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I have a 1998 RZ. First FD, not my first rotary. I regret this buy already, however Its mine now. The horn isn't working, the car had a few parts missing. I took the wheel apart and noticed the clock spring was missing so wasnt surprised, so I went and just replaced the clock spring with one from a 97 RS.
Now the problem is the stalk from the clockspring is way too proud and wont allow me to fit my stock Momo RZ wheel back on. See photo. I see the other FD steering wheels have a cut out for this stalk.
I do want to keep the original Momo wheel. I am trying to keep this car as stock as possible. But doing so is testing my patience now.
i think i might have wasted my money on the clockspring. I found the below photo in the japanese 95 supplement so now I think the 95-98 RZs might not have had a clock spring. would that be right?
Can anyone confirm if have the wrong clock spring? or dont need one at all? if i dont need one, how did the factory connect the horn from the connector to the wheel?
The Non-airbag stock RZ wheel did not have a clockspring. Do you have the airbag wheel or the non-aribag wheel.
The 96 RZ without airbag has a simple electrode arrangements where the elecrtrodes rub on the back of the steering wheel to connect the horn. (See alternative "2" in your diagram above.
Airbag's were added to Version 4 cars late in 1997. So I'd think your car would have the airbag. But the wheel I see in your pic has the "disc" on the back the electrodes would rub on. Youi might not have a stock Momo wheel, or someone switched in a non-aribag mom owheel at some time.
It may be hard to see in the pic, but the "electrodes" are two opposite facing cycle shaped slips of metal that stand up at one end from the centre ring of the pedestal.
If you do not have you might need to find a used combinatoin switch from another non-airbag car, and switch the upper pedestal part over.
Wow. Thank you mate. You answered every question I had.
It is possible that this is not the right steering wheel for this car. From the old Japan auction pictures. When it went to auction last it had a awful aftermarket steering wheel.
But when I bought it off the boat in Australia it had been changed back to the rz Momo wheel.
So do you think car would have had the Nardi rz wheel with the airbag? Cause there wa
s no Momo with airbag right?
There is no airbag light I can see. There is a fuse for airbag in brackets but I see I have a sunroof fuse in brackets and no sunroof.
Ill find out what to look for in the rest of the srs system and confirm. Then I'll know what to do with the wheel.
In 1997, the airbag steering wheel introduced was the four post momo wheel. It only lasted a year or two, and replaced by the nicer nardi airbag wheel. However, even from 1991, the automatics (Type X) had an airbag steering wheel which was an unbranded version. This was/is the same wheel as appears in all USDM FD. That wheel was also an option for manual cars in Japan, in some years.
But if your car is an early 98 then it should have had the Momo airbag steering wheel and the clockspring that went with it.
The USDM airbag wheel also accommodated the cruise control, so it had a more complicated clockspring. There is/was a more simple clocksprimng for the steering wheels that did not have the cruise control option.
Japanes cars from Version 4 onward did not have a cruise control option.
If your car at auction had an aftermarket wheel, likely it relied on a version of the "electrode rub" I discribe above, and the original clockspring was discarded.
Give us a pic of the "stock wheel" you got. It may just be a random wheel someone had lying around.
Also we have seen that between the auction and delivery, a lot of the RZ stuff disappears.
Did yoiu get the Recaro Seats? Rear bins? Bilsstein shocks? Passenger footrest?
By mid 1998, produiction of Version 4 cars was winding down and Mazda was gearing up to produce veriosn 5 (S8) cars late in 1998. There may have been some pre-usage of Version 5 parts on late Version 4 cars.
In any event, 1998 was the lowest production year for FD and a late run version 4 type RZ would be quite rare (if anyone cares).
Yeah it's got the buckets though 1 is a from the MX5 😭. It's got the foot rest knee pads the plate under the bonnet says type rz got the bbs wheels and big brakes. It's got Cusco coil overs though.
The wheel in your pic looks like the ealrer non-airbag RZ wheel used in 1996 and 1997 (before the mandatory switch to airbag wheel). However, Momo had a similar aftermarket wheel, and that could be what you have. The WRX may have had a similar wheel in period.
In any event, it seems you may need to find the pedestal with the electrode I have been talking about.
The electrical plugs for the airbag wheel are different, so there may be some DIY wiring kicking about.
Thanks again mate. Thanks for sharing this information. is a nice wheel the Momo.
I guess I have 3 options to decide on.
I can get the old combo switch and use the current wheel.
or
keep this combo switch and get the four post Momo somehow from Japan.
Or
Go aftermarket.
I'll have to sleep on it.
Buyee will charge me to much to ship the combination switch. Probably about the same as the buy price. So probably won't switch to non airbag combination switch. I can get a new Momo wheel and boss for not more more than what people are asking for the Nardis. So I'm leaning toward a works hell boss and a new Momo wheel.
In period Miata Nardi wheels also work (Provided you drill out the divits in the back to match the FD pedestal (not difficult).
Also a little bit of rewiring for the airbag, but it's all well documented and straight forward. In fact, I think that the seller in that link you posted rewires (and drills) them before selling.
