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O/T '99 Dodge Ram seat belts stuck

Joe Miranda

Titanium
Joined
Oct 19, 2004
Location
Elyria Ohio
My son just bought a '99 Dodge Ram pickup and both the front seat belts are stuck so that you can't pull them out to get them around your torso. Someone told my son that when you get in an accident the seat belts "blow up" and stick so that you can't move them. These seat belts go into the seat at the upper corner so that they are not accessible (at least not easily accessible). Does any one here have any experience with this that you may be able to shed some light on this? I am wondering if there is some kind of release button somewhere.

Joe
 
Never used'm.... 'cept'n when it looks like I may be git'n pulled over... (Went 20 yrs between moving violations!)

So your saying this truck was wrecked?


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox
 
If this is anything like a Dodge Neon, the belt probably got off track on the roller in the door frame and bound up even more between other stationary parts when it was continually pulled to try to release it.

If you can get to it by removing all the plastic covers, this may be what you find.
 
Apparently your son's "adviser" has confused seat belts with airbags.

As stated above, pull off shrouds, have a peek.
 
seat belts

Please note that the seat belts go through the upper corner of the seat. They are not visible at all. There is no shroud.
 
seat belts

Ox,

Don't know about it being wrecked. It looks and drives fine. If it was wrecked they sure put it back together nice. If it was wrecked it wouldn't bother me, I have owned a couple of vehicles that I have bought as salvage vehicles and we put 'em back together and drove the heck out of 'em (one of them my son totalled in a different accident and the other one my step father totalled - I will only put them back together once).

Joe
 
Joe,

Disconnect both batteries for a couple minutes, reconnect batteries then try the seat belts. My 99 dually will do that sometimes if you let the seat back tilt forward too fast. The local Dodge dealer told me that it usually happens when the key is on, like in listening to radio and letting the seat go forwards too fast.

RDB
 
Sharpshootermb

Joe these vehicles have a seat belt control timer module which control solenoids in the seat belt retractors. You may well have a fault in the system, loss of power supply or poor ground? This is part of the passive restraint system. The advisor talking of something firing and sticking the seat belt is talking about what is called seat belt pretensioners. These are part of some of the new vehicles restraint systems. These are activated along with airbags depending on the severity of the crash involved. Like the other guy said disconnecting the battery may clear a fault or reset the seat belt control. If not look around under the seat and make sure your wire connectors there are connected and not broken etc.
 
Joe,

Disconnect both batteries for a couple minutes, reconnect batteries then try the seat belts. My 99 dually will do that sometimes if you let the seat back tilt forward too fast. The local Dodge dealer told me that it usually happens when the key is on, like in listening to radio and letting the seat go forwards too fast.

RDB

RDB,

That's what I love about this forum. No matter what my problem is, there is almost sure to be someone who has some insight! Thank you.

OK, but what's this about "both" batteries? We have the regular 12v battery under the hood that provides power to the starter and everything right? Is there another battery somewhere?

Joe
 
seat belts

For those who have been following this thread FWIW, the person who have my son this piece of information was an Ohio State Highway Patrolman who was the investigating officer at the scene of an accident my son was involved in. I think he was a lying piece of trash but that is another issue.

Joe
 
"Both Batts"

See the guy that posted that? Name is one ton or dually or equiv.

We'll say for arguements sake that means he's got a real motor under the hood. Those real motors have two batts. Yours prolly don't. If you only see one - it's got one.

:p


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Anyone know where I can find plastic "jerry" cans either at a chain store/hdwr, or in the tri-state area on NW Ohio?
Ox
 
Ox is right. I'm not use to Dodge trucks with gas engines. Only thing around here that runs on gas is the lawn mower and weedeater. Both trucks have Cummins diesel engines, even my mud buggy is cummins powered and they all have two batteries.
 
Apparently your son's "adviser" has confused seat belts with airbags.

Apparently not.

Many late model vehicles have seat belt tensioners that retract the belt in the event of a collision. All that I have personally seen were round cylinders about 4" long and about 3/4" diameter and they do have an explosion to retract the belt (probably about 2"-3" travel). But it's all contained it the cylinder. The ones that I'm aware of are all contained in the latch side of the belt (buckle section w/button) which would be to the right of the driver and would not effect normal operation of the regular belt retractor which is on the left of the driver.

