Seat belt tensioners
 

I've just joined the elite Protege owners club for the first time when I purchased a used(pre-owned) '93 DX ($1,300) yesterday.

It's in good shape and I suspect it has a lot of life left in it.

Question: The shoulder seat belt tensioners don't appear to work properly. Are they engaged when the car is deccelerating from a high speed or engaged when the brake is applied somehow?

If they're supposed to be engaging and thus restraining the occupant, they're not working. I'll probably be buying some new ones.

Anyone know where these might be available? Is the junk yard the best place?

Thanks!
Neb

yeah when i brake, my shoulder belt holds me back. even from a slow speed.

congrats on the protege. what model is it? (DX or LX) and is it an automatic or a manual?

and welcome to the board :D

-phil

'93 DX, manual, 146,356 miles. It runs great with very little rust, and for $1,300, it's a great little car.

I'd love to spruce it up a bit. There's a few rattles, etc., I'll need to tighten up as well.

One more thing: the air-conditioning is blowing hot air. Do you think the compressor just needs to be serviced and recharged? If so, how much should that normally cost?

Thanks much!

Hey! I'm new too and I had to jump in on asking about the airconditioning blowing hot air...mine's done it as long as i can remember.
The car's a 1990 lx and my dad's been the only other driver. I got it last year when I turned 17. I don't remember cold air coming out of those vents since at least 7th grade. Anyway I live in Texas and this is my second summer with it...it's killing me. I don't have a lot of money to use on it or I would have taken it somewhere by now and had it looked at. The frion is probably nonexistant and there may be a leak, but assuming those things are fine...what else could cause it to not cool the air. (Don't laugh at me too hard I'm an 18 year old girl...barely know what I'm talking about :) )
Thanks!

well, you probably just need to get it recharged, ive heard anywhere between 50 and 300 dollars to do so.

recharged?? good lord youre gonna laugh at me :D ...what's that?

Air conditioning
 

Recharging the air conditioning involves connecting specialized equipment to the system in your car and basically adding more freon. Over time the freon can either leak out or over longer periods, evaporate away.

It's usually about a 15 minute process where they connect all the stuff, start the car with the a/c running, and then fill-er up.

:)

A little Pricey for R12
 

In Arizona R12 is about $55 a can, so when my AC was blowing hot air I went to K-mart and bought an R12 to R134-A Conversion Kit.. My AC leaked all the r-12 out.. I just recharged my ac with R-134-A instead of R-12..

It cost me about $40, and at $6 a can, R134A is cheaper to Recharge on a leaky AC System... I still need to get the leak fixed....

But maybe that wil help...

as far as the seatlbelt restraints, i heard that there was a recall on the 93 model Protege and 323. they just didnt work right. mine wont go forward and backwards like they are supposed to. go to the nearest dealer and they shoudl fix them for free.

a/c: probably just needs a recharge...

alright thanks a lot =)