Key Card Slot Feels different?...

[amandmoo11]

Please can someone help me. Back in November my key card slot went very tight & felt sniff when sliding the key car in but this morning, the slot felt really slack & loose. The only way the key would go in, is slight in at an angel & downwards.

I've been quite lucky with my car no major issues(apart from the usual faults for a megane)..... door pocket fills with water, footwell lights often stay on, coils replaced & I've got a dodgy wire under the seat so the airbag light sometime flashes on & off. My intermitant wipers don't work. Just last week the water pump went coz the garage failed to change it when my cam belt was replaced.

If you have any sensible solutions to either the key card slot or how to get the intermitant wipers working, I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks

[adam6177]

key card slot solution - dont put the key card in there, keep it in your pocket.

as for wipers - electrical fault sounds probable to me, has it been put on a diagnostic?

[AlexB]

The pump went probably because someone attempted to go beyond four years without changing the coolant... Continuing the same pattern of thought, you may want to check if the brake fluid was changed (each 2 years) and the flexible brake lines (serve 4 years).

The wipers. Check their condition, they are replaced annually. Make sure that they clean the sensor area properly. Otherwise, the optical gel pad under the sensor could have become detached. This is a typical fault when the windscreen is replaced without reading the manual first.

The cars slot. It needs to be fixed now unless you don't mind paying a lot to the dealer.

[megane09]

The pump went probably because someone attempted to go beyond four years without changing the coolant... Continuing the same pattern of thought, you may want to check if the brake fluid was changed (each 2 years) and the flexible brake lines (serve 4 years).

The wipers. Check their condition, they are replaced annually. Make sure that they clean the sensor area properly. Otherwise, the optical gel pad under the sensor could have become detached. This is a typical fault when the windscreen is replaced without reading the manual first.

The cars slot. It needs to be fixed now unless you don't mind paying a lot to the dealer.

alexb, do you really need to change brake fluid that often?but why would the waterpump had gone just because you didnt change the coolant in the last four years...i worked in a garage and there was no real quideline that said you should change fluids this often? and as for the brake lines unless they are really corroded why would one need to change them? ive only ever changed brake lines when they have been badly corroded... im sorry to question you like this but maybe sometimes you scare people by saying that certain fluids or ect need to be replaced when they don't neccessarily do...Matt

[direstraits]

If you change the breaking/cooling fluid and flexible brake hoses nothing bad will happen to your engine/brakes/brake cylinders. If you choose not to, there is a number of things that can go wrong: fluids deteriorate being affected by different temperatures, rust, gases can build up in the system, the cooling fluid loses its detergent function over years, and the pump gets blocked, flexible brake lines are made of rubber which cannot last forever, and you don't want to mess up the brake cylinders. In short: servicing modern cars is not just oil and filters.

[megane09]

If you change the breaking/cooling fluid and flexible brake hoses nothing bad will happen to your engine/brakes/brake cylinders. If you choose not to, there is a number of things that can go wrong: fluids deteriorate being affected by different temperatures, rust, gases can build up in the system, the cooling fluid loses its detergent function over years, and the pump gets blocked, flexible brake lines are made of rubber which cannot last forever, and you don't want to mess up the brake cylinders. In short: servicing modern cars is not just oil and filters.

yeah i know nothing bad will happen and i know you shouldn't just service oil and filters , but to be honest i havent really heard of doing it that frequent, i do have experience in these situations im just saying that maybe you do not have to change fluids this frequent, of course ive changed coolant fluid and brake lines obviously they are rubber as you say and will deteriorate, just never heard of doing it that often, every four years hmmm, but point taken...

[direstraits]

I've driven cars (not mine, obviously) with oil changed once in 6 years and 100.000 miles. Oil was just topped up when the lamp was shown on the dash. But this kind of servicing is not what I would recommend to anyone. When we're talking breaks, we're thinking safety. That's why I follow the rules. It's too late when sh.t happens.

[AlexB]

megane09, I'll try to answer your questions.

