1998 Ford Explorer: seat belt won't latch or retract

Filed May 2, 2013 · Seat belts · 137,662 miles · AZ

Driver's side seat belt latch failed. The seat belt latched in the morning but wouldn't catch in the afternoon. Truck was parked in a parking lot when the failure occured.

Filed Apr 27, 2008 · Seat belts · 110,000 miles · MO

Front driver and passenger seat belts do not retract properly and must be fed manually to retract. Subsequent damage to seat belt webbing causing possible failure upon impact.

Filed Nov 23, 2005 · Seat belts, Seats · 92,000 miles · IL

Dt: the contact purchased a used vehicle on a warranty. She discovered the rear seat belt buckle assemblies were broken. Also, the front seats did not recline properly. She took the vehicle to a dealer. No repairs have been made at this time.

Filed Aug 1, 2005 · Lights, Seat belts · 150,000 miles · MO

Dt: driver's side back seat belt latch broke. On june 1, 2005. Caller said the other two seat belt latches broke about a year ago and caller had them fixed. Also, she low beam iwasnot working . She had it checked at a repair shop and was told they could not find what was wrong with it. Dealer and manufacturer have not been contacted yet.

Filed Oct 7, 2003 · Seat belts · VA · 1 injury

Seat belt locked around child's waist, consumer had to cut child out . As a result, seat belt left a bruise.

Filed Jul 9, 2003 · Seat belts · 78,100 miles · IN

1998 ford explorer left rear passenger safety belt release device that you put the seat belt into broke. I had my 1 year old daughter in her childseat correctly belted behind me in the left rear seat. I came to a normal stop, the heard belt click and turn around noticed it had come out of the buckle assembly. I pulled over and put the childseat and my daughter into the right rear seat. If I had come to a harder stop, or even a crash, my one and only daughter could have been killed. As of today, capital city ford has not received my new buckle assemby. They called me in once sayinf the part was in. After 1 1/2 hours in the waiting room, I was told that they ordered the wrong part and that they needed to order the new one. I was then told that it would take some time because of the holidays. I called on monday, july 07, 2003 and was told that the part was not in that I will be called when in it comes in. This means that no one can safely sit and ride in my 1998 ford exlporer in the left rear passenger seat. As you can tell I am perturbbed with this situation and would like it resolved asap. And to make things worse, my time and money are not going to be compensated. Question? Are 1998 ford explorer left rear passenger seat belt buckle assembly parts designed to fail after 78000 miles????

Filed May 8, 2003 · Seat belts · MI

1998 ford explorer. The rear passenger side seat belt won't retract. It has already been replaced once, while under warranty, and now the replacement is doing the same thing. Of course it is no longer under warranty and the cost will be around $300. Also, cd exchanger has already been replaced once and is broken again.

Filed May 7, 2002 · VA · 1 injury

Due to extreme width of youth seat (aka booster seat), the unit is very close to the passenger door. Upon closing the car door, child's fingers were crushed between the door and the car seat. Fingers were deformed at first, but recoverd to original form within 10 minutes. No broken bones. When installing the seat, the seat belt latch is located "behind" the seat - as opposed to being located to the side of the seat. This causes the nature position of the seat to move toward the door, increasing the risk of finger crushing by the door. Also, due to the extreme width, the entire seatbelt is used to install the seat (about an inch will be retracted), thus making a proper installation nearly impossible in a ford explorer. When I contacted the manufactor, britax, (by phone, fax, and letter), I only received a letter back apologizing for the "pinching" of my daughter's fingers. They obviously do not understand the consequence of this "defect." nothing was done by britax to address the issue.

Filed Apr 15, 2002 · Transmission · CA · crash · 1 injury

April 2, 2002, while driving on a flat, straight freeway, the rear driver's side axle broke. The tire came off the car and sailed through the air. I lost control of vehicle immediately, resulting in a severe skid and vehicle roll-over. Crash resulted in driver sustaining large bump on head from roof collapse and a concussion. Numerous cuts, bruises, and severe muscle stress/strain of neck, shoulders and back. Also received deep contusion on chest due to seat belt retraction. I feel blessed to be alive to make this report. 2 weeks after accident still experiencing body pain. I can just now talk about the roll-over without crying. My family and myself have been through hell. Vehicle is a total loss.

Filed Apr 23, 2001 · Seat belts · TX · crash · 1 injury

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

Filed Apr 23, 2001 · Seat belts · SC

All of seat belt buckle assemblies failed to lock and hold restraints in place. Please provide any additional information/attachments.

Filed Mar 8, 2001 · Airbags, Body · MO · crash · 1 injury

While driving under winter conditions, traveling at approximately 65 to 70 MPH, vehicle began to lose control. Right driver's side tire went into a ditch, and vehicle rolled 1 1/2 times. Driver's seat belt failed to lock up and preventing injury to driver. Please provide any additional information/attachments.*ak air bags failed to deploy during accident. Nlm