I have 1998 Quad Cab. Recently, the front seat belts began intermittently locking up. I'm fairly certain that the seat belt control timer module is going. Of course a new unit is not available. I did find a used one on ebay, and it's on the way. A little pricey, but it beats me going to the junkyard and pulling one. Caulk it up to labor charge.

At any rate here is the question. I've watched several You Tubes about work arounds. One, you bypass the module altogether by rewiring it. Two, you take the seat cover off and remove the solenoid from the seat belt. The first seems preferable as I can always and easily undo it. The second you essentially destroy the solenoid, and you can't get a new one.

Has anyone tried the work arounds? Do they actually work? Are there any more downsides such as the module controls more than the seat belts? I'm anticipating that the new-used module may go bad at some point and may need to do one of the alternative fixes.

 

Don't forget to check the brake switch as well. Mine lock when I step on the brake. I think removing the solenoid is a bad idea, as that may prevent the seat belts from locking when you actually WANT them to. That could be quite painful.......

 

My thoughts as well. But the You Tube guys demonstrated that the seat belts lock up if you pull the belt suddenly with both fixes. However, none of those that pulled the solenoid mentioned the other components that could go bad such as the door switch or the module. I think that rewiring and bypassing the module accomplishes the same thing. It takes the solenoid out of the equation. I'm not a big fan of work arounds. I'd rather fix it right, particularly safety items. But if the part is no longer available-new or used, something else may be needed.

 

I would still go thru the troubleshooting, and verify just what the problem actually is. Might be something simple.