Front Seat Belt Retractor Problems of Ford Explorer - part 1

The contact owns a 1997 Ford Explorer. The contact stated the drivers side seat belt locked and she was unable to unlock it. The highway patrol had to cut the seat belt in order for her to get out of it. The manufacturer was notified and stated that there were no related recalls. They also stated that they would not be liable for replacing the seat belt. The failure mileage was 213,000. Updated 10/21/09. Updated 10/20/jb.

See all problems of the 1997 Ford Explorer 🔎.

The passenger front seat lap and shoulder belt assembly locks up for no apparent reason whenever a person sits in this seat.

See all problems of the 2006 Ford Explorer 🔎.

The Ford dealership in guam said I needed a new seat belt retractor and ordered it. That was in March 2007. It is now July 2007. If this is a safety issue then why is it so slow.

See all problems of the 2002 Ford Explorer 🔎.

: the contact stated the airbag light illuminated without incident. The vehicle was taken to the dealership, where it was determined the front seat belt retractors needed to be replaced.

The front driver's seat belt will not retract back, and the seat belt would be to loose for the consumer to wear. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem.

See all problems of the 2003 Ford Explorer 🔎.

My driver's side seat belt closes in the car door on a regular basis. I have brought this to the dealership attention but the response was that it retracted ok when they looked at it. My concern is that over time this may cause wear on the belt that would prevent it from working properly in the event of an accident.

See all problems of the 2001 Ford Explorer 🔎.

Driver's side front seat belt did not not retract. Consumer took vehicle to dealer for inspection, and mechanic replaced the seat belt twice already due to worn out parts.

Ref: odi id number : 10016221. I have the same problem with my 2003 Explorer as the referenced problem. When I get out of the driver's seat, the seat belt does not fully retract. Unless I physically "throw" the excess back into the vehicle, the door gets shut on the belt. I had to have the plastic button on the belt replaced because the door broke the original one.

Consumer states vehicle was involved in a collision, driver's side seat belt did not restrain occupant. As a result, driver sustained massive head injuries. Dealer notified.

The seat belts do not fully retract causing the seat belt to jam the door locking mechanism, resulting in the door not closing properly and opening at any given time!.

The front passenger-side seat belt unit locks up in fully retracted position, rendering it totally unusable.

The consumer was involved in a rollover accident. The consumer sustained injuries and believes the injuries were as a result of the seatbelt not locking.

See all problems of the 1999 Ford Explorer 🔎.

Both rear restraints do not retract, leaving occupants unrestrained. Feel free to provide any further information.

See all problems of the 1996 Ford Explorer 🔎.

Passenger's side front seat belt does not release when seat belt button is pushed to disengage.

Consumer was rear ended, and rear seat belt released, causing his child's safety seat to become loose. Consumer sustained some injuries.

See all problems of the 2000 Ford Explorer 🔎.

I was unable to release my child from his seat belt. When everyone else failed to be able to release the child, I carried the vehicle (with the child still constrained) to the dealer. The dealer's body shop had to remove the bolts from the roof of the vehicle to release the child. If there had been as accident and a fire, the child would have perished because the seat belt was jammed and would not allow for release.

I am not the owner of this vehicle, nor the driver. My brother-in-law was a passenger in the Ford Explorer and was killed at the scene. There is a question of whether he was wearing a seat belt and if it failed during the rollover of the vehicle. There is also a question of firestone tire failure. Both of the rear tires were missing the valve stems. We do not know if this occurred during the accident or if they blew out previously and that is what contributed to the accident. The driver was speeding, performed an unsafe lane change, then overcorrected, lost control, crossed the median strip into the opposite roadway, rolled over and hit another vehicle where another person was killed as a result of this collision. The driver was found "not guilty" in his manslaughter trial. So it seems this accident was attributed more to vehicle failure, even though there was driver error also.

Each time when closing driver's side door seat belt will be caught between door, and seat belt will not retract.

Seat belt catch released when extreme side impact on front passenger side.

Seat belt on front driver's side is not able to retract. Consumer is always closing door on seat belt. Contacted dealer.

Seatbelt retractor allowed excessive slack to be released during vehicle rollover. Occupant was partially ejected from vehicle, resulting in loss of right leg.

See all problems of the 1998 Ford Explorer 🔎.

When getting into vehicle and starting it up, throttle sticks. Consumer has to press the gas pedal real hard to stop the throttle from sticking. Also, passenger's side seat belt won't come out, and front passenger's seat keeps sliding forward whenever consumer is driving.

Driver's side rear passenger seat belt retracted or gave out & it released the rearfacing css. Child & seat toppled over to left. Driver tried to resecure seat belt, but retractor failed. Took vehicle to dealer & was informed by mechanic retractor was broken.

Passenger side seatbelt began to tighten on passenger, the seat belt would not loosen and had to be cut off. Vehicle taken to the dealer where there were no part available to repair the seatbelt.

Rear lap belts do not come out all the way. Sometimes they don't retract, incident occurred three times. Dealer cannot duplicate the problem.

Passenger seat belt retract and locks restraining normal passenger movement.

Consumer was involved in a frontal collision in which the driver seat belt did not lock up upon impact. Please give any further details.

On Dec. 13, 2000, my 22 year old son totalled this vehicle after hitting a patch of "black ice" while traveling at a speed of approximately 45-50 mph. The vehicle rolled according to an eyewitness 4 times and landed on its roof. My son was, thank god, wearing his seatbelt! he was able to release his seatbelt and crawled through the driver's window which had been broken out. He escaped without any injuries! my concern is so much emphasis has been placed on the rollover possibilities when a tire blows, why not the possibility of flipping when hitting ice? is anything being investigated to correct the top heaviness of the vehicle, especially the 2-door models. More emphasis needs to be placed on the necessity of wearing seatbelts to survive a rollover. .

Thank you for your article confirming repeated seatbelt failure with Fords. My 98 Ford Explorer sport has been to the original dealer twice with seatbelts that do not retract correctly. They hang out the door. The dealership told me it is because of the seating position. (upright!) I have contacted Ford directly and was referred back to the dealer. I'm a car seat technician through NHTSA and am familiar with how seat belts work. These work when they want to. I constantly have to guide them back into the retractor. Please help because I'm sure I'm not the only one. Thank you.

Rear restraints are inoperaple. The restraints will not retract. Dealer has bene notified.

Both front driver's side and passenger's side seat belts do not fully retract, causing them to get caught in the doors when the doors are being shut. Dealer has been contacted.

Driver's side seat belts failed to release/retract to be used. Also, will not retract if able to release them. Took to dealer & mechanic indicated problem was not repairable.

Passenger's rear seat belt would not release from retainer housing, but instead tightened, causing consumer to cut the seat belt in order to release the child. Please give any further details.

When coming to a stop passenger's seat slides forward, cause unknown, also rear passenger seat belt does not release from retracting mechanism. Please give any further details.

Rear sear belt behind driver's seat does not release from retracking mechanism.