Recently purchased, used Mazda 3 driver side seat belt is completely slack and will not retract. If I remove panel that is between front and back driver side doors to attempt to fix will that damage panel? Will I be able to reattach?

Hi Ray, Removal of the seat belts requires removal of the seats. Adjust the front seats to the fully backwards position and remove the fixing bolts and then unhook rails at the rear.You will notice a wire cable attached to each seat used to adjust the belt shoulder hight. This must also be disconnected. On later model vehicles there is an automatic retraction unit which pulls the driver and or passenger back into the seat in the event of the air bags being deployed. These connections must also be removed. If seats are electrically operated unplug all connectors. Remove seats and then gently remove plastic door pillar covers. (These are in two pieces for each front belt.) Removal will leave the fixing bolts of retractable part of the seat belt exposed. The buckle side is fixed with one bolt and has an electrical connection which must be disconnected. Hope this is of help? Regards John

The problem:
The set belt stop has been lost so the seat belt retracts too far when the seat is laid flat. When laid flat the release mechanism lock as it should when not level. So the seat cannot be raised up as the belt is too tight and locked.
The Solution:
1) Push the two little clips to release and remove the headrests.
Pull the grey lever on the right of the seat base, lift seat base up and forward toward the front seat..
2) See two red capped leversat the back of the two seat hinges and lever them to the upward position, this releases the seat.
Rock the very heavy seat unit upwards and lift complete unit upwards.
3) Take it out of the car and turn 180% so that the back of the seat and base are in the upward position and the seat belt will pull out as it should
4) Replace the missing belt locking stop (I used a tie pin permanently fixed using super glue).
5) Fold seat back down and test then either re-fit seat unit or leave out to decrease fuel consumption..

2005 Towncar SRS Code 33 (3 flash + 3 flash, repeat this set for twice. then Beep 5 times pause x 5 = 25 beeps every 30min).

This means you have problem with left (Driver) side pretentioner (Seat belt retract system).
It doesn't mean physical belt or retract mechanism.It is just bomb wiring which is part of airbag system.
When airbag deploy, passenger must stay tight in seat otherwise body lean to front then slam back to seat by airbag.
if belt is loose or delay to lock, passenger's body rocks back and forth.So, system use small bomb (Fire power) to lock and retract seat belt when airbag deploy.There is small bomb and igniter in part of Seat belt retractor.
Code 33 is warning for this part on 2005 Towncar.(older model is different meaning in Ford/Lincoln, it's possibly passenger side airbag system for earlier model)
Before you work for any part of Airbag system and touch any "Yellow connector", * *Disconnect battery (negative side is good enough) and wait at least 5 min to clear all power in system**.(Airbag store back up power for few minutes to be able to deploy even in case if power disconnected)
by the way, you should move your driver seat most forwarded position before you disconnect battery to make it easy to work with seat belt.
locate driver side seat belt retractor (in center pillar between front and rear door, you may have to fight with weather strip)

Locate Yellow connector on bottom of Seat belt retractor (it's called "Pretensioner")it is located on very bottom of rear side of retractor.
only one yellow connector. (make sure your battery is disconnected)
Check its physical connection or looseness.if connection looks fine, you may have to replace whole seat belt ($180-$200 in Lincoln dealer)
You can check if pretensionor is good or bad by regular tester, but unless you know how, I won't tell (because I don't wan't you to blow out pretentionor).

junk yard replace for around 15 to 20 dollers

If both passengers and drivers side retractable belts have stopped moving, then it's likely the controller that's located under the passengers seat has gone bad. If only one side has stopped retracting and moving then that side motor has probably gone bad.

have a look to see if its coiled in twisted as you pull the belt out if the buckle doesn't line straight to the female end well its probely retracted in twisted to repair pull the belt out all the way and then realign the belt its quite hard to do so take your time hope this helps.

Replace it. This is a sign that the spring has long since died. At this point with a weak spring, the belt retractor is useless and will provide no protection.

You'll have to remove the trim on the side of the car in order to access the seat belt tensioner. You can adjust it with a screw driver and retract it back..

1)move the plastic cover over the seat belt out of the way to gain access to the two mounting bolts for the seat belt mechanism. Use a 10mm wrench and a 14mm wrench and remove the two bolts holding the seat belt mechanism to the body. Use a small drill bit or small screwdriver and make one hole in the plastic cover on each side of the seat belt mechanism (the covers say "do not remove plastic cover". Spray lots of wd40 in each hole. Then exercise the seat belt. When the mechanism allows the belt to be retracted, retract the belt all the way out and exercise the seat belt. Reinstall mechanism with both mounting screws in original position and put plastic cover back in place. Good luck. New seat belt costs $100.00 from dealer and are hard to find working in junk yards. I have fixed several of them this way.

just read online that the seatbelts were recalled that were having that problem