braztang Posted October 14, 2014 Report Share Posted October 14, 2014 Guys, My 2014 has the driver's side seat belt ARM (the one the clicks and holds the seat belt forward) broken. I wonder if anyone had this issue and how did you fix it? I cannot find this plastic part for sale. Any ideas or recommendations are appreciated. Thank you LCL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Alibi 2 Posted October 14, 2014 Report Share Posted October 14, 2014 Your local Ford dealership should be able to order it for you, doesn't look like a big job to change it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
braztang Posted October 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2014 Called Dealer and was told that is called PRETENSIONER, It is only sold as the FULL SEAT BELT ASSEMBLY which ends up very expensive. Dealer is not sure if warranty covers it! I told dealer I could just swap from another mustang and do it myself, dealer told me to STAY AWAY as it has an explosive device behind that screw on the assembly, and it can damage your hands pretty bad! Did you guys ever heard of that before! Cheers. LCL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torched10 Posted October 14, 2014 Report Share Posted October 14, 2014 It's a bumper to bumper warranty and I just can't believe its a wear item so must be covered. If they don't call their Ford zone rep to appeal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlesnake Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 The part should be covered under the warranty. The service person should be able to give you an answer before you make an appointment to go in. There are side airbags and sensors so that must be what they are talking about as explosive. Listen to their warnings and ask one of their mechanics if you are in doubt... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffJ Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 I have the same problem on my 2013 V6 Roush. That darn presenter is a bad piece which breaks very easily inside. Yes it is part of the entire assembly. Ford would not replace it for me either. Only one of the clicks is broken, so it some what works, but doesn't stay up all of the time. Yes, the pretensioner at the base does have an explosive in it which tightens the seatbelt in an accident. Similar to an airbag. So can be replaced like an airbag, just have to be safe and be aware that it is there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbymotorsports Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 I have the same problem on my 2013 V6 Roush. That darn presenter is a bad piece which breaks very easily inside. Yes it is part of the entire assembly. Ford would not replace it for me either. Only one of the clicks is broken, so it some what works, but doesn't stay up all of the time. Yes, the pretensioner at the base does have an explosive in it which tightens the seatbelt in an accident. Similar to an airbag. So can be replaced like an airbag, just have to be safe and be aware that it is there. What was the reason given? I'm not understanding how this wouldn't be covered under warranty. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoopy49 Posted October 17, 2014 Report Share Posted October 17, 2014 This is part of the restraint system and if it doesn't operate as designed it becomes a major safety problem. Ford should cover the part under warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffJ Posted October 17, 2014 Report Share Posted October 17, 2014 What was the reason given? I'm not understanding how this wouldn't be covered under warranty. Tried to tell me that this is a wearable item. I have not pushed back too hard yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveh70 Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 The presenter, or seat belt holdback device, is terrible. Mine is missing a few clicks as well and worked better before. I plan on having it swapped out under warranty if it gets worse. My guess is the new one you get is likely the same lousy mechanism that's probably going to break like the last one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
braztang Posted November 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2014 Just found out it is not part of the warranty, and it can be easily removed as you are only removing the bolt and pretensioner, so it is safe as long as you do not dissemble the seat belt mechanism... Too expensive to have it all replaced! so it will stay as is. Cheers and thank you for all replies. LCL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WJinLV Posted November 4, 2014 Report Share Posted November 4, 2014 Its prob the same part on all mustangs that year. find a junker? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2010KonaBlueGT Posted November 4, 2014 Report Share Posted November 4, 2014 The part should be covered under the warranty. The service person should be able to give you an answer before you make an appointment to go in. There are side airbags and sensors so that must be what they are talking about as explosive. Listen to their warnings and ask one of their mechanics if you are in doubt... I had both sides of my "Presenter Arms" on and off a few dozen times when installing my harness bar. There's NOTHING under that screw but a threaded dead hole. The only explosive device (and it is just that) in the entire car is the airbag module in the (out) side of each front seat and the two in the steering wheel and dash. No side curtains on a Mustang, just the side seat one. You can pull the presenter arm without fear of