It seems 2010 is the year of car recalls. The latest victim to befall an automobile manufacturer is Malaysia’s Proton. The manufacturer had announced a worldwide recall of the Proton Gen 2 and the Satria Neo that were made during April 2004 until June, 2008 because of potential safety concerns.

It seems the clock spring of the car is the issue here. This clock spring is an item that connects the switches of the radio, horn and cruise control which connects to the steering and its airbag of the vehicles mentioned.

Routine long terms tests by Proton on the Gen 2 and the Satria Neo have identified irregularities with the clock spring, including friction noise within the steering wheel, activation of horn or car lights without warning, audio control switch malfunction and, in extreme cases, deployment of the driver’s side airbag.

No. A clockspring isn’t part of the vehicle's clock that tells the time. A clock spring is a spring under or inside the middle section of a steering wheel. It ensures a positive connection between the steering column’s wiring harness and whatever controls are on the steering wheel (radio, cruise control, etc), and especially the airbag igniter. It is amazing that a small insignificant item like a spring can wreak so much damage in a car these days.

The recall is part of Proton’s Global Quality Assurance programme and basically affects a grand total of 15,911 Gen2s and Satria Neos produced during that period. Not a whole lot when it is four years worth of Gen2s and Satria Neos out of a total of 660,000units of various vehicles manufactured by Proton during the same period. Of course, this recall only really affects those Gen2s and Satria Neos with an airbag which were mainly the top of the line model in Malaysia and all export models of the cars. It shouldn’t really be a problem to most of the non-airbag versions of the cars mentioned above.

Owners of the affected models can contact any authorised Proton service centre for a free inspection. All labour and parts costs related to the replacement of the clock spring are free.

Proton will be sending letters to affected customers notifying them of the matter, besides setting up a dedicated website (www.protonaftersales.com) to help customers check the year of manufacture of their vehicles.

On the same note, but a different manufacturer, Chrysler had also recalled a whole lot of their MPVs (in excess of 500,000units) for a clock spring issue a year or so ago. It isn't something new I suppose.

source:nst.com.my/proton clockspring photo:qwickstep.com

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