Replacing driver's seat belt assembly... Unidentifiable part.
 

I have a 99 SE. My driver's seat belt is frayed from the previous owner. I bought a replacement from another 4th gen last fall and just getting around to installing it now.

The one on the left is from my car. What the heck is that attached to it? It has a 2-pin wiring connector coming out of it.
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This is going to suck if I have to hunt for another part as I won't get an exchange/return since I bought this last fall.

You guys think I could swap the belt from one assembly to the other?

The rocket looking part is for the explosive charge.

Yea it sucks because the electric cable sends a signal that will trigger an SRS airbag code if the sensor is not present or if the explosive charge has been detonated.

On my I30 the airbags and explosive charge were detonated last year. I bought some seat belts from another 99 model that did not contain the explosive charge unit and the wire to connect. It turns out someone must have replaced the 99 model's belts with belts from an earlier 4th gen. So I got burned on the purchase. Now the car throws a code for SRS belts.

A couple of weeks ago I found some belts from a 99 model that actually contain the explosive charge unit. I plan to replace the earlier belts with ones that contain the explosive charge to remedy the SRS air bag code.

I think there is a way to bridge a resistor in the electric line to "stand in" for the Ohm resistance from the explosive charge unit. In my case, I didn't have a good explosive charge unit to test for Ohm resistance to build a bridge.

You might get lucky and move the belt to the explosive charged unit. I just said "ah forget it" and picked up another set from the salvage yard.

Here's a Youtube of how the explosive charge works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVH9CX7iMp4

:

Federal safety laws changed, requiring seat belts to lock up faster. Nissan implemented it in the 98 models (I think). So what you bought was a seat belt from a 97 or older car.

If you use the older inertia belt, you will have the airbag light on unless you do something like a resistor that CS_AR mentioned.

OT question...after the explosion goes off, do the seatbelts no longer retract themselves for daily use?

It has to be replaced. One time use type of thing. I think it remains locked and doesn't reel in or out.

The reason I ask because I've been to some scuzzy mom and pop type car dealers where they've had a few cars where the seatbelts no longer retracted on their own, I had to manually feed it. The mileage was really low, and the dashboard airbag didn't look quit right either so I suspected the car was in an accident at one point in time. I imagine the car sat busted up for a few years until someone fixed it up enough and made to look ok to sell.

Yep.. After the bags have been deployed the belts no longer retract. It's a mess.

CS_AR, thanks for the explanation.

I decided to try and swap the belt strap. I opened the spring assembly on the "junkyard part" to see how it is assembled. To my surprise, I learned that the spring assembly does not need to be disassembled to replace the belt!

Here's a rough "how to"...

Hold the belt assembly upright (to prevent locking) and unwind the belt all the way.
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Here it is unwound, I stuck a pocket screwdriver into the "spool" to keep it from turning/winding back up.
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Here's the bottom, the belt needs to be pushed out through here.
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I used a screwdriver to help push out the belt.
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Slide out the plastic piece and now you can pull the belt right through the opening of the spool. Be careful, if the spool isn't locked off and you let it go, you will have to wind it back up and you won't know how many turns it takes to bring it back to its original place!!!
http://i1368.photobucket.com/albums/...psb503ef9c.jpg

This was great, while I had the belt out I also washed it by soaking it in laundry detergent then scrubbing it with a stiff brush!

Also, while the belt was off, I gave the spool another 2 turns against the spring to stiffen it as the belt on the car was not retracting very well...

Great job man! This will help other members in the future for sure.

I hope it helps somebody. It's way simpler/easier than I thought.

With how few 99's that pop up at yards in my area, it would take a long time and frequent trips to the wreckers to find a direct replacement/color...

I'm with ya on that one.. I waited over a year for a tan I30 to show up so I could snag the airbags.

Yesterday I changed the air bags. The steering wheel airbag was easy to replace. However, there is a trick to replacing the passenger side bag. I'll post some pics to share the tips. Today I'll be installing the correct seat belt units.