damage. Phill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffJ Posted November 4, 2014 Report Share Posted November 4, 2014 I had both sides of my "Presenter Arms" on and off a few dozen times when installing my harness bar. There's NOTHING under that screw but a threaded dead hole. The only explosive device (and it is just that) in the entire car is the airbag module in the (out) side of each front seat and the two in the steering wheel and dash. No side curtains on a Mustang, just the side seat one. You can pull the presenter arm without fear of damage. Phill Not quite correct. In the seat belt pretensioner behind the inner quarter panel, there is a charge and an ignitor which goes off in an accident to tighten the seat belt. Correct, it is not near the presenter arm in question here or where it is bolted in to the B pillar. Problem is that right now, Ford will not replace just the presenter arm, you have to buy the entire seat belt assembly including the pretensioner which does have the explosive in it which makes the assembly so freaking pricey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2010KonaBlueGT Posted November 5, 2014 Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 Not quite correct. In the seat belt pretensioner behind the inner quarter panel, there is a charge and an ignitor which goes off in an accident to tighten the seat belt. Correct, it is not near the presenter arm in question here or where it is bolted in to the B pillar. Problem is that right now, Ford will not replace just the presenter arm, you have to buy the entire seat belt assembly including the pretensioner which does have the explosive in it which makes the assembly so freaking pricey. Jeff, When I was installing my harness bar I dropped a part from the "presenter arm" down the seatbelt slot. That caused me to have to pull the right (passenger) side, rear panel. That's the panel that covers the passenger seat belt roller thingy. Once the panel was off I found the part behind the seatbelt roller thingy so I pulled it out too. It's simple, one bolt and the whole contraption comes out in your hand. NOTE: There were no wires or other connecting items (plugs, etc.) on connecting to the seat belt roller thingy (whatever that thing is called). I can't say if your car has something like you describe, but I can say with absolute certainty that mine does NOT. At least not the passenger side. Mine is a 2010. Phill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffJ Posted November 5, 2014 Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 Correct, they did not have that in 2010. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoopy49 Posted November 5, 2014 Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 Not quite correct. In the seat belt pretensioner behind the inner quarter panel, there is a charge and an ignitor which goes off in an accident to tighten the seat belt. Correct, it is not near the presenter arm in question here or where it is bolted in to the B pillar. Problem is that right now, Ford will not replace just the presenter arm, you have to buy the entire seat belt assembly including the pretensioner which does have the explosive in it which makes the assembly so freaking pricey. I looked all through the 2014 Mustang Service Manual and there is no mention of an automatic seat belt retraction device that you describe. This is from the service manual. Functional Test — Safety Belt Retractor The safety belt retractor must be freely operational for extraction and retraction of the safety belt webbing between full extension and in-vehicle stowed positions. Extract and retract the safety belt between the full extension and stowed positions.Verify the safety belt retractor operates without excessive effort or binding.Install a new safety belt retractor if any concern is found or the complaint has been verified. Functional Test — Safety Belt Retractor, Automatic Locking Retractor (ALR) Mode Position the seat backrest fully upright (if adjustable).Position the safety belt shoulder height adjuster (if equipped) in the full down or up position.Fasten the safety belt.Pull out the safety belt webbing until the Automatic Locking Retractor (ALR) feature is activated.Allow the safety belt webbing to retract until it stops.Pull on the safety belt webbing to check that the safety belt retractor has remained in the ALR mode. If the safety belt retractor is not locked, install a new safety belt retractor.Unfasten the safety belt and allow the safety belt webbing to retract to its stowed position.Pull out and retract the safety belt webbing to verify the safety belt retractor has converted automatically out of ALR mode. If the safety belt retractor remains locked in the ALR mode, install a new safety belt retractor. Functional Test — Safety Belt Retractor, Road Test Inspection WARNING: The driver and passenger must be prepared to brace themselves in the event the safety belt retractor does not lock. Failure to follow this instruction may result in serious personal injury. NOTE: Make sure there is no excessive slack in the safety belt webbing across the torso during testing. NOTE: Do not jerk on the safety belt webbing when carrying out this test. Test the safety belts in the following sequence: Fasten the safety belts and proceed to a safe area. Attain a speed of 24 km/h (15 mph). WARNING: Apply maximum brake force only on dry concrete or equivalent hard surface, never on wet pavement or gravel. Failure to follow this instruction may result in serious personal injury. Grasp the shoulder harness, lean forward and apply the brakes, making a maximum braking application without a skid. The safety belts should lock up with minimum webbing extension. If there is a lockup of all safety belt retractors being tested, the safety belt retractors are functioning correctly. If any safety belt retractor fails to lock up, install a new safety belt retractor(s). