Is this the beginning of the end for my Mamiya 6?

I have a very nice Mamiya 6 that I bought from a photo.net ad, and

it's working perfectly. To keep it nice, I bought a second, well

used body for rough travelling. This body has started to exhibit a

fault. After an exposure, I can't wind the film to the next frame

until I hear a fairly obvious click. At first I thought it was the

shutter staying open for a far longer time than it should, but that

is not the case. The time delay for this click to occur can be up to

half a minute, and can be accelerated by thumping the camera (not

hard of course) or releasing the lens mount towards the retracted

position. The problem occurs with several lenses.

Is this the dreaded unrepairable winder failure beginning to

develop? Or is it likely to be something else that could be fixed?

This can be fixed. There is an small magnet switch inside that frees the advance lever after exposure. This part tends to freeze after several years of useage. You can press the recessed release button on the right side of the camera to speed this up.

I sent my camera body to Mamiya Germany to repair this, and they did... for a price.

Martin

This has happened to my girlfriend's Mamiya 6. Mamiya USA said they could

not fix it, because the part (s) are unavailable. But if the camera was a 6MF

they could repair it, because they do have parts for that camera. Are the parts

that different? No, the part is the same! But because the 6MF is newer, they

are required to hold the very few remaining parts for that camera under

import rules. I find this rather upsetting. So Martin, can you please tell us

where to fix the camera in Germany?? Thanks. Arthur

This has happened to my girlfriend's Mamiya 6. Mamiya USA said they could

not fix it, because the part (s) are unavailable. But if the camera was a 6MF

they could repair it, because they do have parts for that camera. Are the parts

that different? No, the part is the same! But because the 6MF is newer, they

are required to hold the very few remaining parts for that camera under

import rules. I find this rather upsetting. So Martin, can you please tell us

where to fix the camera in Germany?? Thanks. Arthur

Dear Arthur,

Referring to this post from 2004, can you tell me whether you have ever received an advice where to repair the Mamiya 6 with this problem in Germany if Mamiya cannot fix it? I have just received my Mamiya 6 from Japan and it shows exactly the same behaviour as described by John in this thread.

Thanks, Gaby