1,6 K4M VVT Problem (Hesitation when cold, loss of power)

[vijay488]

I'm pretty sure we don't have ethanol in our fuel here, but then, we don't have much info being published about it(the wonders of a monopoly).

As for the Temperature, the lowest we get here is about 17 Celsius on a cold morning, so I'm tending to believe that it may in fact be a programming issue.

The main reason I got the NGK Iridium was the long life, and cooler running it offered. Same for the filter.

The rpm drop I have at 4000 is there, whether it's hot or cold.

I know of at least 3 other people in Trinidad who had the dephaser replaced, but still the same problem.

I'll try to have it re-programmed on the next service, and see what happens.

[meganeboy]

Hi there,

If you have the power drop at 4000 rpm, then it probabbly IS NOT the dephaser pulley. If the pulley was the problem, then it would manifest at around 1800rpm, not 4000.... that's way to high.

The dephaser pulley is trigerred by the ECU (by means of the Dephaser solenoid) at 1800rpm.

You should look at other faults (fuel filter clogged, dirty injectors, low fuel pressure from fuel pump, etc)

Hope this helps

[vijay488]

I would tend to agree, except that after I spoke to 3 other people with the same problem, I went back to the dealer, and drove a new car out the showroom, and it had the same problem.

[meganeboy]

Maybe fuel quality then? But it's surely not the dephaser.

[acd1]

Hi my car suffers the same problem as above, can I get this sorted under warranty? Also the stop light comes on along with the handbrake light. What to do????? when going round a corner.

[meganeboy]

Hi my car suffers the same problem as above, can I get this sorted under warranty? Also the stop light comes on along with the handbrake light. What to do????? when going round a corner.

If your car is under warranty, you should make a claim immedeately and in writing (just in case, for future reference)

As regards the handbrake light and the STOP, your brake fluid is low.... could also be worn brake pads.

HTH

[acd1]

Hi my car suffers the same problem as above, can I get this sorted under warranty? Also the stop light comes on along with the handbrake light. What to do????? when going round a corner.

If your car is under warranty, you should make a claim immedeately and in writing (just in case, for future reference)

As regards the handbrake light and the STOP, your brake fluid is low.... could also be worn brake pads.

HTH

Hi Meaganeboy
Many thanks for your advice. Well i took it back to the dealers they ran a full check on the car. Found the camshaft sensor was faulty . Replaced it and test drove it, told me that the flat spot had gone and all is ok.
Driving home I found that the flat spot is still there and is just as bad.
What to do?
Thinking of taking it to a different dealers next time?
I will drive it for few days see if it betters its self.
The other problem, you were spot on low brake fluid. Ta

[MaRaNtZ]

After i've returned my megane II to the dealer for the infamous "cold starting loss of power" they have seen using the clip that one of the coil had misfire and supposed that in cold environment the coil could "discharge" to ground causing problems.
They have replaced the offending coil and the car seem to push as expected even in cold environment now.
So, i suggest you to try to check and eventually replace all the four sparking coils. (sagem coils are notorius to have problem at low temperatures).

[Mick]

This is a warning to Megane 1.6 VVT owners
My 3 year old megane (mileage 20K), which has been regularly serviced, took 3 attempts to pass the fast idle MOT emission test today.
Fast idle test fail
2450-3050 rpm
CO: 0.02%vol PASS
HC: 15ppm vol PASS
^ : 1.045 FAIL (should be in range 0.970-1.030)

on the 3rd attempt it passed with ^:1.030

The dealer said this may be an early sign of O2 sensor failure, maybe caused by silicon contaminated fuel sold recently in the UK. Or could it be something else like a sticky dephaser pulley

Any guidance would be welcome

[Paulst30]

Ok i've read all of thi sthread back to front and while some people simply say me too me too, i dig a little digging.

i saw on another Forum (a while back before i bought the megane) that some guy said that the housing that the coils are in can leak water but only on cold days as the seals shrink allowing water or condensation to get in, and cause the coils to short or sumthing like that, now he came up with a home fix for this.