The brake fluid is hygroscopic, it absorbs moisture coming through the seals and pores in the rubber. As a result, it looses its high boiling point and corrosion resistance characteristics. If you drain the fluid after two years, its colour will be darker than that of the new fluid due to various reasons including the products of corrosion being dissolved in it. Please look at the technical specs in this example:
https://www.opieoils.co.uk/pdfs/MOTUL/DO ... 8GB%29.pdf
It includes the following line:
"Drain interval : 12 to 24 months as per manufacturers’ recommendations."
Look at the numbers as well. By the end of the second year the fluid is loosing about 100C in the boiling point characteristics.

Now look at the racing product:
https://www.opieoils.co.uk/pdfs/MOTUL/RB ... 8GB%29.pdf
The boiling point is much higher here, and there are anti-corrosion properties listed, which were hidden in the general purpose product.

Why is such a difference in choosing what characteristics to show for the road and racing brake fluids? I guess, it is good for the industry if performance of a road car deteriorates over time, but the same is completely unacceptable in the racing world...

Coolants. There are many different types and they use different methods of corrosion protection and water pump seal lubrication. The problem here is that several different metals come in contact with the coolant, the coolant includes water, which prompts on a possibility of Galvanic corrosion. To reduce this effect the coolants include various additives, which sacrifice themselves while fighting and need periodic renewal. The coolants create special protective coating in the exposed metals. The chemistry of these coatings is different between the coolant types. This makes switching between the coolant types quite undesirable. Read this Renault recommendation regarding changing the coolant every 4 years:
https://www.renaultpartswarehouse.co.uk/ ... 711170546g

Brake lines. I was actually talking about flexible brake lines commonly known as brake hoses. They are made of rubber with synthetic cord inside and after 10 years they develop cracks, which is obviously not good. After 4-5 years in service they become softer in the areas where bending happens.

Regarding scaring people. Yes, most people need a shock therapy to stop their service-to-pass-MOT practice. This is because the MOT is a minimum safety specification test. Soon after it the car deteriorates to the level below the safety standard and then is repaired just before the next test. Thus, the most part of the year it remains unsafe. This is a big picture. A "minor" side product of preventive and high-quality servicing is a combination of increased reliability, availability and reduced repair costs.



This was a long answer. A short one could be the following. Yes, one can neglect their car, but they will have to do the necessary servicing anyway, just later, in a less convenient time, at a higher cost and after driving a broken vehicle for quite a while. So, why not to do the things properly in the first place?

The pump went probably because someone attempted to go beyond four years without changing the coolant... Continuing the same pattern of thought, you may want to check if the brake fluid was changed (each 2 years) and the flexible brake lines (serve 4 years).

The wipers. Check their condition, they are replaced annually. Make sure that they clean the sensor area properly. Otherwise, the optical gel pad under the sensor could have become detached. This is a typical fault when the windscreen is replaced without reading the manual first.

The card slot. It needs to be fixed now unless you don't mind paying a lot to the dealer.

alexb, do you really need to change brake fluid that often?but why would the waterpump had gone just because you didnt change the coolant in the last four years...i worked in a garage and there was no real quideline that said you should change fluids this often? and as for the brake lines unless they are really corroded why would one need to change them? ive only ever changed brake lines when they have been badly corroded... im sorry to question you like this but maybe sometimes you scare people by saying that certain fluids or ect need to be replaced when they don't neccessarily do...Matt

[megane09]

thats a verydetailed reply and im very happy with your answer, I suppose sometimes though manufactures say a certain amount of time for various components and fluids maybe because it benefits the manufacture financially aswell,but I do highly agree with you that M.O.T standards are often mistaken by motorists as a high standard of testing when as you said it is basically the bare minimum, there are many stupid laws in the M.O.T like if the tyre tread is barely on 1.6mm then this is legal to the M.O.Ter/station but if they go down the road and get pulled over by the police its a fine and points on your licence, it is pathetic,am I right in believing you change everything on the time served/mileage of your car alexb?