trikoid

The thing that presents the seatbelt stopped extending out this morning.

I think it's only on cabs, but not sure. Any idea why it stopped spontaneously? Any chance it's a fuse?

trikoid

No one with any ideas? Is there a standard fix?

FLYNGUN

BUMP!!!
I've got the same problem as well. I read in the SEC forum that you can pull the CB that belongs to this system (also called Seat Belt Extenders) and leave it out for about 30 seconds so that the system resets and then put it back in.
I'm going to try it this week when I have the time; let me know if this works for you.
Anyone else out there with an answer?

trikoid

I pulled the fuses #32 & 33 this morning (those the right ones?), left out for 30 seconds or so, and still no go.

The passenger side comes out, the drivers side does not.

I don't hear any whirring noises or anything, so that motor is not trying to send them out.

trikoid

I fiddled with it some more, and I found out (!!) that the whole plastic arm thing comes out (you can feel the resistanceof the motor gears) and I was thinking crap now what do I do.

Well, turns out just wiggle it back in there and find its home, slowly push back in.

But it didn't fix it. Still doesn't want to come out.

FLYNGUN

Hmmm, I know there's got to be a way.
When I first got my CLK55 last year, it was doing the same thing and I took it to the stealership to get fixed. The remedy on the work order was "reset seat belt presenter". There has to be a fuse, sequence or some way of reseting the system right in your garage.
Amy help out there?

trikoid

Just talked to the dealer. He said that since the passenger door works fine, a reset will not fix it. It must be something else.

So the price starts at a $100 diagnostic fee.

///M3Lover

It happened on my parents S500 seat belt on the driver side.

For three or five times, I couldn't buckle up. Replacement will cost $850CDN for parts plus labour.


I found it pretty amazing how the seat belt doesn't work after 47,000km... Whereas, my M3 still works fine after 94,000km.

I heard rumors that there's safety warranty for seat belts and airbags for 10 years??? Since I lost the Sclass book, I am currently trying to find out.

Can anyone varify this?

Thanks

Supafly

Well, the M3 doesn't have a seatbelt presenter.

///M3Lover

my bad... <-----

fjward

Purchased a stunning looking 04 clk55 amg last fall with just over 8K miles, yes, 8k miles. I've reported elsewhere my futile attempts (at great expense of course) to have the dealer fix a horrible whining/moaning wail on cold startup . I.e. . (2 failed diagnoses to be finally told the noise is endemic to that make/model. It isn't). To the point: the PASSENGER belt extender had already quit working at the time I bought the car - undiscovered by me as the driver... Two months, and a few hundred miles later the DRIVER's extender failed. The Toledo, Ohio dealer's CHARGE TO FIX? $950 each! I guess it's grin and bear it until and unless a forum member comes up with a not-too-technical solution. By the way, I've come to realise that it's probably better to choose a newer car with, say, 25 to 45K miles at, your price-point than to do what I did.. Apparently merely sitting around for 10 years can still lead to some expensive repairs...

TechSuperstar

Sometimes I wish mine would break.. My driver side presenter goes out and back in about three times before it decides to stay out, it's playing games with me

tw2

You probably have a broken motor. You need to remove the trim to get to the belt presenter to have a look. I just did this to replace my seatbelt. Pull off the SRS plastic badge and undo the screw underneath. Pull the fabric strip that starts just below the front of the back window to expose the front edge of the trim you are trying to remove. The end of the belt presenter has a small clip in it, pull the presenter out and unclip the end so it can come out with the trim. Then get a piece of wire and snag it over the small clip hidden between the trim and the metal frame of the car. Pull this forwards and it will unlock the two pieces of trim. Then just pull it up and then out.

There is your belt presenter. Take it out, see if it works when you apply 12V. Here is a link to what I did. At the bottom of the 1st post is the links to the WIS documents which show how to take it apart.
https://mbworld.org/forums/clk-class...xperience.html

I would rather have the occasional problem in an older awsome car than buy a crappy new one I could afford that provides no driving pleasure.

Yidney

You have the exact problem I had. Turns out it was just crap in the motor - little bits of dirt and the gunk that builds up on the windings. The little Bosch motor comes apart easily as far as you need it clean it. Just get some spray electrical cleaner and flood it good - including between the magnets and the case and the gaps in the windings. Mine has not done that one time in the year since I cleaned it.


EDIT: I meant gaps in the place where the brushes rub on the motor, not the windings. Stuff from the brushes fill those gaps as they wear.

TechSuperstar

Thanks!! I'll have to try it when I have some free time. Thanks tw2 for the info to open it up.

jimtw1

Can anyone offer a more detailed description of how to replace the seat belt extender and motor is a 2004 CLK320? It seems the plastic arm that extends the seat belt has broken away from the internal spring that helps retract it. Thanks

Yidney

There is no spring. There is just a motor with a gear on it. The motor runs in both directions - in and out. The arm is meant to pull all the way out. Step one in removing the assembly is to just pull the arm all the way out. I can give you step by step, but what happens if you push the arm back in?

Yidney

Best if you give a full explanation of what is happening. If you push the arm all the way in, and then close the door, what happens? Does it extend normally? Then when you hook up your seat belt, what happens? Does it retract at all? Sometimes? Never? Do you hear the motor running? If you don't hook your seat belt, does it retract by itself after a minute or so?

jimtw1

When you open the door the seat belt presenter extends itself as normal. You can however easily remove it from the metal internal frame it resides in. What you then have in your hand is the trim piece it snaps into and about 4 inches of black plastic extender rail in your hands. It appears that the plastic extender rail has broken away from the main piece. When you close the door, while the seat belt presenter retracts, it often times gets hung up and does not properly re-seat itself back into the metal channel. I hope that helps.

Yidney

The whole black plastic rail is probably 18 inches long. So the rest of the rail stays in the track? I do recall it has a seam a few inches back, and I'm not sure why except maybe because the loop on the end matches the interior color of the car. How do the two pieces appear to attach to each other? Just snap together? Maybe you can just use a bit of epoxy. But in any event, you do not need to remove the motor or side panel to fix your problem. If your motor works and the issue is just the extender arm, then you just need a new extender arm (if epoxy does not work). Like I said, the whole thing will just pull out. Just grab the part still in there and slowly pull it out. It comes out stiffly because it is turning the motor and gears. You can look on ebay for used one your color although the motor is usually included, or price just the arm at the dealer. Either way, just use the arm. Personally, I'd try the epoxy route unless they fit together in such a way that that is not possible. I'll have to look at mine later today.

jimtw1

The extender arm on the passenger side, which works fine, seems to be attached to some type of spring mechanism. When you pull on the extender arm you can definitely feel a spring attached to it. Regarding my driver side extender arm, it does appear to be broken or separated from the main arm. Perhaps epoxy would work. You are saying you should be able to pull the whole extender arm out of the motor unit and housing? And then simply replace it with a new extender arm by simply pushing back in? That sounds too simple, but hopeful. I found a replacement motor/extender arm on line today. How big a deal is it to remove the side panel to replace it?

jimtw1

I just removed the rail as you suggested and it came out without a problem. Thanks for your expertise. You just saved me a ton.

Yidney

That is exactly what I am saying. And I'm not just speculating - I've had mine out several times. And there is no spring on the passenger side. Unless the design totally changed from '04 to '08, which I am 99.999999% sure it did not. All you are feeling is the motor resistance.

Yidney

Cool. Let me know if you need more help.