2000 camry driver seat belt stuck, any way to reset ?

[Faiyz]

Hi Folks, I'm new here and I wish I could be of any help to you in the future.

I have a 2000 Camry CE american design, mileage 97,000, I had a small accident a month ago, unfortunantly we don't have a toyota maintenance center here in Libya yet, so I had to take my car to a maintenance shop to repair it, the accident only onvolved the front face, the head lights and the AC cooling panel ( I don't know it's name in English ), the engine was 100% safe, not one scratch on it, any way, because I hit a car that was a bit higher than mine the front cover was damaged so I had to replace it, the speed was almost 70-80 Km/H so the air bags came out.

After repairing the car, the driver and the front passenger's seat belts were stuck, they don't roll back nor pulled out, some people told me that the seat belts are somehow connected to the safety system of the car, but I don't know if that is true or not.

Is there any way to return the seat belts back to normal ? because I used to drive with the seat belts for almost 13 years now, and I feel like something is wrong when driving without them.

Sorry to trouble you guys with my first topic, but I'm really confused and need help.

and I thank you for accepting me n this nice forum.

Regards to all.

Faiyz Siala

[toyomoho]

The seat belts may have a pretensioner that pulls out seat belt slack in event of an accident. This system appears to use some kind of squib system like the airbag. It is linked to the airbag system and fires in an accident. If the bags went off, pretty sure these items did also, they can not be reused. You most likely need new belts.

[Faiyz]

Thanks alot toyomoho for your reply.

I guess I'll take your advise and buy new ones, but I have another question.

Can I replace only the seat belts, without putting new airbags in the car...?

[toyomoho]

The belt pretensioner assembly is just connected to the airbag system, the system triggers the belt.

If you are just wanting to drive the car without airbags then yes. You can even find belts that fit but without the pretensioner system. The pretensioner system is an additional feature of the seatbelt, many cars to not have them.

However, if you ever do install the airbags and reconnect the system, the computer will be looking for the pretensioner type seat belts as again they wired to the airbag system. Otherwise the computer will trigger the airbag trouble light.

[Faiyz]

I really appreciate your replies, thanks alot.

ok, now can I install the airbag and the pretensioner type seat belts by myself, because as I said, here in Libya we don't have specific palces for toyota, and to be honest, I don't think there is someone who can understand the safety system in such cars.

most people here drive without seat belts, others won't bother with used airbags, but I actually care, and I don't have good experience with cars, except the minimum requirements for self-aid if I got stuck somewhere.

is that possible...?

[TRD VVTi]

Originally Posted by Faiyz

ok, now can I install the airbag and the pretensioner type seat belts by myself, is that possible...?

Yes.