Seatbelt recall on automatically-retracting shoulder belts on protege/323

[textures2]

Good morning all,

I am sitting at the Mazda dealership here in San Jose, CA -- writing to inform you guys that your Mazdas may be eligible for the seatbelt recall...

Recall Date:
NOV 18, 1997

Model Affected:
199X MAZDA 323

Summary:
VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: PASSENGER VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH FRONT SEAT AUTOMATIC SHOULDER BELTS. THE RAIL OF THE AUTOMATIC SHOULDER BELT CAN WEAR SUFFICIENTLY SUCH THAT THE CABLE WHICH RETRACTS THE BUCKLE ASSEMBLY CAN BECOME JAMMED IN THE RAIL RENDERING THE SHOULDER BELT INOPERATIVE.

Consequence:
A SEAT OCCUPANT MAY NOT BE PROPERLY RESTRAINED IN THE EVENT OF A VEHICLE CRASH.

Remedy:
DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE PASSIVE SHOULDER BELT ASSEMBLY WITH A MODIFIED ONE (WITH ADDITIONAL DUST LIP) IN VEHICLES WHICH HAVE EXPERIENCED A PROBLEM. IN VEHICLES IN WHICH THE AUTOMATIC SHOULDER BELT FUNCTIONS PROPERLY, THE RAILS WILL BE INSPECTED AND REPLACED WITH MODIFIED RAILS IF THEY EXCEED THE INSPECTION CRITERIA.

Potential Units Affected:
134000

Notes:
MAZDA (NORTH AMERICA),INC

This applies to many different BG mazdas.

In the case of my car the service had "already been done" back in 1998 (long before I owned the car) but it still was having issues. Apparently these repairs are covered for the life of the vehicle.

The guy showed me the cost of the part, $1103.78! And they're fixing it for free under the terms of the recall.

Check it out if you're having seatbelt problems!


-Peter

[redheddude222]

Sweet, I may have to take my car in and have them looked at. I'll have my brother do his, too.

[silverton]

Wonder if this is going to effect escorts as well, I know frozen seat belts are a big problem.

[textures2]

Sweet, I may have to take my car in and have them looked at. I'll have my brother do his, too.

Bear in mind that not all dealers will honor it. The first place I called were wishy-washy "Oh you can bring it in and we'll check with mazda to see..." Second place I called said "yeah that's definitely covered, even if you have some issue with it after the 'repair' is completed" (which is exactly what happened in my case...)

[textures2]

Wonder if this is going to effect escorts as well, I know frozen seat belts are a big problem.

I would certainly think so.

If you consider it from a corporate-liability perspective, to have sold a product which has a manufacturing defect that can cause their safety belts to be inoperable exposes them to the risk of someone suing them in the event of injury. It stands in the company's interest to remediate the issue.

We fortunately live in a country where consumer protection laws are very strong and favor the citizens.

[textures2]

BTW I found this out by googling "mazda 323 recall". I found a database somewhere online where they listed all recalls that affected my car.

Gotta go! Car is ready...!

[Crazy Drummer69]

This might explain why the 94 Protege is on the banned list for importing US vehicles into Canada. Good to know.

[silverton]

I would certainly think so.

If you consider it from a corporate-liability perspective, to have sold a product which has a manufacturing defect that can cause their safety belts to be inoperable exposes them to the risk of someone suing them in the event of injury. It stands in the company's interest to remediate the issue.

We fortunately live in a country where consumer protection laws are very strong and favor the citizens.

Not sure how the protege's/323's work but we are able to manually move the belt and get them to the "locked position" and then just slip under the belt. I'm been lucky enough that the three escorts I've owned have all had proper working belts with no sign of breakage.

[KAinjection]

I just pitched those auto belts in the trash and installed canadian manual belts. Waaaaay better if you have the money to get a set from there.

[martiniac]

I love my automatic belts! I'm going to ask my local dealer about this recall when I go pick up some BO parts tomorrow. Thanks!

[psiturbo]

If I take the Escort GT to the dealership they will call the cops and not let me drive the car. My is in such a bad shape it is a safety recall to even drive it, LOL.

I may be kidding, but this has happened to other people who take the car for an oil change or something similar (in fact it is clearly stated on most work orders), and if they see your car has some serious safety concerns (according to them) they will not let you leave with the car.

I will look into this recall as my seatbelts stopped working...

Thanks for the info!

[silverton]

There was a canadian 4 door LX in the junkyard recently, but a buddy said the belts wouldn't work, he took them and tried to install them in his EGT.

[protege94 P.R]

its there a posibilitty to find a recall # so I can call to a dealership

[KAinjection]

There was a canadian 4 door LX in the junkyard recently, but a buddy said the belts wouldn't work, he took them and tried to install them in his EGT.

Mine came from a canadian escort. They were 90% bolt in, the other 10% was tapping a hole that was in the body for the upper B-pillar bolt and making a little hole in the carpet for the rod that the seatbelt slides on. Easy. To make it perfect I would need a canadian headliner, but i am not about to pay to have it shipped.