How do you unjam a seatbelt from the track on a Ford Escort?

Answer 1

HI, I assume youre writing about the automatic seatbelt. This is a motor, track and cable assembly. The motor is located behind the door pillar, near the floor on the latching side of the door. The motor is directly attached to the cable, which runs in the track, attaching to the seatbelt clip at the other end. When the door opens, a switch is released and the motor runs in direction A, reeling the cable in until the belt clip unit hits the other end of the track and switches the motor off. When the door closes, the opposite happens. So, generally, when one of these things gets 'stuck' what has happened is that the cable, which is supposed to be tucked inside of the track, has worked itself out (often happens if the belt clip or seatbelt itself is inadvertently held in place while the door opens, and the pulling force of the motor pulls the cable out of the track instead of back throught it). So now the answer, how to fix it. First the track and cable will have to be inspected, which may be more work than you bargained for, but have no fear, the entire job is as easy as car repairs get. So you take the molding off (it snaps off) that covers the track running above the door. you will see the track. If there is a loop of cable sticking out, here is the problem (usually this will be if the seatbelt is 'stuck'). Now the track is just a U- shaped beam of metal, so the trough of the track can be bent open a bit to shove the cable back in. This is the only chance at a fix (read NO COST repair), and is kind of a long shot. It is easy to do, BUT, the plastic coating on the cable often gets damaged when it is wedged out in the first place, and if that is so, chances are it will get caught again in the near future. ALSO, if there is to be bending of the track, it can be a trick to bend back into a happy state of workability. SO, MY recommedation is to call the the nearest junk yard, and get the track, motor and cable as an entire assembly - about $50, and very common. Once you have the trim cover off, there are only about 8 screws and a couple plugs. You will find the whole assembly is easy to work with, and the whole works goes in and out w/o much fuss. Like I said its about as easy a repair as cars offer, and trying to work with a damaged track/cable is just not worth it. Hope this helps someone, good luck! -peachanu