Help troubleshoot seatbelt latch not clicking as easily...

[Hank3]

It's actually on my wife's '02 Protege Sedan, but I assume it's the same as our P5s.

The metal buckle isn't clicking into the latch as easily these days for the driver's seat. It takes a little more force, but it does eventually click/latch. Is there a fix for this? Can it be replaced or do we need to purchase a new seat? I haven't really explored the latch or anything yet. Didn't want to start opening up something I don't know too much about yet.

 

[RMW Guy]

Wow, I thought mine was the only one with that problem.

I used a touch of Blaster PB in the female portion and connected the latch a few times in succession.

That was back in April when I first got the car and it hasn't happened again.

Strange deal as I have never had another car with such a silly issue.

 

[bucksatan]

Is it just going in, or does it have trouble releasing the latch too? It seems to be a pretty common issue with something going wrong in the female end. It happened to mine, and I'm hardly the only person who has encountered it. I just got a new latch and had it put in. Total was about $100 installed, 50 for the latch and 50 for labour. Don't get a junkyard or used part for this, it is a pretty important safety feature, and worth the little extra for new.

 

[Hank3]

It's not going in as easily and there's slight resistance when you release.

 

[skitz]

I just got my P5 and it had the same problem but like RMW Guy said, I sprayed some WD40 in there and it works better now. It isn't perfect and I still have to push it deep to get it to latch but it's a simple/cheap fix.

 

[bucksatan]

It's not going in as easily and there's slight resistance when you release.

Just get a new one. From the dealer, not from the wrecker. It is a pretty important safety feature, don't mess around with it. It seems to be a common enough part to break on proteges.