He said that he dismantled the coils and used Silicone sealant on "the green parts" to protect them from the dampness or condensation. He showed various pictures of where the copper coil part itself was shorting on a part of its casing (dont ask, i thought they were plastic).

i actually found this thread strange seeing no-one has mentioned the coils, it was the first thing my friend told me before i bought my megane, but not knowing how much trouble it was i ignored his advice. Well to be honest he did say "just buy some on Ebay for £40 and fit them yourself".

[Paulst30]

Put the Megane into this site and you'll see the trouble reported by this guy in the year he tested it.

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/index.php?u ... /index.htm

of which he mentioned a known ignition coil failure

[KRW]

Hi Guys

very similar problem here, 1.6 16v engine starts fine runs for around ten seconds and then stalls, will not tick over, does this on every attempt unless revved to around 2500 for half a minute or so or unless setting off straight away, if setting off straight away the engine runs fine without any lumpyness as reported by previous owners. so it apears there may be a possibility of a combination of faults.

i changed the TDC sensor this weekend as a stalling problem had been experienced on a previously owned clio, but was not the problem, i now suspect a temperature sensor from info recieved from another source on the net and from symptoms this sounds logical but that said if all is controlled by ecu then logic cannot be relied on

[Rallye Sport]

Hi people annoying that my first post is a problem ....... hello to you all......

I was wondering if anyone could help me. I've receltly bought the girlfriend a Megane VVT 1.6 which has this problem which has been known about for years by the look of it. The car has just had a new dephaser pulley fitted as it has the strange noise from start up and it wouldn't start sometimes. The new dephaser has cured that problem but it still has the hesitant nature when cold, its as if I cannot drive and I haven't got a clue what clutch control is! The revs build up then drop off very irraticly. Does anyone have a solution for this as this post was started over 2 years ago. I'm off back to the Renault dealer this week so I was hoping to go back with some amo rather than be fobbed off with more expensive bills!

Thanks,

Jamie

[markren2004]

Hi people annoying that my first post is a problem ....... hello to you all......

I was wondering if anyone could help me. I've receltly bought the girlfriend a Megane VVT 1.6 which has this problem which has been known about for years by the look of it. The car has just had a new dephaser pulley fitted as it has the strange noise from start up and it wouldn't start sometimes. The new dephaser has cured that problem but it still has the hesitant nature when cold, its as if I cannot drive and I haven't got a clue what clutch control is! The revs build up then drop off very irraticly. Does anyone have a solution for this as this post was started over 2 years ago. I'm off back to the Renault dealer this week so I was hoping to go back with some amo rather than be fobbed off with more expensive bills!

Thanks,

Jamie

i also have similar issues..dephaser recently changed...and now on coldish & wet mornings difficult to start...but then runs ok and starts ok for rest of the day. if it does start, it needs a light feather of the throttle before i set off otherwise it will stall, doing this drops the revs and then they pick up ok. If i don't do this the car invariably stalls as soon as I try to set off (again just on first start of the day !!)
I think a little bit of cold hesitation is normal on these cars for the first mile.

I was comming to the conclusion that the ECU might need reprograming for the new dephaser (a friend did the dephaser who doesn't have any specific renault knowledge)..I'll be interested with what your outcome with the main dealer is.

[Aiviatrix]

I may sound a but simple with this but i am kinda an old school engine fitter, (diesel). i have bought a 1.6 VVT meg2 on a 54 plate had the issue this forum mentions and thought instantly that the problem was ignition. i have replaced for my peace of mind the 4 coils 4 plugs and the HT leads. the problem seems to have cured itself. my plugs were worn (electrodes worn).
the last car i drove with a petrol engine was a 1990 ford(wont say what) but had the same problem with starting. easy engine on ford, 1 coil 1 distributor 1 LT Lead and 4 HT leads.