'98 Seat belt problem

**PurdueGuy** · 08-08-2007, 05:57 PM

Recently purchased a 1998 Chevy K1500 Suburban in great condition for $5k. Love it so far. It's the people hauler & mountain fun machine. (I recently moved to southeast Idaho, and while my Saturns are fun for the paved roads, my wife & I knew better than to subject them to the mountain roads nearby)

So here's one of the very few problems.

The passenger seatbelt forward reel (the one for the "bottom" of the seatbelt) will not release the belt. I did a search and found some people with similar sounding problems with Trailblazers, and responders often thought it was the belt being pulled out too far and getting into the locking mode. This is not exactly the problem in this case.

First of all, the lower part of the belt does not like to retract all the way. If I shove the belt way in, it will often come free, like it is disabling the locking mechanism. However, the locking mechanism begins locking before the belt is pulled all the way out. Then when the belt is undone when the passenger gets out, once again the belt does not retract all the way, leaving it in the locking mode, and when they go to buckle up the next time, it's locked and they can't buckle up.

Any advice?

**GaryL** · 08-08-2007, 10:02 PM

I hate to say it, but talk to your local GM dealer. A lot of times, seat belt problems will be corrected at GM's cost because it is a safety issue. Let us know what you find out.

**Cableguy** · 08-08-2007, 10:29 PM

GM seat belt retractors are famous for doing that. I've had to replace a few myself. Its an easy enough job. I usually get them at dealer

**PurdueGuy** · 08-08-2007, 11:21 PM

just replace the whole assembly (both reels)?

**Steve** · 08-09-2007, 08:36 AM

Yeah, I was told the same thing about my '02 Trailblazer. The problem seems to have gotten better over time for the vehicle, so I never pushed the issue. Not a bad idea about getting a stealership to take care of as a safety issue, I might try that.