So I am absolutely not knowledgeable with cars beyond my own research here and there but my drivers side seat belt is locked and I cant pull it out at all. I took the panel off to expose the seat belt retractor and I'm going to get it off and see if the problem isnt just that the belts tangled or anything. if I do need to get it replaced, would i need to find a seat belt/seat belt retractor that is identical to the one I already have? I've done some quick googling and it seems somewhat hard to find a volvo 850 seat belt retractor for sale online. Would I be able to buy one that's similar and still have it work, or do I need to hunt down a retractor that is specifically for volvo 850s? Thanks!

 

There should be plenty of these in the junkyard and maybe that's the only place you'd find one. You can search junkyards by using car-part.com. The programming they use to do part interchangeability is very good.

Edit: Looks like you can get new ones from Volvo for $300+. Based on volvo's website they fit all years 850, same seat belt.

You don't cut the belt off the retractor, you just have to replaced the whole seatbelt.

 

That website helps a lot! I found some on there for around $35 so I'll try that before resorting to getting a new one.

 

These cars have exploding seat belt yankers, so if the car in the junkyard had airbags pop, they'll be exploded. I don't know if that was standard equipment, but based on the new Volvo parts I looked at, it may have been standard equipment. There's a little cannon in there pointing straight down that fires and pulls the belt down somehow or other.

 

there's always somebody parting out an 850 on Craigslist around here. Usually its a head gasket or transmission issue that people don't want to fix so you should be able to find a donor that wasn't in a wreck.