seatbelt integrity question
 

i accidentally shut the seatbelt in my door a couple of days ago, and there is a crack on the plastic part that it joins the metal (part that clips in) to the actual belt. i can post a pic of it if that would help (i can't get to my car right now), but i wondered if the integrity of the seatbelt would be compromised by this? if this "drawing" is too bad to make sense of, i apologize, and i'll get a real picture as soon as i can. i just thought i'd ask so i don't go out on any faster roads with a seatbelt that might as well not be fastened. thanks.

/---------\ <--------------plastic
| | | |
| | | |-----------------\
| | | |----------------- | <---------------metal
| | | | |
| | | |<--------------- |------------- crack (about 2mm, running horizontally)
| | | |-----------------/
| |____| |
\---------/

I think the forum decided to remove your spacing... Try using MSpaint or something?

heh, yeah, i noticed that. i tried to preview it, but it was too late...the one time my post goes up instantaneously. check the new one. sorry about the duplicate.

the thread with the revised drawing is gone, so here it is in the remaining thread...



/---------\ <--------------plastic
| | ......| |
| | ......| |-----------------\
| | ......| |----------------- | <---------------metal
| | ......| |
| | ......| |<--------------- |------------- crack (about 2mm, running horizontally)
| | ......| |-----------------/
| |____| |
\---------/

leet ascii artist ;)

i'd toss a new belt in, we dont have them air bag things so i like to KNOW my belts are working

haha

yeah, i guess i might as well. that sucks that it was so easily damaged...

Make mazda fix/pay for it!

well, it was my fault...but that happens all the time- the plastic shouldn't fracture under such little strain. it's a very little crack, i barely noticed it. people might want to check theirs out to see if it happened to either of their belt buckles because it doesn't look entirely safe. i'd hate to have someone's seatbelt not hold properly if it ever needs to...

Although it shouldn't probably be an issue, I would probably replace the belt, as the whole point of seat belts is too hold you in place in the event of an accident, and any damage could make it so the belt fails to do that.

Is the plastic structural, or is it just a cover over a metal piece? I don't think the engineers would have used a plastic thing that can get cracked in the door to hold the 4000 pound crash load of an adult body.

Regardless of that, is the plastic smooth or not? If not (such as a sharp edge on the crack) then the sharp edge of the plastic could damage or weaken the belt in the event of actual use.

i'll really try to get a picture of it tonight...

the crack is on the opposite side of the plastic from the belt. it's hard to tell if the plastic is structural or not, it appears to be, but the metal could run inside it throughout and it wouldn't be visible. hopefully a picture will help.

any suggestions on reducing the file size of the picture for posting? i've never tried it on this forum, however another forum where i have had a max size of 150k, and most of my pictures are in the 700k-1.5m range.

i've decided to replace the belt (most likely), as it seems that climbing gear saftey rules could be pretty applicable to a seatbelt system.

The factories put new belts and mechanisms in for free to avoid lawsuits

is that the recall that i remember hearing about?

oh yeah, i couldn't exactly get pictures today. i went out to my car and found out that it had been towed illegally!

mazda must be a bit different than GM and Chrysler corp., in the decade i have been working for both we do not replace belts, buckles or mechanisms unless there is a recall stating it is a covered part, rarely are whole restraint systems completely covered by a recall.

i have done a few seatbelt recalls due to a flaw in engineering though but i think this whole thing is a misconception that the dealer will replace anything that is a safety issue, mainly because you are in a rolling 2 ton death machine, everything is a safety issue.... ;)

but to save your time, call the dealer before going in and wasting the gas, money and time.


as for the crack, it is a judgement call. like Mark said, it could be an issue when you really need the seatbelt in an accident or it may just be a superficial crack that will never do any actual harm. the plastic is just a form around the metal mainly for aesthetics.

does the metal, in fact, make up the entire bracket then?

For the S5 coupes with the automatic belts, that is the case. There were problems with the system that would allow the belt to hang up.

For any other RX-7 with traditional three point belts, there is no recall.