Mystery part fell off friend's car, need help

ElWalrus

Hi people,
A friend of mine pulled a loose part hanging from under the rear axle. She showed me a photo of it but I have no idea what it is. If anyone has a clue what it is, it would be greatly appreciated. Also, if it's a safety concern, that would be good to know too. The image is attached. It's about the size of a saucer and it's from a Renault clio.

Cheers.

Lazybones

Possibly a dust guard that is supposed to protect the brake discs?

Had somethig similar fall of an Audi A3 - could not believe how badly they had rusted through.

scrap_man

its a piece of rubber that sits between the spring and the axel to keep the spring in place and stop it rattling. no major safety issue but it easy to put it back on

ElWalrus

scrap_man wrote: »

its a piece of rubber that sits between the spring and the axel to keep the spring in place and stop it rattling. no major safety issue but it easy to put it back on

The part is metal not rubber and is also a little heavy

Maztech

The part is indeed the plastic/rubber protector that sits on the rear spring, however I can see that there is also part of the spring sitting in it too. Bottom line.... Broken rear coil spring.
I would have it seen to as soon as possible as if the remaining portion of spring moves around when driving, there is a possibility that the remaining sharp edge may contact the tyre...., u can guess the rest.!!

ElWalrus

Maztech wrote: »

The part is indeed the plastic/rubber protector that sits on the rear spring, however I can see that there is also part of the spring sitting in it too. Bottom line.... Broken rear coil spring.
I would have it seen to as soon as possible as if the remaining portion of spring moves around when driving, there is a possibility that the remaining sharp edge may contact the tyre...., u can guess the rest.!!

Thanks guys for the responses, appreciate it, but just to clarify, the parts actually solid metal, not rubber. You can see some rusting in the picture. We'd get it looked at except there won't be any mechanics open tomorrow and we were needing to make a journey tomorrow

Maztech

No problem at all.
The metallic part is actually part of the spring (one of the coils to be exact) that has snapped off and you need to get it replaced pretty urgently.
Shouldn't be too pricey to have done either.

Tropheus

Maztech wrote: »

No problem at all.
The metallic part is actually part of the spring (one of the coils to be exact) that has snapped off and you need to get it replaced pretty urgently.
Shouldn't be too pricey to have done either.

I would agree. Looks like a piece of spring. Not that common, but have had it happen twice on my wife's Audi A2. Some cars are more prone to it than others.

visual

Renault springs are known to brake

Had two fail within months of each other on a laguna II.

Best to replace both springs at same time.

ElWalrus

Hi guys,

Was able to have a look at the car yesterday. Yep, it was the bottom part of the spring on the the rear wheel on the driver's side. The broken part of the spring is facing away from the wheel. To be honest, if I wasn't specifically looking for it, it would be hard to notice.

My friends going to get it fixed, but probably this coming weekend. She's just going to take it easy til then.

Anyway, thanks for the help.

houbie

part of the flux capacitor

Maztech

ElWalrus wrote: »

Hi guys,

Was able to have a look at the car yesterday. Yep, it was the bottom part of the spring on the the rear wheel on the driver's side. The broken part of the spring is facing away from the wheel. To be honest, if I wasn't specifically looking for it, it would be hard to notice.

My friends going to get it fixed, but probably this coming weekend. She's just going to take it easy til then.

Anyway, thanks for the help.

Cool. Keep us posted.!

Wheelnut

houbie wrote: »

part of the flux capacitor

Naw, it's a picture from a Spanish fish menu!

OwenM

houbie wrote: »

part of the flux capacitor

Yeah, i'd say the trilithium inverter coil. There always going on these models - it's all the salt.