There's probably an easy answer to both of these, but I have some rather specific questions, where someone else's previous experience could same me agony and anguish. They both deal with plastic parts. Ya know, the kind that like to snap in half when you look at them sideways and aren't well-documented in the FSM.

1. The hatch harness grommet, body side: Somehow the rubber boot slipped off the plastic insert (previous owner's fault! ). Could someone who's taken this off before tell me whether the plastic insert can pop out, through the outside of the car? I tried to snap the boot back on, but that hatch hinge area is a tight space to be working on. Any tecniques would be helpful. I'd like to avoid going through the inside of the car.



2. Passenger side seatbelt guide: As you can see, it needs a dose of Viagra. My little female friends hate having the belt ride up and mess up their makeup when the belt pops out. I'd like to go in an tighten it. But before I unzip the leather off the seats and start a big project digging around the seat interior, could someone tell me if there's an easier way? Like, does it simply unscrew or something?

Thanks guys (and gals), any help would be appreciated.

edit:I keep getting database errors when I try to upload the pics...

add'l seach keywords: seat belt guide retainer strap wires roof

 

I'll host the pics myself then...

Here's the hatch harness I'm trying to fix, notice the boot is not on the plastic:



This is the pathetic seatbelt guide:


Any bit of help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Has anyone removed any part of the hatch harness? I just want to know how that plastic piece is fastened. I don't want to blindly start pulling and end up breaking something, if it isn't necessary.

 

I just removed the hatch harness today. The white plastic pieces you circled have to be unsnapped from body on the inside of the car. That means you've got to pop off the 1/4 panel trim, remove the sunvisors and dome light then carefully unsnap the headliner from the roof.

There might be an alternative though. If you've got a little Armor All or windex, etc, something slippery spray it on the inside of the boot and you should be able to pop it back on. It might help to get in there with a hook shaped tool to pull it over the boot.

 

Thank you very much, Turbojeff. That's exactly what I needed to know. You saved me from breaking something!

Makes me wonder how they get the boot on at the factory... guess it's easier with the hatch off.

Thanks again.

 

No prob.

I'm not sure I understand the seatbelt clip question.

 

Yeah, I've never noticed this on anyone else's car. These seats were recovered by a previous owner, which is why my R2 has leather seats.

The strap you see in the bottom picture has a lot of slack. The problem is the latch at the end of the strap relies on strap tension to keep it in place.

My driver's side is fine, and it seems to have an elastic/spring-like tension to it, even though it's a nylon strap. The passenger side is like that as well, but it seems to be too long.

I was wondering how to get that circled part off, or otherwise shorten/tighten that strap up so it will latch.

The part that's circled in green is slightly cracked so I'll probably just replace it. I guess whomever recovered the seats made a mistake here. Hopefully Mazda sells just that part, and doesn't require purchase of an entire seat. I have a bad feeling about it, since I cannot find seat dissembly in the FSM.

I've been keeping an eye out for an answer, but apparently, not many have taken the seats themselves apart. I know a couple of forum members who'd like to know though.

 

Bump!



Anybody know how to remove this?

 

You've got to take the seat cover off the seat to get that part off.

 

Thanks, yet again, Jeff.

Sounds easier than dealing with the hatch harness. BTW, I tried getting that boot back on w/out removing the hatch or headliner. I worked on it for about an hour, got half of it on, slipped up a bit and released the whole thing, so now I'm back where I started. Given the alternatives, silicone is looking better and better.

These little things almost aren't worth the time.

 

ok here are some pictures

 

Great pictures, RotorMotor! That's exactly what I needed to see!

This will really help me deal with this damn boot!
Thanks a lot!

Hmm... almost looks like they're inserted from the outside?

 

im positive they are installed from the outside... looks like they just snap in

 

I'm looking at the tabs that secure it from the inside of the car, and it's a little difficult to see them from the exposure. Does it look like someone could stick a screwdriver in from the outside, and slightly bend/deform the whole clip in order to release it?


I know I sound like a wuss here, but to roll back the headliner I'll have to remove the rear interior trim piece near it. And this particular trim had some broken clips I managed to rig for "one last attachment". A previous owner had a cellphone kit installed, and the installer did a terrible job. If I take that off, I'll probably have to buy another panel.

 

not without breaking it... you need to remove the headliner to release it... you should be able to pop it back IN by hand though from hte outside