Damp seatbelt

electrokid · Post by **electrokid** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 10:43 am

Jumped into the BX yesterday morning and the seatbelt felt a little damp. Pulling more of it off the reel showed that the rest of it was very damp and knowing that where dampness lurks the red worm is sure to follow I think this needs fixing.

But where is this water getting in - how is it getting to the seatbelt reel - and should it be draining anywhere ?

Post by **Defender110** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 11:19 am

Are your sunroof drain channels blocked?

electrokid · Post by **electrokid** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 8:04 pm

Yes they are... mainly because I don't have a sunroof

Post by **Defender110** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 8:08 pm

In that case I think we can safely rule out the sunroof drainage tubes

Way2go · Post by **Way2go** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 8:35 pm

Probably the door seal being damaged or not being compressed properly when the door closes.

With all this rain, when driving it probably "wells" up at the bottom of the door entering the car by the "B" pillar just above the inertia reel.

Post by **docchevron** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 9:56 pm

both of mine do that, personally I reckon it's sondensation getting to them, since there isn't any rain water getting near them...

electrokid · Post by **electrokid** » Sat Oct 02, 2010 10:37 pm

Great - I'll look into those - thanks.

Should it drain out the bottom of the sills - I've recently de-rusted / resprayed and squirted waxoyl all over the place - have I bunged up something that should be clear ?

scarecrow · Post by **scarecrow** » Sun Oct 03, 2010 12:05 pm

docchevron wrote:both of mine do that, personally I reckon it's sondensation getting to them, since there isn't any rain water getting near them...

I was thinking condensation - could the seat belt wick moisture out of the air?

KevR · Post by **KevR** » Sun Oct 03, 2010 1:48 pm

electrokid wrote:Great - I'll look into those - thanks.

Should it drain out the bottom of the sills - I've recently de-rusted / resprayed and squirted waxoyl all over the place - have I bunged up something that should be clear ?

The belt should be protected from water in the sills by a plastic insert. The B-post itself has to drain holes at the bottom edge where it meets the sill – it's possible that if these are blocked the B-post could start to fill up, but I would have thought you'd notice the carpets getting damp before the seat-belts (although I suppose you don't put the carpets over your shoulder every time you get in the car...).

If you open the doors and look the B-post, the drains are pretty obvious - give them a poking at with a bit of wire. However, if they're badly blocked they're easy enough to clear properly from the inside oce you remove the seatbelt reel.

The fundamental question would still be why so much water was getting down there in the first place. I've just had a look at the bare, doorless shell of my spares car - it's been tipping it down here for days and neither of the B-post sections is noticeably wet...

electrokid · Post by **electrokid** » Sun Oct 03, 2010 10:52 pm

Thanks Kev - I'll look at that - it won't be done before Thursday because I have a full schedule this week - probably later than that actually.

Post by **docchevron** » Mon Oct 04, 2010 1:51 am

KevR wrote: (although I suppose you don't put the carpets over your shoulder every time you get in the car...).

Genius!

kiwi · Post by **kiwi** » Mon Oct 04, 2010 5:33 am

Way2go wrote:Probably the door seal being damaged or not being compressed properly when the door closes.

With all this rain, when driving it probably "wells" up at the bottom of the door entering the car by the "B" pillar just above the inertia reel.

I tend to agree with that diagnosis, my door is slightly out of alignment and thats where I noticed or should say could hear the water coming in.

The month of September the TRS only came out the garage once and even though I thought the sunroof was in good order I still manged to get a shower after parking it at work one day. Then again given the 600mm (2 foot) of rain that fell around here (a record for september) that would be no surprise. The swamps around here after two solid weeks of rain testify to that.