Should I be "Phased" by this?

[RussMarc]

I’m from the Channel Islands, moved to the UK recently. Last Saturday, traded in my 10 year old Ford Fiesta 1.25 Zetec for a Renault Megane expression 1.6 VVT from a major used car dealer (not mentioning their name). Anyway, the Megane is a 55 plate and has done 8600 miles, apparently it still has 1 year manufacturers warranty left on it and I paid for a 3 year extended warranty too.

I came across this website and started reading the postings with interest. Now I’m quite an unphased person, but the posts on here regarding the Dephaser Pulley is phasing me! When I first started the car at the showroom the engine (just for a couple of seconds) sounded like it was a diesel engine, the dealer assured me this was because it had been sitting in the showroom for a long time and the oil needed to circulate round the engine for a few seconds. So OK sounds plausible I thought.

4 days later this is still happening on cold start ups just for a second or two, however, I’m not experiencing any loss of power (I think?) but it takes 2 attempts to start it though. The car’s computer tells me I’m returning 36.2 mpg, for a relatively straight run 20 miles along motorway. Is this about average?

Could this car have a faulty Dephaser Pulley.?

Now my other problem is that I have been told that buying from this particular dealer is fine except their after sales service is about as much good as an ejector seat in a helicopter (funny how people tell you this after you have done it and not before) now I’m worrying about taking the car back to them and trying to get this fault fixed under warranty, their reputation for waffle is apparently well known so I am told. (Gulp!)

If as they say my Megane still has 1year manufacturers warranty left, can I not take it to the Renault service centre near my house for diagnosis or do I have to go back to the salesman where I bought it.

Any advice will be welcome.
Thanks.

[IainMW]

Firstly welcome to the club

Before we start jumping down the Dephaser pulley route, you need to get the car back to your dealer and get them to do little investigation.
The TDC sensor can be a cause of starting problems on the 1.6vvt and seeing as you are not having any performance or enconomy issuses, the Dephaser pulley might be a false start? (sorry no pun intended!)

Was the car serviced before you picked it up? It might be that you've got a noisy hydraulic tappet, which is why it sounds a bit clattery in a morning, particularly if the oil has not been changed?

You've still got plenty of warranty left so don't worry on that front. Somebody with more experience of the 1.6 than me should be along shortly to help you more.

Please name the dealer, we won't tell anyone!

[RussMarc]

Hi Iain,

Thanks for your response,

You wrote,

“Was the car serviced before you picked it up? It might be that you've got a noisy hydraulic tappet, which is why it sounds a bit clattery in a morning, particularly if the oil has not been changed?”

I bought the car last Saturday 09th and was told that all vehicles are serviced and valleted prior to the customer driving the car away.
I picked it up on the following Tuesday of last week, I have no idea if they did what they said they were going to do.

With regards to me saying I don’t have performance issues well I’m not sure about that now that I think about it. I’ve been used to my old Fiesta Zetec 1.25 for 10 years this certainly had a quicker acceleration between 30mph and 50mph then the Megane has, but the Megane pulls better over 3000 rpm. Not having driven a Megane before I can’t really compare it to anything other then my old ford.. Having said that the last car I had that was a 1.6 was the old Ford Escort XR3i and the Megane is in no way as quick as that was.

Reading further on at some posts I am experiencing a slight dip and hesitation at low rpm. I thought that was how these cars are so didn’t really notice until I read some posts further on. Plus maybe someone can tell me if the clutch in everyone’s Megane “Bites High”

Hope someone can shed some more light on this for me?

RM

[IainMW]

If your car was serviced before you picked it up then they should have stamped your service book, that's one way of checking. Check your engine oil. If it has been serviced then the oil should be relatively clean on the dipstick, it will be discoloured to some degree as you've been driving it for a while now, but it should not be "dark black/brown" Like wise if you can see the oil filter it will or should look clean ish on the outside.

Silencer51 has had plenty of experience of Dephaser Pulley problems and the symptoms associated with it, so hopefully he will be along to help shortly, likewise WebCode (who is an ex Renault techie), will be able to help? There are lots of other members with 1.6vvt's so hopefully they will contribute as well?
There is a specific test that your Dealer can do to check the operation of the pulley, WebCode has posted about this before.

The Megane is a pretty heavy lump so it will feel very different to your Fiesta (which probably weighed about as much as a shoe box!) As for your XR3i, they were very quick cars for their time.
I really think you need to take your car back to your dealer and get them to investigate further.

As for your clutch, yes they do bite very high!