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffJ Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 You guys are killing me. Yes, every retractable seat belt system since the early 70's has a mechanical lock mechanism to lock the seat belt in case of hard stopping or impact. I'm curious about what the manual says about testing the deployment of the airbags? The process above is correct for checking the mechanical function. However now, cars don't just have that, but just about every car now has an explosive in either the retractor or the receptacle end of the seat belt system to actually real in or tighten the seat belt by about 4". Lots of cars have them in the receptacle (the female end where you clip in) that shortens it by 4" in a crash. These are mostly in the floor area where you plug the seat belt in. On the Mustang, so yes Phill, I was wrong, your car has this also, same part on 2010-2014, the explosive is in the retractor mechanism. Below is a picture of a 2010. The orange female plug is where the wires plug in. We study these things at the fire department quite a bit in learning the areas where it's safe to cut into a car during extrication. With all the new placements of airbags, it's really tough to keep up on every car model. Do a search on you tube there are all kinds of videos of people playing with exploding these seat belt retractors. Yea, not smart, but hey, the videos are there. Look up seat belt pretensioner. We often use the stupid people videos to show the power of the explosive in these devises. Anyhow, it really stinks that to just replace the presenter arm, you have to replace the entire assembly which is expensive. Good news is that there are a lot more of these out there now, so I've found some places where you can buy the assembly for about $200. Ford list is still around $300+. I'm not up to paying this much just to fix the darn presenter arm. Phill, you know for sure that your car did not have this? This picture is actually a passenger side assembly from a 2010 GT500. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffJ Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 Little more explanation, the explosion happens in the chamber (red arrow) and then pushes a drive (green arrow) which actually spools in the seatbelt in, holding the occupant tighter back against the seat. Pretty cool stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoopy49 Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 JeffJ, Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. From the description, it sounds like it takes up the excess slack in the seatbelt harness rather than actually pulling the occupant back into the seat. Safety Belt Retractor and Pretensioner The pretensioner is a pyrotechnic device that deploys when activated by the Restraints Control Module (RCM) to remove excess safety belt webbing from the shoulder and lap safety belt in the event of an impact. If a deployment of the safety belt retractor and pretensioners occurs, a new assembly must be installed. Refer to Safety Belt Retractor and Pretensioner in this section. Each front safety belt shoulder guide includes a 2-position safety belt presenter arm (coupe only) that rotates rearward to allow for occupant rear seat access (stowed position) and forward for front seat occupant use (worn position). For safety belt retractor and pretensioner diagnostic and disposal information, refer to Section 501-20B . Safety Belt Retractor Pretensioner Safety belt retractor pretensioners are pyrotechnic devices integrated to the safety belt retractor assemblies. Safety belt retractor pretensioners control the tension of the driver and passenger safety belts in the event of a deployable crash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilmor Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 I notice that they did away w/ this stupid presenter arms in the 2015 models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2010KonaBlueGT Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 Phill, you know for sure that your car did not have this? This picture is actually a passenger side assembly from a 2010 GT500. No, I can not say with 100% certaintly that mine does not have that. I'm going striclty from memory and at 59 years old, that's not the greateset anymore. But I sure don't remember ANY wire connections to the assembly you show in your pic, and that is what I remember mine looking like (I had it OUT and in my hand). If it wasn't so much of a pain in the ass I'd double check so for now, I'll take your word for it! Is it possible that the "plug" isn't in a harness type of connector but rather hard wired into the body so when I pulled/replaced the unit, it automatically plugged in/out? If that's the case, then that would explain my memory of NO plugging or unplugging a harnes wire/terminal. Phill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2010KonaBlueGT Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 EDIT: Oh wait, I see that the "plug" (orange thing) is on the OUTSIDE of the device, not the inside. So yes, I can pretty safely say (still not 100% sure) that mine doesn't have that. Geeze, now my curiosity is up so high I'm tempted to go pull the panel again! Phill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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