If the belt tensioner is deployed in a collision it will turn on the air bag warning lamp, same as air bag deployed or malfunction. The lamp will remain on until repairs are made, it can not be just turned off with a scan tool or whatever. If the air bag light is not on this suggest the problem is the regular belt retractor on the left of the driver.

Every vehicle determined to be a total loss by an insurance company is sold at auction. 99.9 percent of them are bought by re builders. The re builder is not concerned with customer satisfaction and apparently not the federal government. If the seat belt tensioner is deployed it's a simple fix to install a 29 cent resistor in the circuit. It satisfies the air bag monitor and keeps the lamp out. There are lots of quality re builders out there but I think they are out numbered by the shysters. Even if your lamp is out it doesn't prove the retractor is OK.

Manny vehicles have a switch located in the door, most are located in the B pillar that urges the belt to rewind when the door is opened. Open the door and slam shut several times

Remove the upholstery from the seat and have a look. It's not very hard to do on most late models. I can't speak for the Dodge but on a Ford at the bottom of the seat back the upholstery is fastened together like a "zip lock bag" just pull it apart and then roll the upholstery inside out, up the seat back.

If you determine the (left) retractor is malfunctioning I would suggest you don't try to repair it. It's assembled like a swiss watch and the outer parts are plastic and must be broken to get inside. It can be done:) but it's a federal offense.

Have a few beers and call me in the a-a-a when the snow melts off.
 
I loaf a bit at a friends garage/body shop, and some cars seatbelts DO get locked up in an accident. CANNOT be freed, need to be replaced, and I think this is in air bag deployment.

I've seen some that should be totalled in their shop. When they leave, they look like they came off the showroom floor. Amazing what a good body shop with a frame machine can do. Side of the cab crushed in foot and a half, heat and hammer and pull and reskin it, if the Insurance Company says they will pay 15 grand to fix a truck that still lists at 25 in the Blue Book.

Owner picks it up, says it looks like new, then says "It's going straight to the Dealer as a tradein. I know it was wrecked."

Ox,

I don't know how much they cost, but I think you can get the "jerry can" looking plastics, semi-clear, at Motocross dealers, or racing dealers. My friend has them, but he has gotten a lot of static from a couple stations when he tries to fill them.

They ain't Red, gas cans, and they ain't Blue, Kero cans. Idjits at self serves know red and blue, a clear says "Race Fuel", they don't know nothin' about that. Shut him off one time part full, went in to complain, they said he couldn't put gas in that can, he told them to call the manager of the Giant Eagle whose Git'go this was, also called the cops. He was pissed.

The boss came out, his boy raced with my friend's son, said "I fill my same cans every week here, fill the damned cans.", went outside to tell the cops, sirens and flashing lights, to go home, ain't no problem here.

You might not have that advantage. I had a similar some time ago. Tried to put Kero in a gas can for a wash tank, lady ran out and shut off the pump. "You can't DO that!!!"

Went home, sprayed it blue, no prob.

Wierd world we live in.

Cheers,

George
 
RalphP,

Thanks for the post. Are you saying that a simple 29 cent resistor restores the seatbelt system to normal, or that it will fool the computer that it is good to go?

Reread, it seems to say it satisfies the monitor, but actually has fired its charge, and in another collision, you don't have the protection that you think you have.

Thanks again.

Cheers,

George
 
Door switch

Joe, my 99 ram has the same issue. In my case the belt wouldn't pull out at all. Then I noticed that if I opened the passengers door first, the belts would work! Unfortunately, after around 20 min/miles the belt idiot light comes on and the belts lock. If I open the door everything resets and the belts release.

The drivers door open switch was bad, as soon as I replaced it, the belts worked, but I still have the "time lock" problem.

I'm wondering if there is a seat switch that is flaky. Then again Sharpshootermb's comment about a timer may be something?

I haven't had time to really research what may be the problem since this is my spare vehicle and it's cold out, so it's not urgent, but I hope this helps.

Dave
 
I know smog stuff has to last 10 years or be repaired at makers cost. Some how I thought that was true for seat belts and airbags systems as well?
Bill D.
 








 
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