Guess what I came across this morning (Long)

my neighbour came straight to me when he got home today. Told me about the car seat recall and I said, yeah thanks. I knew about that already. So then we got to talking and I said how mine might be fine cause it is a 2006. He asked where I found that (we were in the underground parkade) so I told him I would show him and asked Phil to back up the car and meet me at his car.
I DID NOT BELEIVE MY EYES :thumbsdown::thumbsdown: when I opened the door and looked at the car seat.
first of all I went to move it a little to check the sticker. It moved HALF WAY ACROSS THE BACK SEAT!!! I checked at the belt path too and it moved crazy amount! The little girl is younger then cooper and JUST 20lbs. I can't seem to convince him to go back to rear facing for her. sigh...........but that is another story.
So anyway I check the shoulder portion of the belt. It was NOT locked in. I asked if he had the H clip in use. He said no just the seat belt
So I asked if he would mind if I reinstalled his seat. I said VERY firmly that the seat was NOT installed correctly and it could risk her daughters life in an accident. He said that I could. (He has an eddie bauer 3in1). So as I am undoing the tether I asked him who installed the seat. He said a lady at BCAA. I said, do you know her name? He said he remembered it. (I should have gotten it). I looked him right in the eyes and I said, you need to report her. This seat was NOT installed correctly and could have had dire consequences. He said he would. But then he started making excuses. Saying they were both in a rush. I said never make an appointment with someone if they were in a rush. Make sure they take the time to properly install the seat. I said this woman, if she has a liscence, needs to have it pulled.
So I got to work. He has a Kia Rio station wagon. I had to twist the female end 2.5 times. But it is NOW centered and does not move an inch. It only took about a half hour. Phil helped me to push the male end into the famale end so we could twist it that one extra half twist so it was out of the belt path. I installed with the seat belt then did the tether. It does not move AT ALL now. He looked at it and said thank you. He said sorry to be a bother. I said no, not at all. I thrive on proper installations. Then Phil piped up and said that I want to get certified and trained. Then Phil said to ask me no problem any time if he (my neighbour) needs any further help. My neighbour was so grateful and said he feels so much more comfortable with the seat how it is now.
Know what is funny and interesting? I have had that said to me EVERY time I install a car seat. I even reinstalled my nieces. I can't believe that seat was in that position. Geepers...........
had to share. thanks for reading. Sorry it is so long

I think 3 in 1s can't be used FF until 22lbs, at least mine is. If this child is only 20lbs than she would have to go back RF.

cdncasper said:

I think 3 in 1s can't be used FF until 22lbs, at least mine is. If this child is only 20lbs than she would have to go back RF.

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:yeahthat: You may want to let him know he is going against the manufacture having her FF. Also she needs to be 34 inches.

oh yeah! Didn't even think about that! I should go tell him!

Read the manual first. I'm not positive that we have the 34" rule here in Canada.

I'm pretty sure the FFing weight limit is 22lbs though, so that is a plus.

aidensmom02 said:

Read the manual first. I'm not positive that we have the 34" rule here in Canada.

I'm pretty sure the FFing weight limit is 22lbs though, so that is a plus.

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You're right - we don't have the 34" rule here because the max rf height is listed as 32". :thumbsdown:

The minimum ff'ing weight limit is 22lbs though.

Also, in the future I would lock the vehicle seat belts whenever possible instead of using a locking clip (H clip.) Anything after 1996 has a built in way to lock the belts - either at the latch plate or a switchable retractor. :thumbsup:

Good job for correcting the installation. It always feels good to know another child is safer because of you.

that is the thing. I got my mechanic husband who knows LOTS about cars to look at it and the center belt did not lock. I prefered to use the H clip cause then she was in the center. She is so small as it is. I barely convinced him to do that. I don't know if I can convince him to turn her back around cause his excuse is the typical one. Her legs are so long. Sigh. She is a very tall baby.

