sliding, loss of steering control

[cmjm2005]

Hello,

I recently purchased a Renault Megane II 1.5 dci 105hp (diesel) May 2007.
Since I bought the car, a month and a half ago, I've had two accidents and several situations where I lost steering control of the car (as if doing aquaplaning). It was always in situations of light rain and I was never speeding. I have new tires, changed the brake pads and the problem persists!

Even today, I had one of these situations when traveling at 80km/h on a highway and felt the car sliding without me doing nothing!

Fortunately I managed to regain control of the the car and continued the journey.

What could be the problem?

I've drove many other cars and nothing like this ever happened to me!

Thanks for all the help you can give,
Miguel

[freelanderuk]

Check your tyre pressure

[cmjm2005]

Check your tyre pressure

I already checked it.

The pressure was the correct for tires 205/50 with 17 inch wheels.

2,2 BAR front
2,0 BAR rear

Thanks.

[freelanderuk]

if it was me i would be going back to the place i had the tyres fitted and seeing what they had to say , did this happen with the old tyres, have you checked the track rod ends for excessive play and all the other bits that attach to the steering and wheel hubs

[cmjm2005]

if it was me i would be going back to the place i had the tyres fitted and seeing what they had to say , did this happen with the old tyres, have you checked the track rod ends for excessive play and all the other bits that attach to the steering and wheel hubs

Hello,

This first happened with the old tires and the second accident has been with the new tires!

I'll check the wheel hubs and also the sway(stabilizer) bar ....

Does anyone have other suggestions?

Thank you,
Miguel

[steve-t]

Renault 17" wheels or aftermarket? Thinking offset maybe
Was the car fitted with 17" originally as abs computer will need adjusting if fitted with 15" or 16"
Does it have traction control?

[AlexB]

You need to describe each incident in more detail. Was it understeer or oversteer, did it happen in a bend or under braking, how were the brakes serviced, when was the brake fluid changed the last time, the exact type of the tyres, everything related to suspension, abs/esp, etc. What was the wear pattern on the old tyres? It is not a common fault, so you have to write more. Do you have experience of high speed driving in snow or something like this - just to make sure you are well under your personal performance limit?


If it is a technical fault, then it's quite alarming.

[cmjm2005]

Renault 17" wheels or aftermarket? Thinking offset maybe
Was the car fitted with 17" originally as abs computer will need adjusting if fitted with 15" or 16"
Does it have traction control?

I'm not sure if the car was originally fitted with 17" inch weels, but they are from Renault.

I believe it only has ABS.
It doesn't have ESP(traction control).

The last time I had this kind of situation was on wednesday.

I was driving in a highway, about 80Km/h, it was raining moderately when the car seemed to há gainned a will of it's own!
Fortunately I managed to regain control of the car.

Today I passed trough the same spot again and noticed that there's some light irregularity on the road likely due to partial repaving.

Best regards,
Miguel

[cmjm2005]

You need to describe each incident in more detail. Was it understeer or oversteer, did it happen in a bend or under braking, how were the brakes serviced, when was the brake fluid changed the last time, the exact type of the tyres, everything related to suspension, abs/esp, etc. What was the wear pattern on the old tyres? It is not a common fault, so you have to write more. Do you have experience of high speed driving in snow or something like this - just to make sure you are well under your personal performance limit?


If it is a technical fault, then it's quite alarming.

I have no experience of high speed driving. I'm just a regular driver!

I didn't break, it just simply happenned!

I don't Know when the brake fluid was changed and dont' know aniything about the suspension.
The dampers appear to be good.

Also, I don't Know the diference between understeer or oversteer.

Thank You,
Miguel

[AlexB]

Miguel,

You need to ask someone with experience of driving many different cars to drive yours and tell you if anything feels unusual. It is the easiest first step.

Before everything, please make sure you are not on budget tyres. Your story is in a way similar to what I've heard from a young driver of Astra on funny tyres. I never heard anything like this in this forum.

Does your car have ESP?

[cmjm2005]

Miguel,

You need to ask someone with experience of driving many different cars to drive yours and tell you if anything feels unusual. It is the easiest first step.

Before everything, please make sure you are not on budget tyres. Your story is in a way similar to what I've heard from a young driver of Astra on funny tyres. I never heard anything like this in this forum.

Does your car have ESP?

Alex,

The tires are from Bridgestone, I would never risk buying chinese cheap tires.

Honestly, I'm not sure if the car has ESP or not! I believe it doesn't have traction control because there's no light or any button that mentions it!

Any other ideas or sugestions are highly apreciated!

Thank You all You guys,
Miguel

[asc99c]

My car also feels very poorly anchored to the road. I've been into slides twice at high speeds, but also quite regularly at 30 mph a couple of corners on my journey to work it really doesn't like. Mine was on a set of new cheap tyres when I bought it, and seems to be improving as the tyres wear in. Same as you it is always in light rain.

It is understeer on mine - the tyres turn into the corner, but the car just slides forwards and doesn't turn properly. Oversteer is where the front turns in but the back end slides out. It isn't brake related either, just feels like the suspension isn't pressing the fronts to the road. However due to the cheap tyres I'm not blaming the suspension fully, but my Mondeo drives perfectly fine on cheap tyres.

[dimitrius]

there is a difference between road-tyre conditions and mechanical problems. the first category involves common sense and driving skill to keep yourself and others safe. if the road is dusty or worn, if your tyres or suspension have seen better days then adjust your speed to these conditions. tbe mechanical problem is different bussiness, not realy easy to get confused with these two categories. I also advise you to ask a more experienced friend to take your car for a drive. (not a rule but a mechanical problem affecting the stability and cornering of a car would most likely involve cloncking noisescreaks etc)

[cmjm2005]

My car also feels very poorly anchored to the road. I've been into slides twice at high speeds, but also quite regularly at 30 mph a couple of corners on my journey to work it really doesn't like. Mine was on a set of new cheap tyres when I bought it, and seems to be improving as the tyres wear in. Same as you it is always in light rain.

It is understeer on mine - the tyres turn into the corner, but the car just slides forwards and doesn't turn properly. Oversteer is where the front turns in but the back end slides out. It isn't brake related either, just feels like the suspension isn't pressing the fronts to the road. However due to the cheap tyres I'm not blaming the suspension fully, but my Mondeo drives perfectly fine on cheap tyres.

That's precisely it that happens to me! "just feels like the suspension isn't pressing the fronts to the road"

But I don't have cheap tires!!!!!

Rather the opposite.....

What can it be causing this behavior ?

Thank You,
Miguel

[cmjm2005]

Hello!

Any other ideas or sugestions ?

Thank You,
Miguel