My concern is that the seat belt webbing frequently is trapped in the door jab upon the drivers exit. I believe this repeated action could lower the tensile strength of the seat belt webbing. Ford recently replaced the assembly including the webbing, but this replacement assembly continues to frequently not fully retract the webbing resulting in the same trappment. I contacted the ford motor company safety office several times, their advice was to seek warranty replacement. This does nothing to address the potential safety issue with the webbing. The warranty narrative reads, "s25/dirver seat belt is slow to retract".
2000 Ford Windstar: seat belt won't latch or retract
5 of the 1,675 complaints about the 2000 Ford Windstar describe seat belt won't latch or retract.
- owner complaints
- 5
- of this car's complaints
- 0%
- recalls
- 1
Is there a fix? There is 1 recall and 3 service bulletins for this area of the car. See below
Seat belt won't latch or retract by model year
What owners say
Seat belt buckle on rear seats does not go into latching assembly, causing seat belt to become inoperable. Please give any further details.
Back in december of 2000 we were driving home to virginia from nj and crossing over the del. Memorial bridge and slowing down to go through the toll when we lost our brakes. We wen straight through the toll booth but with smart and quick thinking I pulled the emergency brake to bring us to a stop. We had the vehicle towed and rented a rental car. The dealer in dover, del told us that it was a factory defect because the bolt came off the anti lock braking system. There was also not a safety device to hold it on. It should have had this. We reported this to ford three times but are still waiting for an apology or some restitution. Last week we were driving down the road and my son screamed that his seatbelt didn't work anymore. I pulled over and the seatbelt would not lock again. He now has to sit in the rear seat at all times.
While traveling 35mph vehicle was struck head-on and front passenger seat belt kept retracting, and caused severe injuries to passenger.
Second row driver side seat belt buckle malfunctioned, causing seatbelt not to latch which may not protect a child in event of a crash. Dealer popped it back into place, and said it was okay to use. But, consumer asked to replace seatbelt system. Please provide further information.
Service bulletins that may apply
Related recalls
Seat belts
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: passenger vehicles, light duty trucks, sport utility vehicles, and mini vans equipped with trw seat belt buckle assemblies. The buckle base of these seat belt assemblies were not properly heat treated and therefore do not pass the load bearing requirement of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 209, "seat belt assemblies."
- Risk
- In the event of a vehicle crash, the occupant may not be properly restrained.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect the date code on certain seat belt buckles of your vehicle and replace all seat belt buckles that fall within the suspect date code range. Owner notification began october 26, 2000. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact ford at 1‑800‑392‑3673.
Recall number 00V228001 · Recall details
Questions about the 2000 Ford Windstar seat belt
Is seat belt won't latch or retract a common problem on the 2000 Ford Windstar?
5 of 1,675 owner complaints about the 2000 Ford Windstar (0%) mention seat belt won't latch or retract. The model year with the most reports is 1995.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2000 Ford Windstar?
There is 1 recall and 3 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2000 Ford Windstar
ABS 360Adaptive cruise 109Transmission failure 76Fire or smoke 50Ball joint 48Check engine light 43Grinding brakes 36Door locks 32Stalling 31Wipers 30Coil spring 29Harsh shifting 26Tire blowout 23Jerking 19Brake failure 18No deployment 14Knocking 11Sudden acceleration 10Engine failure 9Headlights 9Loss of power 9Airbag light 7Slipping 7Battery drain 6Fuel gauge 6Power steering loss 6Won't shift 6Pulling 5Water leak 5
VIN decoder
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