warning lights and cutting out

[Rossi the Uncle]

This is my first post so hello everyone!I have a'04 megane hatchback and about a week ago the engine symbol lit up along with the "SERVICE" light.It still has 9000 miles to go to service and has been running fine but yesterday it cut out twice at slow speed and five times again today at slow speed.Now i know i will have to get a diagnostic run on it but can't do that until the 25th so i wonder if anyone could give me a clue as to what this might be?Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[IainMW]

Firstly welcome to the club.

Need more info on the car; model, engine, current mileage, service history etc..

[Rossi the Uncle]

Thanks for the welcome.It's a 1.6i Dynamique,current milage is 27,000 and has been serviced by Renault.

[IainMW]

The fault code will be logged for this in the ECU, so when you take it in the CLIP will identify the problem(s)

Is it low on power, and do you have to really rev it when setting off?
Will the car idle smoothly?

Hopefully a 1.6vvt owner will be along shortly to offer more input?

[Rossi the Uncle]

The idle seems to have dropped by 100-200 rpm and its always needed a little more than the normal amount of revs to get going but its not low on power and it runs smoothly(i've just been out in it to check) although when its cut(only with my wife driving!)out my wife says it did feel low on power.It seems to come and go!By the way what is CLIP? is it the diagnostic check?And do you know what the software is called that is used to find these problems?

[markren2004]

the CLIP is the renault dealer's Diagnostic machine.
As far as i know there isn't a way to self diagnose like you can on a lot of older cars.

[IainMW]

Problems that normally affect running on the 1.6 are numerous; coil packs are one and the Dephaser Pulley is another. The Service light will illuminate for a failed coil, along with Toxic Fume filter on the Display, but I'm not sure anything shows up if the Dephaser is playing up?
If a coil goes then the car will run about a smooth as a pig on stilts! The Dephaser problems can manifest themselves in a number of ways.

Have a search on the forum for both of these.

The TDC (Top Dead Centre) sensor can also cause problems

It's better to get it checked out ASAP for a full diagnosis.

[^Andy^]

the CLIP is the renault dealer's Diagnostic machine.
As far as i know there isn't a way to self diagnose like you can on a lot of older cars.

You can read the codes yourself given the correct cable and a laptop, the cable is an ISO eobd/obd2 intefrace cable and can be found in abundance on ebay or from sites such as this one

[markren2004]

the CLIP is the renault dealer's Diagnostic machine.
As far as i know there isn't a way to self diagnose like you can on a lot of older cars.

You can read the codes yourself given the correct cable and a laptop, the cable is an ISO eobd/obd2 intefrace cable and can be found in abundance on ebay or from sites such as this one

nice to know, but pretty pricey. I was meaning there wasn't a FREE way of doing it...On some older cars you don't need any cables and software, just a paperclip to short out a couple of the socket pins and it flashes the codes on the dash...thats progress for you.