Seat belt winds the wrong way

I took my seatbelt apart to wash and Pledge it. When I put it back into the mechanism it winds the wrong way. I don't get it.

Well that is because it is unspooled.
If you would of researched the archives section and the How-to's then look for briano's 90 is cabby how do I do that's you would of found the link to slow seat belt retractors.

Replacing Slow Seat Belts in Cabriolet | Volkswagen Owners Club Forum

In there I have a how to step on dissasembly.

So what you have to do now is to
take your belt pin out and remove the belt from the spool.


Wind the spool up till you can't wind it any more and lock it in place with a pair of vicegrips and reinsert the belt and locking pin



Then let it respool the belt.  If when you remove the belt you would of locked it in place, then you would of been ready to go back…..

Research the how-to's in the archive section or look to the search to find what you are looking for.

Briano1234 said

If you would of researched the archives section and the How-to's…

Take another look at the picture I posted.



My problem is that after I have wound the spool then threaded the belt back in, it seems to respool in the opposite direction to the one you've pictured.

I don't know, maybe I'm just reading it wrong. Or dumb.

If you have wound the spool and locked it then inserted the belt and it winds up in the wrong direction, then you have inserted the belt backwards.  Insert the belt from the other direction, and lock it then let it wind up but hold a tad of tension on it.

or, you are on the wrong side of the spool and the belt starts to re-spool in the wrong direction as you have it on the wrong side of the spool as the feed.

If you look at my photos, I bring the belt in, then down and around the spool and in to the keeper, it appears that you are putting it in without winding it through and around the spool.

Okay…

I've tried threading it in the other direction in as many ways I can think of, but no joy.

For the sake of clarity, this is what I believe is the right way…












I did forget to mention something: I'm using a replacement mechanism as the snake escaped from my old one.
Having carefully read through the "how to" before starting, I expected a Jetta/Passat gravity dog. To my surprise it was similar to my old one:




Looking at it more closely, it does seem a bit different now. It locks in the same direction though.
Is it possible that this one winds in the opposite direction? I have no way to test it as the other is in my car which is being worked on.



In the following picture, clockwise is the direction I can wind it up and counter-clockwise is the direction the coil will turn it of its own accord:

But if I do that it ends up like this:

That looks correct you have to remember that the belt has attachment points that are about 3 feet up, and oover at the waist so there is going to be extra at the top.... it looks like it should to me in your picture.

This has put me right off taking mine apart to clean them : )

I've never stripped a seatbelt so do don't slate me if I'm way off. It looks to me like you are winding it the wrong direction. If it won't wind in the other direction , then something is fitted wrong or wrong parts.

Pretty sure that one of these things is not like the other:

That mechanism you brought, is the spring in there? Maybe they are handed.

You mean the thing that coils it up?

Is the main spring that winds the seatbelt in here?

Nope, other side.

What is stopping you from winding it the opposite direction?

I think the coil reaches a limit in either direction.
You can only only wind up so much. There's also only so much you can unwind it.

Have you had the spring off? Could you have installed wrong?

It all gets tight around the centre or squashed against the outer edge (is my guess):

Well that's the reason for the replacement…

If you open that side, the metal coil comes flying out and turns into a pile of spaghetti.