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Date:         Sun, 30 Sep 2001 19:48:40 EDT
Reply-To:     Oxroad@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jeffrey R <Oxroad@AOL.COM>
Subject:      seat belt releases itself--any experience?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Ladies and Gentleman--

The female end of seat belt buckle on my 1983 Westfalia has started to occassionally release the male end of the buckle on it's own--just a nice gentle release while I'm driving even though it seems to have engaged correctly when I buckled it. While it's only happend twice in the last two weeks and it only causes a real safety issue in the unlikely event of a collision I figure it's a problem I should solve--or pay up my life insurance.

Anyway... I removed the female part of the buckle from the vehicle but it seems to be unservicable by the user. I couldn't even figure out how to get a look-see inside to see if it's just a lubrication problem or whatever. Seems the plastic cover is somehow completely sealed--no screws or clips holding it together. If anyone has experience with repair of this problem please share it with me.

Or if anyone has replaced the unit with new from the VW dealer please let me know. My guess is it is a dealer only part. Will I have to replace both front buckles so they'll match cosmetically or will the part # get me a duplicate of what's in there? Cha-ching!!$$$$ (BTW the passenger buckle works fine)

Also I assume I don't have to replace the belt and the male buckle since there are no working parts there. But please don't tell me the belt and male buckle have to be replaced with the female buckle as a unit....Cha ching!!$$$

Part number stamped on the female buckle--which has the short mounting bracket to allow the front seats to swivel on the Westy-- is 251-857-777 J

TIA Jeff 1983.5 Westy LA, CA


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