided to try this washing method first and am absolutely flabbergasted at such an easy and effective fix. Many, MANY thanks Chris.
Wow! After pricing out new retractors and deciding it wasn't worth it, I tried this. It worked!! They snap back like new again. Thanks!
It's the one thing people miss and don't think of. That's great that it worked.
I cant believe how fast you instantly fixed my problem. Thank you !
You're welcome!
Excellent video, Chris. You’re a natural at this! The towel technique is spot on, you must be an engineer 😂
Bonus tip - use the towel to give the steering wheel a good once over too
Wow, 25 y. o. Car and this tip worked fine, it is not as new but really better than before. I was actually surprised that just the grease accumulated comprimised the work
I just did this on my '01 BMW 540i and it is NIGHT AND DAY! Thank you!
This 100% worked for my daughter's Civic. Thank God I saw this video - my man-brain was already convinced I'd have to disassemble the seatbelt and somehow add tension, etc. Nope! Just a dirty belt. Thank you for the video!
Glad to hear!!
That belt system looks exactly like mine in my 06 highlander. I'll give it a try before I disassemble the unit. Thanks
Thank you, got quite a few dents in my door from the seatbelt unfortunately, so..lucky I had the paint touch up for the scratches, hehe.
Was soo irritating too that it blocked my door from closing, hehe.
And it also saved me from getting a whole new assembly too.
Thanks for taking the time to make this video. I cleaned my seatbelt just like this and it now retracts on its own again, thank you!
Amazing I saved $250 thank you very much from bottom of my heart❤
Glad I could help
Yup, it worked great on my 2003 Escape. Driver's seatbelt now retracts quickly and fully.
It works thanks saved me $175.00 cost of a brand new one and save me at least 2hours work not having to pull it apart..
Just tried this on both my sticky, slow retracting seat belts in my 99 Camry that I just bought and boy did detergent and oxy clean just save me time and money...Thanks!
Doing this on my Camry right now :)
My seatbelts do this and I went to the dealership and they told me I could replace them for 300 each 😮. Just saw this video and can’t wait to try it this weekend.
Damn and here I was thinking I needed to open up the mechanism and hit it with some silicone, thing just needs a scrub, never thought about that, thanks for this.
I never would have thought that cleaning would be the solution (pun intended!) to fix a seatbelt that wouldn't retract. Excellent video!!
It's one of those things that gets overlooked and everyone blames the spring!! Thanks.
Thank you.
You just save me a 30 minutes work with the plastic parts removal.
Thank you thank you, I just bought a car and the belt was sticking, sure enough this fixed it perfectly!
I've given it 3 rinses though, just cold water in the bowl, more dirt came out of the rinses than the actual wash.
It's now like new, soft and clean and retracts perfectly.
I've realised the passenger one stuck as well so I've done it today. It was rigid really, compared to the soft washed one. So simple and yet I would have never thought of it.
That's great! This is over looked when dealing with a poor retracting seat belt. Everyone points towards the spring mechanism which is never the cause. Glad it helped you.
Yeah, it was a builder's car. In hindsight I've seen this a lot in farm runarounds too. Lots of mucky hands day in day out.
I appreciate your time and effort here showing the secret to making the belt work again.
+Mark Wilson You're welcome. This works for so many of my viewers. No expensive seat belt to buy. Thanks for commenting.
Wow
I’m so gonna try this for my 3 cars.
Thank you
Thank you!!! I would of never thought of this.... I was thinking of replacing it....Wow you saved me big!! :)
To say nothing of preventing the aggravation on not retracting with the belt stuck in the door
We did this on my bf's Toyota truck and it worked great! The only thing I'd add is, in the end my bae pressure-washed the "clean" seat belt and it made a HUGE difference. If the dirty belt was rated a 0%, then the clean belt (as in this video) would be rated a 50-60%, and the pressure washed version would be an 80-90% ... with a NEW belt being a 100%. As he pressure washed the semi-clean gray seat belts, they went from a dark gray to a shiny, clean light gray factory color!!! To keep the interior from getting wet, pull the seat belt as much as you can, outside, then shut the door on it while you pressure wash the belt by itself.
Thank you sir for this very helpful video; this fix, though have not yet tried it, sounds so reasonable and is so easy, it brought a smile to my face. Cheers. Happiness and blessings to you always.
This worked very well, saved me $$ too. Cheers!
Great vid. I was taking everything apart thinking only mechanically. Never thought about just cleaning the belt. Thanks
+Chris Notap thank you sir!
J Simo ..... I think most people automatically think same thing ..
Yeah I've always thought "lazy springs" and slightly thought about friction after trying polishing the plastics which works for a small period of time....
Don't think outside the box, realize that there is no box.
@@michaelsonsarmiento5943 You are in a box. It's inside the car.
