Porkys2 Posted December 24, 2014 Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 Any idea why the seatbelts won't retract after drivers and passenger dash air bags blew. I'm confused why they would get loose in an accident and not tighten up to hold you back in the seat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thirdgenlxi Posted December 24, 2014 Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 Seatbelts are a 1 time use thing..... in a crash serious enough to deploy airbags, the seatbelts have their own electronic locking mechanism, comtrolled by the restraint control module, that will lock them into place wherever they are, along with the pretensioner, which is on the buckle. It has a "charge" similar to that of the airbag, just without the bag. It pulls the buckle down really fast (ie shortens the length of the 'stalk' that attaches the buckle to the vehicle body) to help lock the seat belt reaaalllly fast and pull it tight. All of this happens immediately when the airbags go off. So basically anytime the airbags go off you need to replace the seatbelts and pretensioners (buckles), and most times the restraint control module as well for everything to work right again. It's all 1 time use 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omar302 Posted December 24, 2014 Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 There are 2 systems included in the front seat belts: pretensioners & energy management retractors. Pretensioners remove the slack in the seatbelts when an accident is detected. These are part of the buckle as thirdgenlxi stated above. Energy management retractors release (or adds some slack) to the seatbelts when a certain load is reached, when a person's chest is pressed hard on a shoulder belt that might cause injury the seatbelts would release a bit to reduce the load. Usually this is part of the retractor assembly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWWPerfA_ZN0W Posted December 24, 2014 Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 Good info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbwt Posted December 25, 2014 Report Share Posted December 25, 2014 Safety note: don't go playing with it and removing the tensioning system devices unless you are really sure you know what you are doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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