The 75 and ZT Owners Club Forums - View Single Post - Coil spring breakage worrying details?Update

arjar75 · 5th January 2009, 19:38

I've had both front springs on my Rover 75 go in the last 6 months. Nearside went last August. Offside went yesterday. In both cases: the first evidence was resistance to movement at first use of the day; the car seemed to be fine when parked the previous evening; and the result was the top of the spring pressing into the top of the inside of the tyre. In August the weather was mild. On Saturday night we experienced minus 4C.

My car is a CDi later than the recall group (52 registration). It has done just over 95k miles.

My (unscientific) assumption is that the springs become brittle over time. But I'm puzzled by the fact that in both cases they seemed to give up when under minimal stress standing on the drive, though I suppose it might be the process of parking (reversing up a slight incline with half lock) that actually finishes them off.

I do wonder whether the replacements are from old stock, and therefore similarly vulnerable. It might be interesting to try to identify a production date after which this problem disappeared (if one exists) and the age and provenance of current stock. But I haven't the foggiest idea how this might be done.

Final point - I did have a spring go on my Mercedes about 10 years ago. And the roads around here (north Gloucestershire) and particularly NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-, and getting worse. So maybe it's a combination of poor product quality and bad roads? Whatever, I may have a severe sense of humour failure if it happens again.

5th January 2009, 19:38	#19
arjar75 Newbie Rover 75 CDi Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Cheltenham Posts: 1 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Spring failure I've had both front springs on my Rover 75 go in the last 6 months. Nearside went last August. Offside went yesterday. In both cases: the first evidence was resistance to movement at first use of the day; the car seemed to be fine when parked the previous evening; and the result was the top of the spring pressing into the top of the inside of the tyre. In August the weather was mild. On Saturday night we experienced minus 4C. My car is a CDi later than the recall group (52 registration). It has done just over 95k miles. My (unscientific) assumption is that the springs become brittle over time. But I'm puzzled by the fact that in both cases they seemed to give up when under minimal stress standing on the drive, though I suppose it might be the process of parking (reversing up a slight incline with half lock) that actually finishes them off. I do wonder whether the replacements are from old stock, and therefore similarly vulnerable. It might be interesting to try to identify a production date after which this problem disappeared (if one exists) and the age and provenance of current stock. But I haven't the foggiest idea how this might be done. Final point - I did have a spring go on my Mercedes about 10 years ago. And the roads around here (north Gloucestershire) and particularly NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-, and getting worse. So maybe it's a combination of poor product quality and bad roads? Whatever, I may have a severe sense of humour failure if it happens again.