The middle 3-point belt in my '99 VW golf has locked after the rear seat was put down. It's now so tight that the seat only lifts about half way.

Steve, March 2007

Hi,
Try also tapping the inertia assembly with a rubber mallet. But make sure the belt is slack.
Cheers

Ken Chapman, April 2007

Hi Steve

first of all i ain't a mechanic but i have some working knowledge of them as a firefighter. once the internal belt mechanism has locked the only method to release it (without resorting to a belt cutter)is to allow the system to wind in more belt wile not under tension.
you could have a look to see if you could unbolt one of the points to give you some extra slack.
try fooling about with the front passengers belt so you can understand how it works, give it a sharp tug so it activates and then feel how much you have to feed back in to release it.
the other point to note is to ensure the car is level as this can also stop the mechanism releasing.

best of luck
Scott

scott, March 2007