Question GN nautilus buckle getting sticky?

bobandjess99 · Feb 17, 2009

ugh. So..DD has been complaining she can't undo her GN buckle, which she has been able to do for a year. So, I have been doing it, and indeed, it has seemed more difficult....well, I was just out tehre playing with it, and I think there might actually be somethign *wrong* with it..it sticks..it is definitely no longer as easy as it was...even I, wigth normal adult sterngth, have to press down HARD with 2 fingers and really PULL to get it to unlatch, while also pulling up on the male part of the buckle...
Has anyone else noticed this? Could it be a defect? Could it be something she did to it? (spilled juice or pop is a definite possibility)...if ti is sticky due to something liek juice in it, can it be fixed? You aren't supposed to clean buckles or wet them or anything, right?
Ideas?

MustangMama · Feb 17, 2009

Uhhh....call Graco?

The worse thing they are gonna do is make you pay for a new one. This would make me feel uncomfortable using it not knowing whether it was locked or not!

Even if she spilled juice in it, I would be weary of washing it out with water...

Good luck :thumbsup:

carseatcoach · Feb 17, 2009

I don't have my manual handy, but unless it's specifically contraindicated, yes, you can run hot water through the buckle to clean it.

orangemnms · Feb 17, 2009

My kids do.not.eat in the car, ever, and we had this problem recently, where no amount of pulling and re buckling and cursing got the left side to unclick. I swear it was possessed, I couldn't do it, and neither could my 7 year old son. Finally after about 10 times of that happening, I called Graco, and they offered to send me a new harness/buckle without further questions, although they were out of stock for 3 weeks.

Luckily, we have more than enough seats to just take that one out of rotation and replace it with a different one, LOL, until the new buckle arrives.

bobandjess99 · Feb 17, 2009

orangemnms said:
My kids do.not.eat in the car, ever, and we had this problem recently, where no amount of pulling and re buckling and cursing got the left side to unclick. I swear it was possessed, I couldn't do it, and neither could my 7 year old son. Finally after about 10 times of that happening, I called Graco, and they offered to send me a new harness/buckle without further questions, although they were out of stock for 3 weeks.

Luckily, we have more than enough seats to just take that one out of rotation and replace it with a different one, LOL, until the new buckle arrives.

thanks. I will play with it some more tomorrow ehen it is light out and see what is up, and if it still sticks, I will try contacting Gaco during business hours. Unfortunately, I do NOT have another seat for dd..I suppose I could just use the GN in booster mode if I absolutely have to, scary as that is.

(BTW..never? Seriously? do you just not use the car much? We spend probably a minimum of 2+ hours per day in the car, between taking dd to school, me going to work, dh going to work, drop-offs, pick up from school ( across town), going to school activities, getting my stepsons from their moms house 2 towns over, shopping trips, errands, etc....there would be no way for my kids to not eat in the car without starving to death...)

orangemnms · Feb 17, 2009

Heh. Nope, never. They get their Klean Kanteens filled with water and thats it. We homeschool, and log over 300 miles a week between park days and lessons and and and but absolutely no food in my car. Don't worry, it is still trashed with all the other normal kid stuff, but no crumbs.

Wanna know why? I was one of the first of my group of friends to drive in high school. One day, someone, unbeknownst to me, forgot the uneaten portion of their deli sandwich underneath the front passenger seat. It took me several months to figure out was the smell was, and when I did figure it out, I literally wretched while removing it. Barf.

April · Feb 17, 2009

I was wondering if a thread like this was ever going to pop up....

When I bought my GN in December, we used it twice, and then I loaned it to a friend. She said that the crotch buckle kept getting stuck, particularly on the left side, and her DS kept freaking out because he thought he wouldn't be able to get out. I mentioned it to my DH, who said he had the same thing happen the two times we used it with Griffin.

So I bought another one, and got my friend to bring the original one back to me. Well, I tried and tried about ten times and the buckle released just fine for me. She tried again and it kept getting stuck. We figured out that it must've been the way she was pushing the button. You have to push it right in the centre and the harness would literally "pop" right out without having to pull. I ended up giving her the new one anyways, and we kept the original one. Neither of us has had a problem since. :shrug-shoulders:

NOAHSMOM · Feb 18, 2009

When he first got the GN's my son could buckle and unbuckle with ease. Now days it is a struggle for him to unbuckle both of them and he gets fustrated. I can reach back and unbuckle them easily though.

firemomof3 · Feb 18, 2009

Same problem here, my GN buckle was getting so horrible AND the harness was fraying...again! So, got a new harness and then sold the GN

orangemnms · Feb 18, 2009

It happened to my DD today for the first time in a completely different Nauti than the other I was having problems with! grr.

zactayaus · Feb 18, 2009

This has happened to me before too. I have been contemplating on calling Graco about it, but I can usually get it undone if I just click the right side back in and then try again. I think it may have something to do with pressing down on the middle of the buckle like one of the PP's said, because if you get it right the buckles really do just pop right out.

Kat_Momof3 · Feb 18, 2009

weird question... has she had NERDS in the car (the candy)??

seriously... because I had no CLUE Ruthie had any on her person (she had the box in her pocket and only God and her know how she got it out, but she showed me where she'd gotten it when I was maniacally trying to free her from her seat when I was THIS close to slashing the buckles (I just didn't want to have to take her home using it as a booster... and seeing the nerds, I guessed they were the culprit)

Sure enough... push hard enough... CRUNCH... the unmistakeable sound of Nerds when they crush.

it took two full weeks for all of them to get crushed up and for them to rinse out properly (they had to crush to be able to fit to come out).... and it was stiff during that time... once it was all gone, it was great.

But I will now FRISK my daughter (and her brothers are simply interrogated as they have been told (and seen the maniacal face lecturing them on this new rule and on why it is)) on any time she comes toward my car with candy that I haven't made sure is Nerds-free.

I've actually gone toe-to-toe over Jeffrey about NOT getting nerds at the movies, because I KNOW that the kids will not finish them there and there is no way in all that is possible that one single solitary round pebble of that candy is going near my car until they are in boosters... and even then... they'll be in my purse till we get home.

(It was after halloween... he was on a kick of liking them)

So... after that long vent... rinse out the buckle and see if that helps

erinmi · Feb 18, 2009

I've had this happen several times on DD's GN. We have always been able to get it to work in the end but sometimes I want to scream in frustration!!

Chameleon · Feb 18, 2009

I've been having this problem lately with DS's Nautilus. It's driving me crazy!!!

MySillyKids · Feb 18, 2009

OMG OMG OMG

I've been blaming DS for being LAZY. :crying:

I just thought he wanted ME to do it for him, after saying he couldn't do it.

:crying:

hmm interesting. Ours is stuck TOO!!

Brendan's Mom · Feb 19, 2009

I thought DS was "teasing" me when he said he couldn't get it undone. He has been trying to play jokes on me lately. Off to call Graco!

groovymom2000 · Feb 19, 2009

Well, the things you find when you wander upstairs for a change. I just installed our GN last week, and several times the left side has become stuck. I thought it was just DS saying "I can't" until I tried it myself. It's a new seat, and there has been no food eaten in it yet, and we only drink water. It doesn't happen every time, but enough to frustrate the both of us. I may call Graco tomorrow as well.

Kat_Momof3 · Feb 19, 2009

for the new seats... maybe just a batch of bad buckles?

bobandjess99 · Feb 19, 2009

Kat_Momof3 said:
for the new seats... maybe just a batch of bad buckles?

possibly..but my seat is over a year old, it was an early one....and no, no nerds, LOL!!! DD has onlt had nerds once in her whole life, and that was a year ago....

TnT's Mom · Feb 19, 2009

I thought it was just me! I have some off and on joint issues and thought I was just having trouble unbuckling ds's Nautilus in my car but now I see that I am not the only one. It has become so difficult to get it unlatched! It is so hard to get the button pushed down to release the buckles. I am not sure about the one in Dh's truck, I think it is ok but he doesn't ride in that one very much. I was going to try cleaning it off but it doesn't feel or look like there is anything on the metal. I think maybe I will call and get a new buckle because it is seriously making me crazy. It is DOM 8/08 and the other one is (9/08).

Question GN nautilus buckle getting sticky?

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