broken spring

[dave99]

About 2/3 of a loop of spring coil flew off my car this morning as I was driving down the road - from the front passenger side (looks like from the very bottom of the spring). Still seems to drive ok, but does make a nasty noise when turning the wheel more than half way (I guess its the fractured end of spring rubbing).

Is this something I need to get fixed before really using the car again or is it just an asap job?

Am I right in thinking both side need replacing together? What sort of cost are we looking at for a couple of springs?

Is it a big job? I think some of the bushes might be shot at the front too which I gather can be a big job and wonder if its worth getting them done at the same time to save on labour in the long run.

Cheers

 

[number2]

Hi.

Is this something I need to get fixed before really using the car again or is it just an asap job?
Ideally yes as i can imagine a rather sharp piece of metal rubbing against the damper leg causing more damage. Light use might be ok but ideally asap for a repair.

Am I right in thinking both side need replacing together? What sort of cost are we looking at for a couple of springs?
Yes both would need changing ideally and costs vary, I would think around the £100 mark would get you some genuine Seat front ones and maybe cheaper to buy some aftermarket ones from a motor spares place or buy four lowering springs.

Is it a big job?
Half a day at max for changing the springs and re-aligning.

I think some of the bushes might be shot at the front too which I gather can be a big job and wonder if its worth getting them done at the same time to save on labour in the long run.
Ive just had my front bushes done on my PD130 Sport and it cost £300 i think for PowerFlex and Seat Cupra ones fitted. The parts cost £60 im certain of that and the labour was so high as the sub frame needs to come off. Again the wheels need re-aligning so best to do both bits of work together.

Hope Ive enlightened you a bit, sorry to be the bearer of bad news though.

 

[dave99]

thanks for the reply - its not gonna be too cheap is it. Do they have to drop the sub frame to change the springs? If the bushes could be changed without too much more work while they are doing the springs it would help

 

[Aimez]

Someone is selling their standard ones in the for sale section might be cheaper?

 

[number2]

Unfortunatly the subframe does'nt need to be removed for the springs to be replaced, although a garage should give discount for having the car in bits and on the ramp to do the bushes. Both bits of work are fairly intensive and both would require alignment of the wheels if done in stages(another 30-40 quid a pop), also if the bushes are spannered then the 1st wheel alignment may be for nothing as the bushes would throw any readings and alterations way out.

What makes you think the bushes are shot?

My Ibiza knocked on accelerating and made a sqeaking noise, also the nice new tires started to cut on the insides and it felt as if the wheels were fighting each other to stay straight. Its all necessary work to be fair Dave but the springs need attention asap and as long as you dont mind the tires scrubbing out (buy some cheapies off ebay to see you through and drive lightly so save what remains of the bushes).

 

[RUM4MO]

Is this the correct time for someone like me to roll out the tale about due to the age of your car, unless it has failed already and has been replaced with the modified version, your ARB will be due to fail due to corrosion splitting the plastic end stops. Now if you can take a look at the ARB end stops and if they look like they are starting to split - you can test them will a magnet as the modified ARBs have metal stops, then you might want to get all the bushes + ARB + front springs changed at the same time as the crossmember needs dropping to change the ARB anyway - so if you get the TCA bushes changed the crossmember is down and the ARB can be removed very quickly. As changing the front springs moves the position of the top mounts and maybe one bottom end, doing all of this together may well spoil your Christmas - but sort out most things that can go wrong in one foul swoop!

 

[dave99]

well I had some bushes replaced 2 or 3 years ago due to a knocking sound - pretty sure it was the ARB bushes then that needed replacing but would need to hunt out the paperwork.

After having some new tyres a few months ago the steering felt a little bit loose, as though it was moving around more that I wanted. Went back to the place that fitted them and they couldnt see anything wrong other than the bushes looked a bit worn but as they were still in place and werent dangerous I put that particular job on hold for a bit. Funniliy enough that problem seemed to go away after a few weeks. Whether that was anything to do with the imminent spring failure I dont know?

 

[number2]

Be a bit wary of your tires and if they start scrubbing the inside edge out then its almost certainly the bushes at they're worst. The PD130 Sport models have a pathetic 4 pronged bush that compared to the Cupra's 'beef cake solid bush' wont hold the torque forever. However ive just remember powerflex do a specific cow tit that fits inside the existing 4 pronge bush. Not sure how these fit but if a temporary fix is needed then these would suffice, i think.

 

[spideymack]

This happened to ours recently. Spring is around £45 + VAT from dealer, plus top mount bearing is £9 + VAT.

 

[dave99]

yeah thats about what I paid yesterday for mine. I thought they would have instsed on changing both side but they were happy enough to to change the broken spring and leave the other one (which will probably break next week now!)

 

[RUM4MO]

yeah thats about what I paid yesterday for mine. I thought they would have instsed on changing both side but they were happy enough to to change the broken spring and leave the other one (which will probably break next week now!)

Well if that was the main dealer then they are operating against what most people would consider best practise! When one broke on my wife's late 2002 car in early 2008, I did not give it another thought - I bought two new springs and top bearings along with lots of nuts and bolts etc. It is not to avoid having another broken spring in the very near future, its more to do with maintaining the "balance" of the front of the car's suspension - common sense really to most of us (hopefully!).

 

[dave99]

Well if that was the main dealer then they are operating against what most people would consider best practise! When one broke on my wife's late 2002 car in early 2008, I did not give it another thought - I bought two new springs and top bearings along with lots of nuts and bolts etc. It is not to avoid having another broken spring in the very near future, its more to do with maintaining the "balance" of the front of the car's suspension - common sense really to most of us (hopefully!).

well yeah I understand and expected that. I was also quite surprised to see adverts for Revo in the dealers service centre too, is it now an accepted mod by seat?
Last of the surprises was the price they charged me for PD oil in the service - about 2.50 a litre instead of about 8 I expected it to be.

 

[spideymack]

Apparently the drivers side spring breaks more often than the passenger side - and it's harder to fix because of driveshaft. Mine was the drivers side, but I plan to get the other side done asap to balance things up.

 

[binkylad]

ive a set of springs for sale, only problem is they are for a 1.4 16v so im not sure if they are the same spring, maybe somebody on here can enlighin us??

 

[RUM4MO]

Apparently the drivers side spring breaks more often than the passenger side - and it's harder to fix because of driveshaft. Mine was the drivers side, but I plan to get the other side done asap to balance things up.

Yes indeed, the one that broke on my wife's Polo 9N was the O/S and yes that side is a bit of a pain as you do really need to release the drive shaft from the hub - and that means a new nut along with all the other usual bits. That tool that Laser and others make for opening up the hub at the split with the strut - is very handy as it stops a lot of bad words!!

 

[spideymack]

I saw a guide that says you can do it without touching the driveshaft - it is just a bit tricky.

 

[RUM4MO]

It might be possible, but very difficult due to the need to fully compress the spring in a space where using spring compressors is a bit challenging, plus when you fit the spring compressors the assembly becomes a bit heavy - also these springs are tapered and that adds to the misery!

 

[TheCraig]

I did mine in the summer, its an 03 130 tdi sport - if you havent already got them yet, eurocarparts was the cheapest for me...

Coil spring part number = 627790280 = 26.53 each plus VAT
Top mounting part number = 609440230 = 8.91 each plus VAT

So it should cost you under 70 quid for both sides... Passenger side is easy, drivers side is a pain on account of the drive shaft being in the way