Seat Belts - Retractor Inoperative Due to Undercoating
87toyota9REFERENCE: Product General Information
NUMBER: 018
DATE: 02-19-88
MODEL: ALL
TITLE UNDERCOAT APPLICATION
A survey recently conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of randomly selected vehicles and information provided by several vehicle manufacturers and rust proofing companies revealed that:
^ Some cars had inoperative seat belt retractors as a result of excessive application of rust proofing material even though the retractors were equipped with protective covers.
^ Two reported accidents allegedly involved two injuries as a result of safety belt retractor failure due to misapplication of rust proofing material.
In view of this, we'd like to remind you that Toyota vehicles are built and designed to resist corrosion. Application of additional rust inhibiting materials is not necessary. Nor is it required in order to keep the 5 year corrosion perforation warranty coverage in effect on '87 and later models.
However, if a Toyota vehicle has been repaired and rust proofing material must be applied in order to restore the corrosion protection. The rust proofing material must not be applied in the "B" pillar area or near any safety belt retractor, unless the retractors are first removed. This is to avoid a malfunction of the safety belt retractor mechanism as a result of misapplication of rust proofing.