Jammed Middle Seat Belt

[Jimmi]

I regularly take the seats out of my Kombi, usually about twice a week, every now and again the centre seatbelt on the double seat gets stuck. I can usually free it up by folding the seat flat and wiggling it, however this time it is properly stuck does anyone have any solutions how to unjam it before I get the Stanley knife out and do something I regret!

 

[Eli]

I regularly take the seats out of my Kombi, usually about twice a week, every now and again the centre seatbelt on the double seat gets stuck. I can usually free it up by folding the seat flat and wiggling it, however this time it is properly stuck does anyone have any solutions how to unjam it before I get the Stanley knife out and do something I regret!

See if the seat will squash down a little further to take the pressure off the seat belt mechanism

 

[Fish]

Unbolt it?.

 

[DaveyB]

My thoughts are the same as @Fish. Might be awkward to get to the inertia wheel with it being in the seat, however the clasp is held on by a couple of torx bolts under the seat I seem to recall. That might just give enough slack to get the inertia wheel to release.
If you’ve done it a few times; do you fold the seat down with the belt buckle in the clasp?

 

[F2JON]

Mine does the same but I just have to push the seat belt up to where it comes out the seat and it realeases.

 

[Jimmi]

When I fold the seat it goes slack, it won’t go in or out.

 

[Jimmi]

My thoughts are the same as @Fish. Might be awkward to get to the inertia wheel with it being in the seat, however the clasp is held on by a couple of torx bolts under the seat I seem to recall. That might just give enough slack to get the inertia wheel to release.
If you’ve done it a few times; do you fold the seat down with the belt buckle in the clasp?

No I just fold it forward and take it out

 

[F2JON]

When I fold the seat it goes slack, it won’t go in or out.View attachment 56053

That’s wiered

 

[Jimmi]

That’s wiered

It’s driving me mad!

 

[killisickconversions]

The mechanism needs to be at a certain angle before it releases, when you come to reinstall it in the van, tilt the whole seat backwards first so that the back rest is in a near upright position and then pull what bit of the belt you can. Once you've got some slack, clip the seat in and you should be good to go.

 

[Jimmi]

The mechanism needs to be at a certain angle before it releases, when you come to reinstall it in the van, tilt the whole seat backwards first so that the back rest is in a near upright position and then pull what bit of the belt you can. Once you've got some slack, clip the seat in and you should be good to go.

When you say near upright do you mean upside down? If the seat back is folded flat and I rotate it backwards the headrests will be facing towards the ground?

 

[Jimmi]

@killisickconversions Just to confirm the belt is jammed with the seat back in its upright position. So when I fold it flat there is slack in it. See the pic above. When the seat is upright it’s as tight as fook.

 

[killisickconversions]

Sorry, wasn't the clearest. When it's folded flat, tilt the whole seat back so the headrests are pointing up. It should release when the angle is right. When you have some slack in the belt, clip it in position.

 

[Jimmi]

Sorry, wasn't the clearest. When it's folded flat, tilt the whole seat back so the headrests are pointing up. It should release when the angle is right. When you have some slack in the belt, clip it in position.

Cheers again for your help but I’ve tried everything, it’s proper jammed. So my 5 seater is effectively a 4 seater. It’s the little things like this that’ll make me look elsewhere next time I by a van. I’d never have another Crafter due to similar issues.

 

[killisickconversions]

It's a shame you're not closer, I'd have taken a look for you.

 

[Jimmi]

How hard is it to actually get to the seatbelt unit?

 

[killisickconversions]

Bit of a pain to be fair. When it's folded, look at the bottom edge of the backrest, you'll see where the front part of the upholstery meets the back. They clip together with what I'd explain as plastic U channel.
With the U channel apart, you'll then possibly need to remove some staples which keep the fabric taught. Possibly some other elasticated clips near the centre folding mechanism which will unclip by hand. Then the fun starts, when you attempt to remove the upholstery, you'll see some metal rods (on the front) which hook in to the seat, you'll need to get your pliers to unhook them. Once done, slowly remove the cover checking for anything else that is possibly keeping it attached.

 

[Jimmi]

That’s a bit too involved, the van is barely a year old. I’ll have to take it back

 

[Lone Wolf]

I had the same problem and got frustrated with it and probably had about 30mm slack and just gave it a bit of GBH from left to right for about a minute and it just freed up? Know its probably the wrong way but it worked?

 

[Jimmi]

I had the same problem and got frustrated with it and probably had about 30mm slack and just gave it a bit of GBH from left to right for about a minute and it just freed up? Know its probably the wrong way but it worked?

I’ve had a go at it about 5 times and every time I’ve walked away swearing. It’s almost become personal! I’m dangerously close to cutting it off out of anger When the seat is up right it pulls so tight that it’s probably f**ked now anyway.