Frt Seat Shoulder Belt Slow to Retract/Not Long Enough (Replace Both Retractors)

Some owners may comment that the driver's and/or passenger front seat shoulder belt(s) is slow to retract when not in use, or that the belt material is not long enough to fit around a larger occupant even though the belt system complies with MVSS 209.

Install new driver AND passenger front seat shoulder belt retractors using the service procedures in Section 9 of the appropriate 1997-99 Service Manual.

Important: Due to a slight appearance difference in the webbing on these new belts, if replacement of an ORIGINAL PRODUCTION front seat shoulder/lap belt on the above described vehicles is required, then both the driver and front seat passenger belts must be replaced. It is not necessary to replace the front seat belt buckles or the rear seat shoulder/lap belts.

To determine what length shoulder belt is currently installed in the vehicle, perform the following procedure.

Figure 1




1. Verify that the shoulder belt height adjuster (1) on the "B" pillar is in it's lowest possible position. Refer to Figure 1. Do not measure the shoulder belt material length if the height adjuster is in any other position. Doing so will result in inaccurate measurements.
2. With the shoulder belt material fully retracted into the retractor, place a piece of masking tape (2) on the belt material where it comes out through the "D" ring (3) on the height adjuster. Refer to Figure 1.

Figure 2




3. Pull or fully extend the shoulder belt material out of the retractor as far as possible and hold. Refer to Figure 2. When fully extended, the shoulder belt material will be considerably longer than that shown in the illustration.
4. Using a tape measure (4), measure the length of the shoulder belt material from the "D" ring (3) on the height adjuster (1) to the masking tape (2). Refer to Figure 2.
5. After measuring, remove the masking tape from the shoulder belt material.

If the shoulder belt material length while fully extended is LESS THAN 1480 mm (58 inches), the vehicle has the shorter shoulder belt installed. Install the new shoulder belt retractors with the longer material length.

If the shoulder belt material length while fully extended is MORE THAN 1480 mm (58 inches), the vehicle already has the new longer shoulder belt installed. See Group 16.714 of the appropriate GMSPO Parts Catalog for seat belt extender availability.

Parts are currently available from GMSPO

For vehicles repaired under warranty, use: