|
Hi. I was stopped at some lights the other day, put my foot on the clutch pedal, heard a snapping sound, followed by a metallic sounding 'chink' and then felt what turned out to be 2 sections of a broken heavy duty spring (a quadrant spring with 2 'j' type ends I think it's called) fall down onto the floor mat. The car was fine to continue driving, the only effect being what seemed like a slightly heavier operation but I'm not even certain that isn't just my imagination now. Anyway popped into the main dealer and they said they'd never known anything like this happen but that the spring can't be replaced, it has to be the whole pedal assembly (@ c. £140). They say the part would have to be ordered from Japan, that I'd need to pay for it in advance and that they can't even give a rough timescale for it to arrive until a few days after I've ordered it. To make matters worse, they can't give a price for fitting as they've never had to do it before and it's not a job listed on their system. Does this sound feasible? Obviously I'm trying to find out more hence my post here. I can still drive the car but don't want to risk a more serious breakage at some point if I don't have to so will be using it as little as possible for now. Seems a whole lot of cost and hassle for a broken spring! Any thoughts/advice welcome. Cheers.
|
I have seen these break, but not on a Mazda.
Try to get another spring, about the same length and dia, and wire dia. The rate is not critical.
Take some measurements off the old broken part and call some spring suppliers - e.g. Ashfield Springs.
Even if you have to try 10 diffferent ones it will cost a lot less than £140.
These are a bit fiddly to replace, but its not really difficult.
|
Sorry for the delay in replying!
Thanks for that - have now worked out where the broken spring comes from and exactly how it fits into place. The pedal seems to be holding in the raised position perfectly without the spring and depressing it feels no different. I read on another forum somewhere that clutch pedal springs have been known to break on the Mazda 3 but that these springs are only put in place to assist during the vehicle manufacturing process and Mazda don't bother to replace them when they fall off. Can anyone confirm this and clarify if this is the same type of spring to mine?
TVM :)
|
|
Just an update. I today located a spring manufacturer not too far from here and had a chat with them. They said they'd be able to do it and it'd cost about £50 (albeit a bespoke one) - which is a lot for a spring but a lot better than £300 for a whole new pedal assembly. I believe the spring type is called a torsion spring. It has 4 coils, an internal diameter of 3cm and the wire used is c. 4mm in diameter. It has 2 different 'J' type ends set at about 60 degrees (both offset differently) which extend about 75mm from the very furtherst point of the coil. Does £50 seem reasonable? TVM
|
That sounds very reasonable to me for a 1 off. I wouldn't hesitate.
Clk Sec
|
|
See if there's much cost difference for a run of 5? Ebay the others?
|
|
It may be a good idea to keep a spare, anyway.
|
|
Lets put it this way, £50 buys you about 1/2 labour at your Mazda dealer, so its not too bad for a bespoke item. Pity you couldn't find something suitable from their range of standard parts though.
|
Would a salvage yard have one? Might have to be prepared to get it off yourself though.
|
|
Thanks everyone - yes I'll find out about getting a spare one just in case.... Yup - £50 is only about 30 mins labour sadly......
|
|
|
