Hi all,

I recently acquired Nessie, pictured below. I had a 2017 Rav4 previously. I notice that when I turn off the car and then unclick my seatbelt, I could swear I hear a little motor noise coming from the seatbelt height adjustment area and that I've felt the shoulder belt tug a bit. Am I crazy or is there some motor connected to the belt? I asked the dealer and of course they act like I asked how to hand crank the motor to start it. I couldn't find anything in the manual. Any idea what I might be hearing?

Thanks!

 

Is this before or after you press the start button?

The reason I ask is because you may have the “power easy access” enabled. It moves your seat and steering wheel to the last position once you fasten your belt, or press the start button, whichever occurs first. That is the only thing I can think of that would engage a motor upon buckling the seat belt. Assuming your seat isn’t normally all the way back, you should also feel the seat moving when you buckle up.

 

I notice this after I press the engine off button, then unbuckle. I deactivated the seat movement feature. Dealer insists they cannot deactivate the wheel movement. I thought that might be what I'm hearing, but this sounds like it's coming from a different location

 

It's the seatbelt tensioner you're hearing. After you put your seatbelt on and drive off, the seatbelt is slightly tensioned. When turning the car off, it lets go.

 

Thanks! I tinkered with the driver and passenger belts and noticed that, so that makes sense.

 

Interesting. We have had ours for over three years and I never noticed this. Thanks.

 

I only notice it sometimes. The seatbelt has to be tight for you to feel it, and even then it's just barely. You might hear the motor though, if you have the radio off when turning off the car.