Cleaning my Tatula Elite... No idea what I did or how it happened when doing a simple cleaning, I don't know if it sprang itself out of the bowl I put the parts in to clean or if I just thought I did and dropped it somewhere.

I wasted a LOT of time looking

Can I just use a spring from a retired reel or will it affect performance?

@Delaware Valley Tackle @bulldog1935 @redmeansdistortion @other reel gurus on here?

Same p/n 133971 on both Tatula and Zillion.

but different number, 133850 on Ryoga. Looks like Ryoga spring is thicker wire and more turns, so it's a stronger spring.

If your old spring is the same length, should work OK.

If the spring is really different, may cause the clutch to bind.

Smartest thing is replace them as a pair.

You can also restore set temper in your old spring pair in the oven, 350 F for 15 min.

(I reshape and set temper old springs on antique reels to adjust spool check tension and tuning)

I’ve used springs from click pens in a pinch. You can use a salvage spring. Not a bad idea to replace with oem down the road.

Occasionally, when opening a reel, those springs like to stick to the side plate instead of staying on the frame. Locating and putting them together somewhere they can't roll is the first thing I do when opening a reel. I have become pretty OCD about this after spending about an hour crawling around in the floor wearing a headlamp.

Wide magnets work wonders!

And to the OP, try and keep both springs the same if possible. In your OP you said you might pull one spring from a retired reel.

My suggestion would be to use both matching springs from the retired reel rather than 1 spring from one reel and second spring from another reel.

The springs may be close enough to not even matter, but I like to keep them as even and equal as possible- if possible- and it sounds like it is if you have other reels to borrow springs from, I'm just suggesting to keep them matching as much as possible, but its not as critical in this location as DVT and others have noted.

On 4/11/2026 at 4:15 PM, bulldog1935 said:

the spring is really different, may cause the clutch to bind.

Thanks for the tips! What are these springs doing inside that this is a risk?

On 4/11/2026 at 7:31 PM, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

I’ve used springs from click pens in a pinch

My kinda guy right there haha

14 hours ago, Lead Head said:

spending about an hour crawling around in the floor wearing a headlamp.

Literally did the same thing bro, i feel better not being the only Rick Moranis lookin fool on the floor like a basehead lookin for a crumb

11 hours ago, FloridaFishinFool said:

use both matching springs from the retired reel rather than 1 spring from one reel and second spring from another reel

Good call bro, i can see that making sense

The two springs push the pinion bridge back into engagement when the open clutch is triggered to close.

The two leaf springs in Ambassadeur C3 do the same job as the coil springs in Daiwa.

Note Daiwa clutch won't close properly with the cover plate removed - but an open C3 drive plate will function. If either of the leaf springs is not seated properly, the clutch won't move in either direction. The result, instead of lifting and dropping the bridge, is loading it like a diving board, and trying to turn the pinion gear sideways.

13 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

result, instead of lifting and dropping the bridge, is loading it like a diving board, and trying to turn the pinion gear sideways.

Okay gotcha, I get it now.

I have a post coming soon I'd be curious your thoughts on, but I get the sense I'm just screwed