My neighbor has a problem with his '76 Maverick's front seatbelt retractor. His drivers side seatbelt is stuck in the retractor. The belt will go down into the retractor but it will not release it. I checked the belt to be sure it wasn't twisted inside the retractor but that is not the problem. Tugging on the belt does nothing. I'm thinking we may have to remove the whole assembly, drill out the rivets and take the retractor apart to fix the problem. Has anyone else had this happen to them and what did you do to remedy the problem?
My guess is that it can't be fixed. I have seen this problem before...and it was a plastic piece of the "cam" that was broke off. Worth removing and taking a look, because I have also seen a lodged quarter do the same thing.
I had this same issue after I left my mav sitting for a while and it got stuck. I sprayed WD40 into the small hole on the front of the plastic cover (closest to the front of the car) so it actually hit the mechanism instead of the belt and that fixed it for me after a bit of playing with it. Hope this helps!
Geez I feel stupid. I forgot I posted this question. There is a possibility that something could have fallen into the seatbelt assembly. A piece of the plastic housing where the seatbelt slides in and out of has broken off so maybe it fell inside. My neighbor really isn't that concerned about it right now so it may not get fixed until Spring. I will try the WD40 trick first before we take it apart and see if that helps. Thanks for your replies.