I have *never* seen a center belt that did not lock. Was it a lap/shoulder belt? What was the vehicle year/make/model?

not sure the year. It is a kia rio. The station wagon. Phil looked and flipped it over and everything. The dad said that when the infant seat was installed by the tech she used the H clip too. But it should be fine the way it is right? it is a lap belt only. It really is a stupid system. The end of the belt is attached to the belt with a clip. I know that makes no sense

Whoa - you can't use locking clips on lap-only belts. It's NOT a lap/shoulder belt?? (I'm confused!) I've seen lap-only belts where the "tail" is attached; it's a neatness thing , but it makes it harder to install the seat.

If it's a lap-only belt, it should have a locking latchplate (it locks at the buckle). It's possible, however, that the latchplate is resting at an angle in the carseat's belt path, which would prevent it from locking. In which case, there are other options (twisting the belt, either the "female" buckle, or the "male"), or even moving the seat to an outboard position.

grrrr
so I did it wrong. I give up. Not sure what to do now. Maybe I should get him to go to the fire department again. I dind't know about the H clip. I feel stupid now. Maybe I am not cut out to install seats.
Maybe it does lock. I have no clue. I wish I had the time to try to find a picture. I don't have time. Now what do I do?? It doesn't move at all right now

ok I talked to my husband. He said that when there is tension on this particular belt it locks but as soon as it starts to loose tension the locking mechanism loosens. He said that we used the H clip as a secondary lock just in case. So we locked it and twisted the female end and then put the H clip on as a just in case cause it doesn't lock as well and will loosen. I trust his judgement but I guess I am wrong

Oh honey, it was wrong when you got there! Mistakes are going to happen, just learn from them!

Okay, did the belt retract at all, the way lap/shoulder belts retract?

Or did it just lay on the seat, and you could tighten it by pulling the tail? This is the most likely case - and that means it has a locking latchplate. That's good! You should be able to fix it.

When you said in the first post that you "checked the shoulder portion" and it wasn't locked in, I'm guessing you meant the "tail" was just attached to the belt with the clip you described later? That would be confusing!

Reading it again, it sounds like you fixed the problem by twisting the female end - probably when you first saw it, the latchplate was resting on the belt path, and it loosened after it was originally installed. So hopefully, that means all you need to do is remove the locking clip and re-install it the same way.

Misty-Bug said:

ok I talked to my husband. He said that when there is tension on this particular belt it locks but as soon as it starts to loose tension the locking mechanism loosens. He said that we used the H clip as a secondary lock just in case. So we locked it and twisted the female end and then put the H clip on as a just in case cause it doesn't lock as well and will loosen. I trust his judgement but I guess I am wrong

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I'm really not sure what he's describing. Here's a good article about locking clips, maybe it will help you determine what kind of locking mechanism this belt has:
http://www.carseatsite.com/lockingclips.htm

Defrost said:

Oh honey, it was wrong when you got there! Mistakes are going to happen, just learn from them!

Okay, did the belt retract at all, the way lap/shoulder belts retract?

Or did it just lay on the seat, and you could tighten it by pulling the tail? This is the most likely case - and that means it has a locking latchplate. That's good! You should be able to fix it.

When you said in the first post that you "checked the shoulder portion" and it wasn't locked in, I'm guessing you meant the "tail" was just attached to the belt with the clip you described later? That would be confusing!

Reading it again, it sounds like you fixed the problem by twisting the female end - probably when you first saw it, the latchplate was resting on the belt path, and it loosened after it was originally installed. So hopefully, that means all you need to do is remove the locking clip and re-install it the same way.

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no it was installed outboard at first. I called a tech and talked to her. I am gonna fix it asap. It was instlled outboard and the shoulder portion of the belt was NOT locked. This one is a lap only belt. I will take pics when I can.

Misty-Bug said:

no it was installed outboard at first. I called a tech and talked to her. I am gonna fix it asap. It was instlled outboard and the shoulder portion of the belt was NOT locked. This one is a lap only belt. I will take pics when I can.

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OH I get it. Well, the shoulder portion doesn't always have to be locked, unless that's the only way to lock the lap portion; just pointing that out because if the seat belts have locking latchplates, the shoulder portion of the belt will still move freely, but the lap portion will be locked. Of course, in that case the seat wouldn't move halfway across the car, either, so in any case it wasn't installed correctly. :thumbsup: