Seat belt warning

[louisecadby80]

So I have an MG4 SE long range and every now and again when sat at traffic lights with the hand brake on the seatbelt warning light will come on as I try to pull away once the lights have gone green. This then prevents the car from moving and I get stuck with cars behind me. I then have to undo and redo the seatbelt for the car to then move. It's gone to the MG dealer today and they are pretty useless - video to say no warning light on so it's fine! Has anyone else had this issue? It does not happen all the time just every now and again.

 

[Eber]

Can't help you, I'm afraid, but I was able to drive without the seatbelt fastened (closed track, private property yada yada yada).

 

[Rolfe]

I'm not quite sure how it works. I can drive the car out of the garage and into the driveway without fastening my seat belt. But one day I was in a hand car wash and unfastened my belt to reach over to the back seat for my handbag so I could pay. At that moment the guy doing the washing waved me forward to the next station, but when I tried to creep these few yards the car refused to budge and insisted I buckle up first.

 

[jonney]

Yeah I get the same: thread
Make sure to report to the dealer.
MG were unaware of it when I brought the car in last week.

 

[tsedge]

My experience of cars previously is that they bong incessantly and warn you constantly but you should be able to drive normally without the seatbelt on (obviously only on private land).

 

[jonney]

My experience of cars previously is that they bong incessantly and warn you constantly but you should be able to drive normally without the seatbelt on (obviously only on private land).

Yeah I've not had one that'll prevent the drive, seems incredibly stupid. A seatbelt sensor malfunction will render the car undriveable.

Others have said this doesn't occur by using auto hold. But I like doing it manually and I think it's on MG to fix rather than me to change habits.

 

[wandle MG4 trophy]

I drove head first into my parking space but stopped a yard short on auto hold , undid my seat belt to reach into the back for something. The car would not move forward again until I fastened the seat belt. I could feel the motor was urging the car to go but was being held back by a brake. I didn’t want to push the accelerator hard in case I lurched forward into my neighbour’s front door.

 

[tsedge]

I checked Euro NCAP and it requires monitoring all seats and audio/visual warnings once in motion but absolutely doesn't demand the car not move.

 

[louisecadby80]

So update from the MG dealer - no faults found on checking the car. Suggested that it happens again we take it straight to the dealer! Or take a video! So no help what so ever!

 

[Kithmo]

Are you using Auto hold, that used to stop you moving with the seatbelt off on the old ZS.
If you are, turn it off as a temporary measure to let you drive away from the lights etc. But you still need to take it in to see why the seat belt warning is coming on.

 

[louisecadby80]

No, not using auto hold, just the electronic hand break as I don't trust auto hold! It does not happen all the time just every now and again, which seems odd. My husband thought I was over reacting until it did it to him in traffic in London!

 

[RN88R]

I drove 4 miles without seatbelt, no problem. Only audio warning (software R30)

 

[Rolfe]

I was probably using auto-hold in the car park so that would explain my experience.

I remember that the seat belt warning in my Golf would eventually give up and go away. Eventually.

 

[jonney]

So update from the MG dealer - no faults found on checking the car. Suggested that it happens again we take it straight to the dealer! Or take a video! So no help what so ever!

Unfortunately every time this will ever happen it will be at a bad time with traffic behind us, so a video will probably never happen.

I've had 5/6 times. Always at lights.

 

[mauns]

It happened to me for the first time today. Sitting at traffic lights, wouldn't move, repeatedly asking me to put my seat belt on. I tried putting it in and out but wouldn't move. I had to put my hazards on and get out of the car lock it/unlock and get back in and it worked. I will report it.

 

[Martinonline]

Mauns, you may not have to get out of the car. Try powering down from the info screen (car/safety) and then pressing the brake pedal to power up again.

 

[JonnyG]

Seems you may have a faulty sensor to me and need a trip to the dealer.

I got one of these for private drives / car washing etc which works a treat :-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BXWXWNBK/

 

[FrancisM]

Had this happen yesterday. The car would not move. Re-clipping my seat belt appeared to clear it.

Context: about 5 miles into a drive. Came off the M3 down to a roundabout with lights, turning right. I stopped and applied the EPB. When I pressed the accelerator to move off, no response. Tried again, nothing. Sense of panic with queue of traffic behind me. Saw a big warning message about the seatbelt, so re-clipped mine.

It's odd because if it was a faulty sensor you'd expect a bing-bong whilst driving, which would alert you to look at the console and you'd see a red icon for the unbelted driver or passenger. It does make you wonder if this is a software bug which might be fixable with an upgrade.

In future, I shall make sure my belt is securely fastened before driving so if it happens again I shall be contacting my dealer.

Might be coincidence but I've also had "auto-hold error" when first getting into the car a couple of times. I've powered down and back up again to clear that one.

 

[FrancisM]

I had this happen a number of times yesterday. Always when trying to set off after the electronic brake has been applied via the rocker switch on the right hand side of the console. It happened 3 times in a row. I had the Mrs next to me. We both ended up unclipping and clipping in our seatbelt buckles in an attempt to stop it reoccurring. The car is still on the R16 software. If that's also the case for others having this issue then will definitely request an upgrade.

EDIT: And we've had the rear seat belts clipped in, in case it was something to do with sensors in the rear seats. I'm pretty sure we didn't get the red figure sensor icon lit up on the dashboard, which suggests this is a software bug rather than a sensor bug.

 

[Rolfe]

My car seems quite inconsistent. I can drive off without the seat belt fastened most of the time, no issues. But then under certain circumstances it will refuse to move unless it's fastened. Once I was at a hand car wash and got out to fetch my handbag from the back seat so I could pay. When I got back in I only wanted to creep forward a few feet as instructed, but the car wouldn't move till I fastened the belt.

I imagine there's some logic to it, but I don't know what it is. This bonging of the warning when the belt is already fastened is definitely a fault though. As you say, sounds like a software thing.