Hello!

I'm not sure if any of you have experienced this. Well both my seat belts do not lock properly. They wont lock when installed in the car. If i take them out i can get them to lock sometimes. I looked deeper into how they work by pulling one apart. The spring part is a band of metal that is wrapped around two spools. It is functioning properly. The issue i think is this white part. I don't know how it works but it has a little lever that pushes against a metal part that locks the gear. If it is up it is locking the belt, down it is free flowing. I think is is this part that is broken on the belts and preventing them from locking.

Does anyone know what this sensor thing is called? Can they be purchased or fixed? Has anyone had belt problems? I find it odd that both sides are not working. Could it be from torque the sensor broke?

Thanks for any help!

 

If I'm not mistaken, the manufacturer is suppose to warranty this for the life of the car. I took a vehicle, long out of warranty, to the dealership for a problem with the seatbelt and they replaced it for free. I remember reading somewhere that it's one of the parts that the manufacturer agrees to warranty whenever there's a problem with it, regardless of year, mileage, or owner. YMMV

 

Those look like SA belts; are they? This fact changes the trouble-shooting because the locking scenarios are different between SA's and FB's.

SA seat belts do not lock like modern car's do. I think the reason you can get them to lock sometimes is because you're causing the 'lock bar' to fall into position. For SA belts, they only lock on hard deceleration; they do not lock if you pull them quickly like is common today. There is a weighty bar that essentially flies forward when harder than normal braking occurs (or deceleration due to an impact). That is what locks them. FB belts have a second plastic housing that contains some extra safety features such as the locking on a quick tug, as well as positional locking (although I don't know if it is intentional) where the belt locks in most positions other than upright.

 

Hmm thanks for the replies. I am pretty sure they are FB belts. I had two blue belt sets from first gen. One was a 85 GSL-SE and the other was a 83 I think. The 83 car i think it was definitely did not have the different bumper that the 79's had, therefore I am pretty safe to say they were from the FB series. I also think that the gauges were the FB gauges, not the ones from the earlier Rx7s where the tach is in the center. The dashboard was the same as the GSL & GSL-SE also.

I have tried stopping quickly to see if the belts lock and I am unable to get them to lock.

I suppose i will call tomorrow and see if Mazda will fix them. Its that or I need to order after market ones. These cars are not the safest as is and its only worse with malfunctioning seat belts. What i am thinking happened to both of them was they got banged around when they were living theri lives as parts as i did not realize that there was this sensor in them. I think that banging could have damaged the senor, I still dont know how the sensor works.

 

I can validate these are not SA seat belts.

 

there is no sensor, its all passive and mechanical. i'll second (or 3rd) that the belts in these won't lock except in extreme situations, pulling on it is not enough.

the web site is gone, but these cars had a good safety rating, i realize a rating from 1979 is way different than 2019, but the SA/FB/FC was a on par with the 240 Volvo's