My son visited this past weekend and I noticed quite a length of the
driver's seatbelt laying on the floor behind the front seat. I tried to
wind / feed it back in, but was not very successful. I went to the dealer
who told me the 86 Zx seatbelt had an extended warranty but not the 85.
Why is that? The price of a new seatbelt (part only) is around $85. I
have owned the car since 1990, and have always had to help the seatbelts
to retract. It is not twisted, but the return spring is sooo weak! Thanks
in advance for any insight or assistance.

duckbill wrote:

It's probably twisted inside the panel or has goop on it. Take the panel off
and see if it's twisted or use an approved cleaner on the belt. I've never
seen the spring being the problem.
--

Steve

http://www.atlantaracing.com

Thanks Steve, as I have said, the belts on this car has always (since 1990)
had very weak retractors. I wonder why the 86 seatbelts are covered by an
extended warranty, but not the 85. I talked to Nissan and they are
looking at the problem. I was told Nissan has been moving the warranty
issues on seatbelts around quite a bit. From lifetime to 10 years, etc.

The new 1986 seatbelt (date of manufacture 2005) works wonderfully in my 85
ZX, even though the parts guys say it would not fit. A small amount of
fileing was required to the small upper screw mounting hole on the
retraction mechanism. What a difference, my dealer sold me the belt with
a steep discount at under $72. If It was an 86, the belts would still be
under warranty. What a difference. The old belt would only spool in 3
inches of belt, no goo, no twists, just defective I guess. It was a very
easy job to replace the front belt.