2001 Ford Explorer: seat belt won't latch or retract

5 of the 375 complaints about the 2001 Ford Explorer describe seat belt won't latch or retract.

owner complaints: 5
of this car's complaints: 1%
recalls: 0

Is there a fix? 1 service bulletin covers this area of the car. See below

Seat belt won't latch or retract by model year

2026
1
2024
1
2023
3
2022
2
2021
2
2020
3
2018
6
2017
10
2016
16
2015
15
2014
10
2013
4
2012
6
2011
2
2009
1
2008
2
2007
2
2006
3
2004
3
2003
6
2002
15
2001
5
2000
5
1999
6
1998
19
1997
25
1996
46
1995
32
1994
8
1993
7
1992
17
1991
14

What owners say

Filed Feb 3, 2010 · Seat belts · 172,236 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford explorer. She stated that the driver seat belt buckle failed. She was not able to take the seat belt off.the contact stated she will take the vehicle to the dealer or a garage for repair. The contact stated she will contact the manufacturer .the failure and the current mileage was 172,236.

Filed Oct 7, 2004 · Seat belts · 38,000 miles · CO · crash

While involved in a collision rear middle seat belt latch plate separated. As a result the occupant was thrown out of the window. No major injuries reported.

Filed Nov 10, 2001 · Seat belts, Tires · PA · crash · 3 injuries

I am not the owner of this vehicle, nor the driver. My brother-in-law was a passenger in the ford explorer and was killed at the scene. There is a question of whether he was wearing a seat belt and if it failed during the rollover of the vehicle. There is also a question of firestone tire failure. Both of the rear tires were missing the valve stems. We do not know if this occurred during the accident or if they blew out previously and that is what contributed to the accident. The driver was speeding, performed an unsafe lane change, then overcorrected, lost control, crossed the median strip into the opposite roadway, rolled over and hit another vehicle where another person was killed as a result of this collision. The driver was found "not guilty" in his manslaughter trial. So it seems this accident was attributed more to vehicle failure, even though there was driver error also.

Filed May 29, 2001 · Seat belts, Suspension · OK · crash · 2 injuries

A rollover crash by traveling at 35 MPH on a gravel road. Dealer / manufacturer were notified, waiting on manufacturer's response. *ak seat belt failed.

Filed Mar 26, 2001 · Seat belts, Seats · NY

When coming to a stop passenger's seat slides forward, cause unknown, also rear passenger seat belt does not release from retracting mechanism. Please give any further details.