Xantia rear seat belts

[GB]

The rear seat belts on my Xantia estate do not retract fully, the retractor reels are very weak - is there a way to fix them?

Cheers,
GB

[AndersDK]

Make sure the belt guides allows the belt to spool up evenly.
It sometimes helps pulling out the complete lenght of belt and then help the belt spooling up very clean and evenly. You would also quickly see if the belt has twisted in the guides. (you must have visual access to the spool)

The spooler can not be retensioned by any common means - and it is NOT advisable to mengle with a safety device. Try your luck on a scrapyard to find a pair with better retraction.

[davek-uk]

My Xantia failed the MoT for non retracting rear seatbelts the time before last. Don't do the same as me and take the seat belt unit apart! Wow, the spring in them is lethal. It took me ages - and a bit of luck - to get it back together. It made no difference. I did spray some liquid grease into both the units but this didn't make much difference either.

The problem, as I found it, wasn't in the unit but in the swivel and bodywork at the top restricting the belt as it tried to retract. With the plastic column cover off, the belt retracted fine. I experemented with lots of changes and in the end I put a spacer behind the swivel (to bring it closer to the belt slot) and cut away some of the plastic to reshape the belt slot.

The rear belts now retract fine and have passed two MoTs.

[BonceChops]

Mine do the same on my estate. Every so often when they are getting bad I use a little furnature polish on a cloth and wipe it on the plastic part that the belt rubs on as it passes onto the top belt support. This helps make the plastiv slippy so the belt reels in better. A little cleaning of the back side of the belt might help as well.