Bicycle Mechanics - "Look" brand clip-in pedal falling off

Please help. I'm sure this is a simple problem with a simple fix; I'm just not very mechanically-minded.

I have an old-school Centurion LeMansRS road bike I put my "Look" clip-in pedals on last night. I felt like I did a decent job torquing them tight (with pedal wrench) when I screwed them in.

However... here's my problem: This morning, my right pedal, still clipped to my shoe, slipped off the rod of the pedal every couple miles while riding. The pedal rod stayed, still screwed on to pedal. Without tools, I'd hand tighten it, go on, and it again it occurred a few more times.

Excuse my lack of knowledge but what causes this? Did I NOT torque down tight enough when screwing on the pedals? Or is it a problem in the internal part of the pedal? Any advise is appreciated.

To work around it, I would pedal backwards a dozen rotations or so every couple miles just in case.

Thanks for the help.

Your pedal is busted. The body of the pedal isn't supposed to come off the axle (the rod) like that, and it's almost certainly not your fault. Sounds like it might be time for some new pedals.

I think he means the pedal with the axle detached from the crank arm. Or not. I'm confused.

Yeah, the description is a bit ambiguous. WSmith, if your pedals are like most, then they do also have a 6mm hex fitting on the threaded end of the axle, which you can use to tighten it somewhat if it's coming loose during a ride (assuming you have a 6mm hex key in your toolkit).

Thanks. I will attempt to tighten the hex and ride it a few more times as such. If it comes off in spite of that, I'll replace. Thanks for the tip(s).