I'm in the middle of freshening up my FD before springtime rolls around and the roads are not so salty up here in VT.

When I pulled the throttle body to replace gaskets/coolant pipes and clean it up, I noticed this spring is loose. Visibly, it's not tightly coiled around the metal, and when I simulate the throttle being pushed, there's play in it. I also noticed it driving the car; there's 1/2 - 3/4 inch of "play" in the gas pedal before the throttle actually opens.



I can't find the replacement spring(s) anywhere (Part #N3A113W60, Mazda shows available at a couple dealers but both called after I ordered and said they don't actually have them).

Any advice on how to tighten up the existing spring or what my options are, if any? Could I measure the spring dimensions/design and try to find the same spring elsewhere?

 

i may have a spare one - i bought a polished UIM and TB years ago and kept my old ones. I don't recall if the polished ones had any of the ancillaries tho, and if i swapped them over. will check tomorrow

 

Much appreciated!

 

I'm wondering if somehow it got unwound 1 turn when someone disassembled that area. If so the spring might be OK. Other than totally breaking I don't see how it could just get loose.

 

That just takes the slack out of the throttle cable. The ones inboard are the important ones that aid the butterfly’s closure. You need to wind it another turn. This thread has some pictures that should help.

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...rbish-1144243/


~ GW

 

Sorry but it appears i transferred those bits to the polished parts so no spare spring.

 

That was a good idea - I tried to wind it back another loop and there just wasn’t enough coil to make it work. I wonder if someone took it off before, shortened the spring, and remade the loop at the end that holds it in place.

Thanks for linking this, I read that a couple weeks ago but must have missed that picture. I tried this but there just wasn’t enough material. It was coiled as tight as could be but still 3/4 inch or so short. I don’t get it! I’m thinking the only option I have now (since I can’t find a new spring) is to cut the spring shorter so it’s tight and bend the end around where it’s supposed to be.

No worries, thank you again for checking.

 

The play you described in the pedal is removed by the cable adjustment, not the throttle body. All that spring does is return the sweep arm back to the stop. They look sorta like your photo. They don’t fit tight on the shaft. If you’re saying that the sweep arm is not returning to the stop correctly and one end of the spring is loose. Then chances are they have the cruise control spring and throttle spring switched or on backwards. But what you’re describing is the adjustment for the actual throttle cable.

The spring you have highlighted is there to hold the throttle cable in position when the curse control is operating ( rotating ).

~ GW

 

Thanks for the explanation, that’s super helpful. I’ll tighten up the actual throttle cable when I’m putting everything back together.