Six problems related to front seat belt retractor have been reported for the 1998 Jeep Wrangler. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The contact owns a 1998 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated that the driver side seat belt would not retract in colder weather. He would have to manually push the belt back into the retractor to get it to operate correctly. The dealer advised there were no related recalls and the vehicle repairs would be at the contact's expense. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000 and the current mileage was 150,000.
Passenger seat belt fails to retract, also gets caught in door jam. . Exhaust manifold cracked. Water leaks inside onto passenger floor board. Gauges fail/airbag light comes on. Catylist converter failed. Throtle postioning sensor failed. These incidents have appeared over the past 6-12 months.
Gen3 seatbelts in my 1998 Jeep Wrangler do not retract properly. Either they don't retract enough, causing them to be caught in the door (thus fraying the belt), or they retract too much and won't release, preventing me from using the belt. This is an ongoing problem which I have noticed from the day I bought the vehicle.
Passenger's seatbelt will not pull out.
1. The transmission has started jumping in and out of 3rd gear in the 32 to 50 mph range. Bubbles are present in the fluid indicating a seal is failing. Repair estimate at this time is over $1000. This failure in snowy driving conditions causes vehicle control problems. 2. Passenger seat belt retracts intermittently. The passenger will lean forward and back may not notice the seatbelt has not retracted. This can certainly cause serious injury or death in the event of an accident. 3. Sudden acceleration at idle. Vehicle idle will jump from 1. 5k to 3k without warning. Obviously a serious safety hazard. 4. Anti-sway bar link failure. This is perhaps the most insidious failure. The stabilizer bar link ball will corrode in the socket and cause it to separate. The rubber boot around it covers the failure. When an emergency turn is required, the Jeep will sway violently. I talked to the Chrysler parts attendant and he said he sells about 12 a week to those lucky enough to notice the failure. For those who do not notice this, it is a time bomb. The parts attendant told me I would be back soon to replace more. What he said is true.
2/10/98 - 1046 miles: rear window leaked, and both brakelight housings leaked. The radio also stopped working. 7/30/98 8988 miles: the air bag light came on, and the speedometer, odometer, and tachometer stopped working. 12/30/98 15,000 miles - front drivers side seatbelt stopped retracting.