wtb: front driver and passenger seat belts, blue 4door 89 lxi

[86km]

im located in northern Oklahoma and need these two things. mine are unraveled on the edges pretty badly. please send me a pm with your asking price if you have them.

thanks, Kris

[lostforawhile]

they are supposed to be covered by a lifetime warranty, there was also a recall

[86km]

no kidding! so pardon my inexperience with a stealership giving me things I need instead of high repair bills. what makes them qualify for it? mine are fraying at the edges pretty badly, almost halfway through the driver's side and starting to on the passenger

[charliekuney]

The recall was for the buckles only and only in the coupe and hatch models. Honda provides a lifetime warranty for all seat belt related parts, although they only carry black.

[86km]

that's fine with me. black it is. so I shall call a dealership and give them my vin#?

[lostforawhile]

The recall was for the buckles only and only in the coupe and hatch models. Honda provides a lifetime warranty for all seat belt related parts, although they only carry black.

the recall may be, but the belts have a lifetime warranty, and it was all the models with that brand of belt, it wasn't specific to the coupe or hatch, the same belt manufacturer made belts for Honda, Toyota, Nissan, etc, the recall was huge

[gp02a0083]

Service Bulletin Number: 95V103001 or NHTSA Recall No. 95V-103
deals with the buckle, not the belt itself, indeed it affected roughly 11 manufacturers back in 1995 being the buckle and latching assemblies would fail and cause further injury being ABS plastic was used. Honda was fined being the recall came about 5 years later. Honda agreed to replace any damaged buckles or those buckles which fail to operate safely free of charge. If the front buckle assembly is in good condition, Honda will install a "Seat Belt Buckle Guide." A lifetime warranty applies to Honda automobiles for any seat belt malfunction that is not the result of an accident or user abuse. They will typically charge a diagnostic fee to determine this. BTW it was the TAKATA corp that produced these belts.... same as the recent air bags issue.

I would suggest calling up the nearest dealership and make arrangements on having the seat belts replaced, I did find a few other suppliers for the OEM belts what are in a few other colors besides black. However, prices of these assemblies near $300

[lostforawhile]

Service Bulletin Number: 95V103001 or NHTSA Recall No. 95V-103
deals with the buckle, not the belt itself, indeed it affected roughly 11 manufacturers back in 1995 being the buckle and latching assemblies would fail and cause further injury being ABS plastic was used. Honda was fined being the recall came about 5 years later. Honda agreed to replace any damaged buckles or those buckles which fail to operate safely free of charge. If the front buckle assembly is in good condition, Honda will install a "Seat Belt Buckle Guide." A lifetime warranty applies to Honda automobiles for any seat belt malfunction that is not the result of an accident or user abuse. They will typically charge a diagnostic fee to determine this. BTW it was the TAKATA corp that produced these belts.... same as the recent air bags issue.

I would suggest calling up the nearest dealership and make arrangements on having the seat belts replaced, I did find a few other suppliers for the OEM belts what are in a few other colors besides black. However, prices of these assemblies near $300
when I had my recall done, they replaced a frayed belt without even asking, no charge for it, I asked them and they said it was covered under the belt warranty, so definitely check with the dealer

[charliekuney]

These recalls were all related to late 80's and early 90's vehicles that chose to have "passive-manual seat belts" so they did NOT have to have airbags. These seat belts are always located on the door and were intended to be left buckled 100% of the time, which is why the buckles on the coupes and hatches say "emergency release". A lot of American cars from the early 90's have this style of belts. Very few, if any, European cars have them since Europe required airbags from the start. The buckles were recalled because most everyone misused the passive-manual belts by unbuckling and buckling them every time they entered and exited the vehicle, which these buckles were not designed to do. (The plastic clip that buckled to the metal buckle would break.) Notice: If you leave the front seat belts of a coupe or a hatch buckled and you open the door you will be able to slide out from beneath them! When driver and front passenger airbags became required almost worldwide, the passive-manual and motorized passive-automatic seat belts became extinct except in a few, rare cases.

Note: This requirement came to North America sometime in 1986 or 1987 which is why the first year or year-and-a-half of the hatchbacks have the standard belts on the b-pillar, which inherently is much safer because if you get into an accident with the passive-manual or passive-automatic belts on the doors and the doors open upon impact...there goes your seat belt!

Edit: This is also why all JDM/EDM aerodecks and coupes have standard seat belts on the b-pillar.

[lostforawhile]

These recalls were all related to late 80's and early 90's vehicles that chose to have "passive-manual seat belts" so they did NOT have to have airbags. These seat belts are always located on the door and were intended to be left buckled 100% of the time, which is why the buckles on the coupes and hatches say "emergency release". A lot of American cars from the early 90's have this style of belts. Very few, if any, European cars have them since Europe required airbags from the start. The buckles were recalled because most everyone misused the passive-manual belts by unbuckling and buckling them every time they entered and exited the vehicle, which these buckles were not designed to do. (The plastic clip that buckled to the metal buckle would break.) Notice: If you leave the front seat belts of a coupe or a hatch buckled and you open the door you will be able to slide out from beneath them! When driver and front passenger airbags became required almost worldwide, the passive-manual and motorized passive-automatic seat belts became extinct except in a few, rare cases.

