A few questions (mostly odd!)

[rsjg80]

Hi everyone, I bought a Renault Megane Authentique 1.4 (55) last week and have a few issues with it. I bought it from a local garage and they've mostly told me to speak to Renault as it's in warranty.

But I'd still like some answers. I'll try to be brief:

1. The AC/ Heated back windows and crucially window washer jets don't work - blown fuse is the guess as the lights don't come on on the dashboard. Are they all on same fuse?!

2. Radio turns off every 20mins when driving, beeps and turns off. It's supposed to do this when idle so could this also be the fuse problem?

3. Brakes squeal - known issue I notice, how good are Renault at sorting it?

4. I had the 'Range' mode on the dash board for the fuel, it said I had 70 miles left before refill, then it beeped loudly, petrol light came on and 'Range' suddenly flicked to "-------" as in 0!

5. The hardest to explain, when changing up the gears (only) there is a strange whirring noise just before it kicks into the higher gear. Is this normal? My last car was an old rust bucket so not sure! Clutch makes no noise when parked.

Thanks for all, and any, help.

[Ray]

4. that's normal.. it's really annoying that it won't calculate how many miles are left in your most crucial times.
I think the reserve tank will take you about 70 miles... i think!

[Jonault]

The whirring noise when you change gear might be tappet rattle as the engine revs drop on clutch release. I have this on mine but you also notice it when decelerating down through 3,100 to 3,000 rpm. A Renault tech came for a spin to listen to it but was reluctant to start pulling the engine apart as I had no noticeable drop in performance/fuel consumption. I have 18 months of warranty left so if the lobe wears down on the cam before then, I should be covered.

[Gav]

2. Radio turns off every 20mins when driving, beeps and turns off. It's supposed to do this when idle so could this also be the fuse problem?

You should check the radio gets ignition switched 12v OK. If the ignition isn't on, the 20 minutes turn off saves the battery from being drained, so to me it sounds like someone may have taken that lead from the radio to do something else with (or it's just loose/faulty).

I've only had my Megane a month and when the diesel tank was getting low I noticed the range disappear - so annoying! My previous car didn't have a trip computer, and I knew it would do 35 miles or so OK after hitting the bottom of the fuel gauge! No doubt I'll work out a similar safe amount for the Megane...

[ICEMAN]

1. A/C & heated back window could be a fuse problem. The washer jet could be the pump or the pipe could have got disconnected.

2. I agree with Gav, check the ingnition wire.

3. My brakes were fine when i first got my car, after the first service, they have started to squeek - they apparently checked how much was left....but im not sure what they can do about it!!

4. is normal, as stated.

5. not sure.

hope this helps with your odd questions

[tuckms]

fault 1 is definitely a fuse in the glove box, I had a faulty washer pump that if you let it run out of water and tried it, the 10A fuse would blow taking out the aircon/heater light and the radio, but because the radio has two supplies the radio carrieed on working

[adobney]

today the indicator light on the dashboard for turning right started to behave strangely. It flashes twice at the normal rate (ie rate it always used to blink at, and same as for the indicator light for tuening left) and then the rate increases in one step to approx. twice as fast. Switched engine offand on. No difference.
My first reaction was that a relay had blown, and then that after owning the car for almost one year with no problems the electrical gremlins many seem to suffer have finally caught up with me.
Upon searching the forum I found tuckms's posting about trying to use the screen jets (when empty) and it blowing the radio and various other things due to a dodgy pump.

Yesterday evening I noticed that the screen jets were empty (the wife has used the car the last few days, so I can jump to very easy conclusions and blame her ha ha) but didn't get round to filling them up. Has anyone else observed that trying to use the screen jets when empty disrupts the indicator functioning?

cheers
Andrew

[AlexB]

bulb?

[nickbell69]

If a bulb goes the indicators will flash at twice the normal rate.

[The Negotiator]

I believe your fuse for the cigarette lighter (et al.) is gone, those symptons sound correct. It takes out a lot - including all those above things and the radio switches off because it's not properly on as such. If you used a rubbishy 12v charger recently it might have shorted the circuit, or other reasons such as the motors burning out on the windscreen wash.

I wonder how common it is, it happened to me and knocked out most of the systems. With climate it seems to default back to "warm" so in 28 degC heat I had my fans set on to warm. I couldn't manage more than 10 minutes of this so thankfully found the problem (metal piece from cigarette lighter charger fell into socket) and replaced the fuse (the flap inside the glovebox).