By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON - Tesla Inc is issuing two new recalls to address seat belt issues, it said on Thursday.
One recall covers 5,530 vehicles, comprising 2018-2020 Model 3 and 2019-2021 Model Y cars, because fasteners that secure the front seat shoulder belt to the b-pillar may not be properly attached. The other recall covers 2,166 Model Y vehicles from 2019-2021 because fasteners that secure the left and right second-row seat belt retractors may not be properly attached.
Tesla told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration it was not aware of any crashes or injuries relating to the recalls.
Tesla will inspect and, if necessary, replace the fasteners to confirm that they are secured to the correct specification. Tesla added that in "the unlikely event that damage to the b-pillar hole threads and/or top loop is found during the inspection, Tesla Service will repair the hole threads and/or replace the top loop."
Tesla said during the assembly process if workers could not achieve the specified torque and angle requirements while securing either front seat fastener then "a non-conformance was generated that required subsequent manual inspection and repair of the fastener. During this inspection, the fastener may not have been confirmed to be secured to the correct specification."
Tesla has issued three recalls this week for production issues.
On Wednesday, NHTSA said Tesla was recalling 5,974 U.S. 2019-2021 Model 3 vehicles and 2020-2021 Model Y vehicles because brake caliper bolts could be loose, potentially causing a loss of tire pressure.