Thanks man i took your video and have applied my own method, do on a hot day or have your AC on hot, get spray bottle > fill with laundry detergent > add water > pull out seat belt > spray on seat belt or on cloth or rag > scrub thoroughly > let it dry for a little bit, not really necessary as its no soaked. and Done
it should be able to retract faster now. but one way to tell if its the dirty or the retractor spring is pull it from below the seat belt hold. if it retracts fast below the hold then its the dirt.
99% of the time it's a dirty belt. They build these retractors to not fail. They don't want people going in to adjust or tighten the spring. With it being connected in to the air bag system these retractors should not be tampered with. Squirting detergent on is a good idea, that should work.
Chris Notap
well i just made sure it wasn't soaking wet before retracting the seatbelt, so its ok, but your method would be more througher, and would clean the seat belt for a long time, as my way may only last a few months.
Oh yeah yeah
Thank you for saving me some money! Great comments from others too!
Well knock me down and steal my teeth! I was looking at seat belt repair and new seatbelts until I ran across this. It worked like a charm! THANK YOU!!!!
Another suggestion to keep your seats from getting wet while doing this is to lay down some empty garbage bags or plain, plastic sheeting. It looks like I've got some seat belt cleaning to do in my near future. I'm tired of seatbelts getting caught in the door because they aren't retracting properly. They are really getting dirty because of that.
Or pull the seatbelt completely out, hold it outside and close the door? Put the bucket on a stool? 😅😆
Helpful video. I later discovered another way of doing it when cleaning my tan coloured belts on my jag xk. Pull the belts all the way out so there hanging outside of the car, shut the door so it don't go back in the car and jet wash em.
Holy mother of god. Went down and checked the belt. Exactomundo! You sir are a genius!
Thank you so much man! instead of giving us some BS about none scene , you actually gave us some USEFUL info!
+Kaveh Foroughi Your welcome. This solution is overlooked even by mechanics. Glad I could help.
there needs to be more people like you on this planet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There's a lot of schmucks here on you tube, you know who you are..... those of you who'll post a rude remark about the guy who made this video. Guess what?.....1- the guy tried to help
2- he didn't get paid anything, it was done out of kindness.
3- he didn't say it's guaranteed to fix every seat belt problem. He's offering free advice that you can try if your seatbelt isn't working correctly....or perhaps you'd rather bring it to a shop & get charged $100 or $200 for some one else to fix it for you. (Probably using this method too) 😉
4- lighten up & try being grateful to the guy who made this video....whats it gonna cost you? A kind word?............ schmucks!
Thanks for that.
NYCP NY you sound cute!
you are wrong. he is getting paid. once u get more than 1000 subscribers and 10000 hours of viewing, youtube pay u. the only reason he is doing the vids, is for the money. forget this notion that he is doing it out of the kindness of his heart. nevertheless, a good vid, he deserves what he gets.
This is why I hate most people
Yep, thanks Chris. I used your method, although I did trap the belt in the door and wash it outside the car. Also, gave them a light spray of furniture polish (Mr Sheen) instead of smearing laundry detergent. Worked a treat.
I've used that method also on the outside of the door.. I may do another video in the spring.
My seat belt wouldn't retract all the way anymore. I found this solution highly unbelievable, but hey nothing to lose. Whooha! It actually worked :-) No more sloppy belt between the door!
Brilliant! Saves me a much bigger job - thanks for sharing 👍👍
Glad to help
First video I found whilst looking for this problem, awesome and very precise instructions, gotta get my belts sorted :)
This fixed my driver seatbelt that wouldn’t retract. Thanks a lot!!
It is the forgotten fix for sticky seat belts! Great that it worked!
Chris Notap mine is not retracting at all and I tried this but it didn’t help is there something behind the cover that the seatbelt goes in that’s broken or something would really appreciate any help thank you
Going to try that this weekend. Thanks.
Thank you so much for the informative video. I thought the seat belts are no retracting quickly because there's a fault in the mechanism (or the previous owner could have met with an accident). I cannot wait to try this asap.
That’s brilliant - simple and effective- thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
Very good video you might have just saved me some money gonna try this out tomorrow sometime thanks
well done Chris, though it's a 8 year-old video it still help me today.
This is a timeless video since seat belts are still made the same! Thanks!
I will have to give this a try.. Thank you for showing us..
Wouldnt have believed it.. but just purchased a used vehicle with the same problem. Soaked for 25 minutes in the solution, agitating it every few minutes. The filth that came out was astonishing. After drying.. the belt glids as if new. Thanks for the video, even if it took me 8 years to say so.
Glad to hear! That's great!
Soooo helpful. I was going to replace mine, you just saved me a bunch of money and time. Cheers
Glad I could help
Will definitely try this. Thanks for sharing.