Garmin Vector 3 with a serious problem

In Garmin forum a user of these pedals put a picture of a serious fault, where the screw that I think makes a pivot, simply jumped out, putting all your safety at risk and possibly causing a serious accident, I went to analyze mine with 5 days of use and the same screw was actually badly tightened.
Now something very weird is going on, the screw is screwed into a plastic part, why is Garmin putting blue thread glue on that screw.
There is something really defective here, the person says that in the store where he bought the pedals, he was told that there had already been several cases.
In my opinion this is very serious and can put a person’s life at risk.
What is your opinion

The screw(s) in question hold the rear jaw of the pedal engagement mechanism. A failure there means the pedal will not hold the cleat anymore, and would easily release the cleat. The only potential life-threatening situation this could cause would be a release under high power, such as a standing sprint. Pedal releases happen once in a while, and they do not tend to cause life-threatening situations. A rapid pre-ride inspection would make the inpending failure apparent, and prevent any potential issue.

I noticed last week that I was not clipping in properly, and when I looked, one of mine was loose. Fortunately I caught it before the screw came completely undone.

I just tightened the screw up well and decided to watch them in the future.

Did you loose the screw?

I can tell you about an accident that happened to me a few years ago, where I broke an arm, collarbone, and 3 fingers, my right side was skinned, and I wasn’t under a car miraculously, this was all due to the fact that the cleat bounced of the pedal when entering a hill, and of course it is putting some power on the pedals.
Now having to walk every day to see if the screws are tight, this is not logical. nor is it valid, this is a very serious fault that Garmin has to resolve.
I had a Powetap p1 that I traveled more than 30 thousand kilometers and I never had any problem, nor did I ever feel my life in danger

I don´t loose the screw, but the other user that make the alert about this problem, yes loose the screw

I am not sure if I am following this correctly - someone loosened the jaw screw and while riding the engagement mechanism came loose/off?

Yes, if you loosen that particular screw and do not correctly re-install it (or apply loctite), it can come back out.

The pedal body is based on a Look Keo Max 2 - the same anchor bolts hold the engagement jaw on those pedals also, this is a very common process/manufacturing method on pedals. You should check those bolts as routine maintenance (especially if they have been serviced or loosened).

No, apparently the screws come loose by themselves. In some cases the threads end up stripped in the pedal body - not sure if that’s a result of incorrect reinstallation of the screws afterwards, however.

You are correct that the pedal body is based on a Look Keo design, but that does not mean they used the same materials and/or manufacturing process.

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@teddygram why put loctite in the bolt if the bolt screw in plastic??? and for me after more than 30 years it´s the first time that a see a very bad construction, and none of look keo is like that, and none of the other brands, for me this is unreal, and about security from now every time I go for a run I need to check this, it´s not normal.

Thank you - you helped fill in a few gaps that was missing to me.

@samoramobile The bolts that hold the mechanism in place should not be overly tight, especially on a plastic body as Rocourteau said it will strip/pull the thread. The bolt/screw is only to retain the mechanism in place and create a pivot motion on the pedal. The bolt/screw is not “structural” and at that point is used as a pin for the cleat/pedal motion, it just needs to be “tight” enough and locked into place.

It sounds like Rocourteau has some mechanical background and can confirm this also.

I deduced the design from the pix of pedals with missing screws (they’re really screws, not bolts). They do have a structural role, since they form the pivot for the rear jaw, and hence are under shear force from the retention spring. Any pulling effort upwards gets carried by the front jaw (fixed) and the rear one (articulated), and the rear jaw efforts is carried through the pivot - in this case the screws.

As far as I remember, Shimano uses a pin across the pedal width for this function. I’ve never examined a Look Keo pedal up close so I can’t comment on how they do it. But a screw into a plastic body does not sound like a great idea. And the combination of a T10 head and blue loctite indicate it is not intended to be serviced.

Apparently, you can’t get the Mech.Eng. out of someone.

Ok, a few corrections.

First, there is only one screw - it’s inboard. It does seem to hold the jaw pivot - when it’s out, the jaw twists off. Second, I cannot confirm if it screws into a plastic part. That remains to be proven. Third, that part of the design is significantly different to what I can see on a Keo Max 2 - the Look design has screws on both sides, appear to be hex head and not torx, the jaw pivot assembly is much narrower and simpler. So yes, this is a Garmin-specific design.

I dont think you saw my correction to the post for this - I said this weird and corrected it before you corrected me. Thank you!

Okay so its a single inboard pin - I imagine based on the pics (im not having any luck finding a service manual) that it is screwed right into the body/plastic. Still the type of material/thickness should be plenty sufficient for any type of vertical pull being placed on the mechanism/rod.

Absolutely agree, they simply need to be verified that the bolt is still anchored/fastened and not tightened/removed. If found easily removed or loose need to be serviced appropriately (loctite back in place)

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This is the photos about this problem

Is the screw threaded into the frame (the 4mm you show), or into the jaw itself? Or in other words - how long is that screw?

@rocourteau the screw goes from one end to the other and just screw in the 4mm of plastic that I show

I’m not seeing your point or issue with this design - the screw/rod does not rely on the actual tensile strength of the thread - its simply put in place to hold the jaw in alignment and combat against vertical forces which is what the body does. You could remove the screw all together and epoxy a smooth rod in place and it would function normal.

The inboard bolt/screw does not require much torque but instead simply needs to remain in position and not “back” out. If the threaded portion is loctited in place at proper spec torque it shouldn’t move or thread out unless tampered with.

@teddygram

Sorry but I don’t think you understand anything that is being said here.
It is proven, not by me but by several users of these pedals, that the screws normally loosen with use.
I saw the image and found it strange and went to check mine and the screw is not really tight, mine is 230 km in 5 days, in other words, they are new
.
In my opinion and after seeing the photo of the ease with which the screw comes out, I imagine, in a sprint or otherwise, the jumping foot causes an imbalance that can lead to a very ugly fall, we can imagine falling to the opposite side of the road and getting under a car, is that when the foot jumps normally the fall is not easy to avoid.
And in my point of view, all the support of the cleat and the foot on the pedal is guaranteed by a screw or shaft that goes from end to end and only tightens on 4mm of plastic, I have never seen any of this in my life …

And please don’t keep talking about loctite, it’s throwing money away when putting it on, because the screw doesn’t tighten on metal but on plastic, so loctite doesn’t do anything, zero

Okay no problem - sounds like you fully understand the material and design and feel as if it has a flaw (shimano uses a thru rod design in its composite pedals also, so stay away from those).

It appears you have already made your mind up about the pedals and I encourage you to sell them since you find them to be unsafe.

For fun I took mine apart and here is the assembly mechanisms and rod

Thanks, that makes it a whole lot clearer. So indeed the threads carry no load; you need that pin to be backed out quite a lot to get the outboard part of the jaw to flip out. But if that happens, the threaded hole where the pin screws in must get a serious beating from the pin pivoting. In other words - monitor the screw, don’t let it get out of there, because if it does the pedal body is toast.

It’s not a great design, but it’s not an awful one either. Look seems to use a cap screw at the end of the pin, which is a more robust setup.