Note: This requirement came to North America sometime in 1986 or 1987 which is why the first year or year-and-a-half of the hatchbacks have the standard belts on the b-pillar, which inherently is much safer because if you get into an accident with the passive-manual or passive-automatic belts on the doors and the doors open upon impact...there goes your seat belt!

Edit: This is also why all JDM/EDM aerodecks and coupes have standard seat belts on the b-pillar.

the non passive belts were also recalled, it was the plastic in the buckles disintegrating, the pieces of plastic would get into the mechanism and keep it from locking olr unlocking, UV light was the main culprit the plastic would break down. both my drivers and passengers buckles failed, the ones near the center of the car

[gp02a0083]

These recalls were all related to late 80's and early 90's vehicles that chose to have "passive-manual seat belts" so they did NOT have to have airbags. These seat belts are always located on the door and were intended to be left buckled 100% of the time, which is why the buckles on the coupes and hatches say "emergency release". A lot of American cars from the early 90's have this style of belts. Very few, if any, European cars have them since Europe required airbags from the start. The buckles were recalled because most everyone misused the passive-manual belts by unbuckling and buckling them every time they entered and exited the vehicle, which these buckles were not designed to do. (The plastic clip that buckled to the metal buckle would break.) Notice: If you leave the front seat belts of a coupe or a hatch buckled and you open the door you will be able to slide out from beneath them! When driver and front passenger airbags became required almost worldwide, the passive-manual and motorized passive-automatic seat belts became extinct except in a few, rare cases.

Note: This requirement came to North America sometime in 1986 or 1987 which is why the first year or year-and-a-half of the hatchbacks have the standard belts on the b-pillar, which inherently is much safer because if you get into an accident with the passive-manual or passive-automatic belts on the doors and the doors open upon impact...there goes your seat belt!

Edit: This is also why all JDM/EDM aerodecks and coupes have standard seat belts on the b-pillar.

Correct , the recall pertains up to 91 models according to records, but did not exclude models up to 95 when the recall was issued. Also may be something with EDM and JDM dot regulations that required the B-pillar mounting.


the non passive belts were also recalled, it was the plastic in the buckles disintegrating, the pieces of plastic would get into the mechanism and keep it from locking olr unlocking, UV light was the main culprit the plastic would break down. both my drivers and passengers buckles failed, the ones near the center of the car

As mentioned in my post it was due to the specific ABS plastic they used that degraded under UV light, not all of them failed ( my 1st & current 89 lxi hatch) and received the added plastic part to the buckle assembly (my 87 lxi hatch). The belt assembly and the buckle / latch are considered different units, belt assembly is lifetime warranty for workmanship, the buckle is a separate aspect that deals with the NHTSA recall specifically the belt buckles either failing to latch / latching and releasing automatically / or releasing in accidents. In my previous post, I indicated it is possible to find the belts in other colors besides black and they are expensive if that route is chosen, otherwise let the dealership do the leg work and see what they dig up.

[charliekuney]

Partially on topic: Does anyone know what the retrofitted "seat belt buckle guides" actually do? Do they just "assist" you with correctly inserting the buckle into the latch? Or do they prevent the buckle from wiggling inside of the latch, as to not damage the plastic pieces that were breaking?

lost, you should be happy with your seat belts. If you get into an accident and your door flies open since these cars are getting pretty old now and don't quite hold up in accidents with newer cars, your life could be saved. I will never again own a vehicle with seat belts on the doors. #Mercedes

[lostforawhile]

Partially on topic: Does anyone know what the retrofitted "seat belt buckle guides" actually do? Do they just "assist" you with correctly inserting the buckle into the latch? Or do they prevent the buckle from wiggling inside of the latch, as to not damage the plastic pieces that were breaking?

lost, you should be happy with your seat belts. If you get into an accident and your door flies open since these cars are getting pretty old now and don't quite hold up in accidents with newer cars, your life could be saved. I will never again own a vehicle with seat belts on the doors. #MercedesI'm just glad mine has traditional belts and not those stupid door belts, if you can weld, there are plenty of DOT approved aftermarket seat belt kits, not just lap belts, but with the shoulder strap, get rid of the door belt, weld in the anchors for standard belts, and problem solved

[gp02a0083]

Partially on topic: Does anyone know what the retrofitted "seat belt buckle guides" actually do? Do they just "assist" you with correctly inserting the buckle into the latch? Or do they prevent the buckle from wiggling inside of the latch, as to not damage the plastic pieces that were breaking?

Yah pretty much added support to the latch