Electric Seatbelt Stopped Working

[Eddie5150]

Hey Gang

I have a 1993 Mazda MX3 and the drivers side electric seatbelt stopped working. Is there a specific fuse I could check? I dont have any info on the order of fuses in the fusebox, but I would think this would be the first thing to check? Thanks for any replies.

[dmmphoto]

hey, i have had the same problem, but there is a solution. The automatic seat belts in early model mx-3's had a defect, and were recalled by mazda. If you go to your local mazda dealership and ask them about it they should help you. If the vin from you car matches the recall, which it sounds like it would because I had the same problem, they will replace both of the seat belts, free of charge. The problem with the belts was that the coating on the cable that runs the belt gets stuck in the metal track and it just gets all jammed up and then they stop working. As long as nobody else has gotten it fixed through a mazda dealer yet, you should have no problems getting it fixed. (and for free, because it was a recall item, they cannot charge you for it!)

[Eddie5150]

You are the king of all kings! I will try that for sure.

[390ish]

mine died as well. a previous owner took it mazda years ago and had it fixed per the recall. mazda won't fix it again and the parts cost $860.00 from mazda. has put me in a bind and don't really know what to do. would like to sell the car now that i have another car. sure i could get more money if i had a seat belt that actually worked.

[dmmphoto]

Yes, I know how you feel. When mine broke i was afraid i was going to have to fix it myself and fork out the money. They are about 400 dollars apiece. If you are mechanically inclined and don't mind getting your hands dirty, you can sort of "fix" the problem. When mine first happened i actually managed to fix it myself for a short period of time. If you take off the interior trim piece above the door, as well as the interior piece next to the rear drivers door, you can access the entire motor and track unit. I actually took the entire seatbelt track and motor assembly out to see what was wrong with it at first. If you look were the unit actually stores the cable, next to the motor unit, its a white plastic round housing, there is a place were you can put a large allen wrench into and manually turn the seatbelt to return it. If you can manage to return the belt to the position were you would be wearing the belt while driving you have a temporary fix. Just pull the fuse for the seatbelt, and it will stay back. This keeps the belt in a position that it will actually function as a seatbelt, instead of just a belt that is stuck in the middle of the track (like mine was). This worked for me, for a while AS LONG As you remember to pull the fuse. If the belt can move it will more than likely get stuck again. It is a pain getting in and out of the car and having to climb under the belt or re attach it every time, but better safe than sorry.
I have to say i did get lucky because mazda agreed to fix mine per the recall, but I dont really know if they could tell that i had attempted a repair with the unit before.