1996 chevy pick up seat belt onpassenger side is

of course it possible to access this retractor , you just need to locate the small round circles in the lower part of trim and gently pry the covers off , screws will be evedent , you will need a 6 mm star (five sided) drive socket wrench to remove the retractor though

This is going to sound a little odd, but properly jack the car and then try opening this door. Put the jack in the recommended jacking spot on the passenger side.

Imagine that the back and front ends of the car are compressing the center of the car. By lifting one end or the other, the center may shift. Otherwise you do not have a frame, but the engine cradle may have a support located closer to the center of the vehicle. Do not jack the sheet metal, but you may catch the cradle and apply lift there.

You may notice by putting in a piece of cardboard in the doorjam on whether there is an increasing gap as you jack the car.

For 1996 Chevrolet 1500, the fuse block door access is on the drivers side edge of the instrument panel. Pull off the cover to cover to access the fuse block. Check the position 13 (Power Amp, Cigarette Lighter, Door lock Relay, Power Lumbar Seat) and A position (Power Door lock, Six-way Power Seat, Keyless Entry Module).

Other details can find in the 1996 Chevrolet 1500 - Owners Manual

Hope this help (remember rated this help).

have you checked the tension when the brakes are being applied some of the newer vehicle seat belts don't tighten until you step on the brakes

It sounds as if the inertia lock has been damaged. There is no safe way to repair it. You may take it to the dealer and see if they will give you a replacement because it would be cosidered a saftey issue. I think they will only go back ten years though, but you still want to check because the passengers safety is at stake.

you may have to remove the bolt that holds the buckle to the floor. Try to push the belt into the retractor and see if it frees up.

I assume you are saying it is in the locked mode. It has an automatic lock mode for holding a child seat. When the belt is pulled all the way out, it goes into locking mode. You will hear it ratchet when the belt starts going back in.



Section 01-20A: Restraints, Active 1999 Taurus, Sable Workshop Manual
DESCRIPTION AND OPERATION Safety Belt, Lap/Shoulder The dual locking mode retractor on the shoulder belt portion of the combination lap/shoulder safety belt for the front seat passenger and rear seat outboard passengers operates in two ways:

1. In the vehicle sensitive (emergency locking) mode, the shoulder belt retractor will allow the occupant freedom of movement, locking tight only on hard braking, hard cornering or impacts of approximately 8 km/h (5 mph) or more. The front and rear outboard seat belt retractors can also be made to lock by pulling/jerking on the belt.
   

1. In the automatic locking mode, the shoulder belt retractor will be automatically locked and remain locked when the combination lap/shoulder safety belt is buckled and does not allow the occupant freedom of movement. This mode provides tight lap/shoulder belt fit on the occupant and on a child safety seat or infant carrier installation restraint.
   

1. When the combination lap/shoulder belt is unbuckled and allowed to retract completely, the retractor will switch to the vehicle sensitive (emergency) locking mode.
   

WARNING: REAR-FACING INFANT SEATS SHOULD NEVER BE PLACED IN THE FRONT SEATS.
The automatic locking mode must be used when installing a child safety seat on the front passenger seat and rear outboard seats where dual locking retractors are provided

They Are easy to replace, They mount to the floor with one large bolt. The nut  below is welded so if you can obtain a large enough socket ... You may als get one from a junk yard. 

do not touch,spring loaded and sealed ,renew only

take seat belt loose at floorboard and check to see if anything is stuck in mechanism, sometimes the rachet spring will break and a ne seat belt is in order

so after completely tearing the seat apart I found 2 wires going up to the seat belt mechanism from under the seat, these wires got caught in the seat mechanism underneath and were shredded. There must be a small solenoid inside the seat belt mechanism because I could hear it click after I repaired the wires(this circuit is live even with the ignition off) Im not sure how it all works but this solved my problem.