2008 Honda Element passenger seat belt locking mechanism

The passenger side seat belt on my Element is very touchy. It seems
to want to slowly "constrict" the wearer. What I mean is that after
attaching the seat belt it constantly wants to retract as is normal
but eventually it also will not extend even when done very slowly.
For instance once the passenger has fastened the seat belt they will
find that after awhile they cannot lean forward without it locking
regardless of car motion. The driver's side belt operates normally.
When I ride in the passenger seat it does the same thing to me. After
a time the problem always necessitates the passenger undoing and
reattaching the belt.

Any help would be appreciated.

Patty

 

Take it to your dealership and have the problem dealt with through the
proper channels. It's under warranty after all.

 

Take it to your dealership and have the problem dealt with through the
proper channels. It's under warranty after all.


The car is of course under warranty and I plan on taking it to the
dealer if I cannot figure out the problem by other means. I thought
perhaps there might be something I was not understanding about the
seat belt and that I might be able to solve the problem without going
to the dealer. However, in any event I'd like to know a bit more
about it before I have to approach the dealer and go through their
system.

I like my Element and I have had only one minor problem with a seat
cushion with this car and that took 5 trips to and from the dealer to
get fixed supposedly due to the Honda/Dealer warranty protocol. That
was a total of 10 (ten) 40 minute/20 mile commutes... 1) go get it
checked and scheduled for a "fix", 2) return home, 3) drop off at
dealer who sends it out to get "fixed" when anyone could see it needed
replaced, 4) return home, 5) go pick-up semi-fixed, 6) return home
unhappy, 7) then drop off to get cushion replaced, 8) return home, 9)
go pick-up finally fixed, 10) return home riding on my beautiful new
cushion.

Warranty work isn't always as free as it seems. I have found that
some knowledge about a problem before I go to the dealer helps me and
often saves me time, trouble, and perhaps the runaround, but thanks
for your advice.

Patty

 

"Patty" wrote

From your description I'm assuming you're referring to the shoulder belt.
Mine sometimes locks up, preventing me from leaning forward. I have to lean
back all the way to allow the belt to "re-do something..." and then it
behaves normally again. I don't know what sets it off, but especially since
it happens just once in a great while, I never considered it a problem that
needed fixing.

 

Yep dealers are for the most part blind and deaf when it comes to warranty
work.

Here is what I did last time to get my Toyota dealers attention. He called
me to pick up the car and told me he could not duplicate the problem. I
said "OK, no problem but don't bitch at me when I give you a flunking grade
when I get a survey on the quality of your service." Guess what... he had
the mechanic take another look at the car and resolve the problem.



Take it to your dealership and have the problem dealt with through the
proper channels. It's under warranty after all.


The car is of course under warranty and I plan on taking it to the
dealer if I cannot figure out the problem by other means. I thought
perhaps there might be something I was not understanding about the
seat belt and that I might be able to solve the problem without going
to the dealer. However, in any event I'd like to know a bit more
about it before I have to approach the dealer and go through their
system.

I like my Element and I have had only one minor problem with a seat
cushion with this car and that took 5 trips to and from the dealer to
get fixed supposedly due to the Honda/Dealer warranty protocol. That
was a total of 10 (ten) 40 minute/20 mile commutes... 1) go get it
checked and scheduled for a "fix", 2) return home, 3) drop off at
dealer who sends it out to get "fixed" when anyone could see it needed
replaced, 4) return home, 5) go pick-up semi-fixed, 6) return home
unhappy, 7) then drop off to get cushion replaced, 8) return home, 9)
go pick-up finally fixed, 10) return home riding on my beautiful new
cushion.

Warranty work isn't always as free as it seems. I have found that
some knowledge about a problem before I go to the dealer helps me and
often saves me time, trouble, and perhaps the runaround, but thanks
for your advice.

Patty

 

Read the manual - specifically the part about attaching child/booster car
seats. If you pull the seatbelt out pretty far (ie: if your passenger is
large or they just like to give the belt some slack) then it will ratchet
tighter and tighter. This is by design for securing child car seats
tightly. Undo the belt and start again, but don't pull it out so far
before attaching.


a

 

I was unaware that these cars were designed to have small children in
the front seat because of the air bag. In fact I thought that was
quite specifically a no-no. But after further review you are correct
in that my manual does say that all seat belts but the driver's belt
have the feature you described. Odd and unfortunate but it is what it
is.

Unfortunately this problem does seem to happen all the time to a
friend of mine that is fairly large (5'11" and #225) or particularly
after someone, even someone quite small, needs to lean forward to
reach something in the glove box or on the floor. My larger friend
always ends up buckling it behind them even though without knowing why
they have been able to reset it by letting it retract all the way. It
just happens so frequently that it is just intolerable. Shoulder
belts weren't meant to operate this way and that itself creates a
safety issue.

Perhaps a seat belt extender is in order. A quick search turned up
the fact that apparently Honda pointedly doesn't make seat belt
extenders which I suspect is due to liability issues but some vehicle
manufacturers do. Aftermarket types available for Honda (and other
models) include the following:

Male/female clip to clip type (probably better for occasional use):

http://members.aol.com/sushistix/ho.html

End of belt to floor attachment bolt on permanent type:

http://www.gotbelts.com/unsebeex.html?gclid=CNCM4qGEvZQCFQSwFQodwH2jUg

a, thank you very much for your help in this matter.

Patty