Who did you buy the car off?

[RussMarc]

Thanks again Iain,

As I write this I can tell you my Megane is back at the dealer for investigation as you suggested.

Oil looked OK and Filter is clean(ish), as for having my service book stamped, that is a good question…. I’ll have a look at that, my dealer whom I bought the car off, has furnished me with a mountain of paper work and stuff so I’m gradually looking through all of it.

I thought the high bite point on the clutch was about normal for the Megane, I’ve kind of got round that by buying some thick car mats from Halfords, that has lifted my feet off the floor by about an inch, this seems to have improved matters some what.

I hope my dealer has good after sales service,( I guess today’s the day I’m going to find out) the first thing the girl on the service desk said to me this morning was that because my car has a years manufacturers warrantee left, and if they do find a pulley problem or anything else that needs doing that is likely to be major, I will have to take it to Renault for repair.

Do you know if I’m supposed to be in possession of any original manufacturer’s documentation stating it’s warrantee status, or can Renault call up the details of my car on there computer system?

I’ll let you know the outcome later.

Thanks

Russ

[RussMarc]

Ok I’ve had my Megane in the dealers today.
First of all I have to say that the service I received from them today contradicts stories that I have been told by a few “know it all’s” who were obviously trying to wind me up instead of being helpful.

I took the Megane 1.6 VVT back to the dealers 8:00 am (They stock a massive range of cars, not only Renault) I explained to the girl on the desk that I was hearing a “Clattering” sound from the engine on cold start ups.

“We will call you if there is a problem” she said.
I heard nothing all day so I phoned them 10mins before I left work to go and collect it.

“We have found a variable valve timing fault with your car, it needs to have the Dephaser Pulley replaced” she said. “As your car still has 12 months manufacturers warrantee, it needs to go back to Renault to have the part replaced”.

I explained that I’m new to Scotland and I don’t know my way around let alone where a Renault dealer is and also that I live about 25 Miles away in the middle of nowhere.

A Taxi from my house to anywhere in Glasgow costs about twice as much as a return flight to Alicante, and that is no word of a lie! The nearest train station is 6 miles away and the frequent Bus service is 3 times a week.

As luck would have it I’m staying at the mother in-laws next week whilst they go on holiday, their house is about 10 mins away on foot from my work and the car dealers mentioned beforehand.

The girl at the dealers Phoned Renault and booked the car in for me, they are even going to deliver the car to Renault on my behalf and pick it up when it’s done, Renault say this is an 8 hour job so they really will need the car for two days.

I totally understand Renault’s time scale for this job and this is not a problem to me, the point I’m trying to make here is that yes I have bought a Megane that has the dreaded Dephaser problem, and no I have not had any problems so far, with either the dealer I bought the car off or the local Renault service centre in recognising the fault in reasonable time and without fuss. I am hoping though that when I get my car back, the fat lady sings, the curtain goes down and we can all go home when the show is over.

No pressure

Russ.

[IainMW]

Great news

where about's in Scotland do you live?
It sounds like my ideal place, (the middle of nowhere )

[RussMarc]

“Where about's in Scotland do you live?”

I live in a small village just outside Shotts in Lanarkshire.

Almost halfway along the M8 Motorway between Glasgow and Edinburgh
There is a small Grocers shop here, a few private houses , farmland with lot of sheep and cows, and the 543mtr tall Black Hill TV transmitter, that’s all.

I’m a HiFi fan so out here there’s no one close to my house to hear it so I can listen to it as loud as I like at anytime of the day, the sheep have not once complained about it being too loud. By the way my HiFi cost more than the Megane.

[IainMW]

Shotts, know it quite well, spent several weekends house hunting around the Lanarkshire area in 2005, as I got a job in Bellshill, had to turn the job down because we could not sell our house in a suitable time scale, and could not afford to rent another house

If your Hifi cost more than the Megane, that must be some peice of kit

[RussMarc]

That reminds me… While we are on the subject of HiFi, Who is the manufacturer of the CD player, speakers, e.t.c. in the Megane?

This one in my car appears to be the OEM one that comes with the car i.e. its standard equipment it’s not an aftermarket one, are Renault manufacturing their own audio kit or is it made for them?

I don't think it sounds too bad, slightly muddy at times but overall not bad.

Cheers

Russ

[IainMW]

Head units are made by VDO, don't know who makes the speakers?
I've got a set of Pioneer TS-Q131C speakers in mine and they make a big difference.
Have a look in the ICE section for more info.