Sometime Before The Inspira Preview, Proton Recalls The Gen2 and Satria Neo......

The recall is for something called a clock spring. The clock spring isn't part of a clock people. Somehow I noticed that in the local dailies this was not mentioned in detail. I gather if you just glanced through the articles you'd think that some part of a digital clock sitting in the meter console of a Gen2 or a Neo could cause a meltdown in the Airbag and steering controls of the car.


 It affects all Gen2 and Satria Neo made during April 2004 to June 2008, mainly for all airbag equipped versions of the cars mentioned above - And they only made 15,911 units of both cars equipped with airbags sold globally. There are of course more Gen2s and Neos plying the roads of Malaysia, but most are non-airbag cars. Ah, how Proton skimps out on all the safety for the sake of profit. 

Let me educate you guys on the clock spring then. It isn't any part of a clock...in a car that is. It 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. The connection works even when you're busy turning the wheel. This is what a clock spring is for in a steering wheel.


It is amazing that a small insignificant item like a spring can wreak so much damage in a car these days. 


There are some who have joked around that this item is really clock related. Somehow the clock in the car is connected by a thin wire that runs through the steering wheel from the dashboard as that it shares the same electrical power supply. Who knows? Being  a Proton, some say that it could actually be true.


Car Technology 101 over here today has been brought to you by the letter R and the word; RECALL.