Engine cutting out very briefly.

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LewisR
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2013 10:08 pm
Currently Drives:: Megane GT

Re: Engine cutting out very briefly.

Postby LewisR » Sat Jan 11, 2014 10:04 pm

My car checked out completely fine. Turbo is fine no fault codes. Still does it occasionally but does seem to be going away.
Megane GT 2.0 Dci

VroomVroomClonk
Just Passed
Posts: 134
Joined: Wed Oct 02, 2013 8:37 pm
Currently Drives:: Megane 1.9 DCi CC 2004
Location: Suffolk

Re: Engine cutting out very briefly.

Postby VroomVroomClonk » Tue Mar 04, 2014 10:28 pm

The car did it again today, and this was the worse one yet. I was just pulling out onto a roundabout and it suddenly had absolutely no power when I pressed the pedal. It didn't stall, even though it was just at the point where I was letting the clutch up to pull away. But, I had to take my foot completely off the accelerator and then on again and it pulled away fine. Not much fun in busy traffic!

PS. to triumph2.5man, you can't get rid of it after all these years! I also had a 2000TC and a 2500s, and I certainly wish I had kept the 2500s :(
I've also owned a Spitfire MK2, a Herald 13/60 convertible, a GT6 Mk1, a Spitfire Mk4, ..... I like Triumphs :-)

triumph2.5man
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Currently Drives:: Mondeo TDCI mk3 2002
Pug 307HDI90 1.6 (family car)
Megane II dynamique 1.5dci 722 engine 2003
Ford Galaxy 115bhp 2002 (family car)
Megane 3 1.5dci 2009 832 engine (family car)

Re: Engine cutting out very briefly.

Postby triumph2.5man » Sun Apr 06, 2014 8:50 pm

Hi folks. Time I think, to give a final result here. Having changed no 2 injector some months ago, the car is running perfectly with quite a few miles covered including several long, fast runs. Daughter reports absolutely no sign whatsoever of the holding back that she encountered so many times previously. It appears to me that these incidents were an intermittent warning of problems to come finally ending up with total failure of no2 injector. Well that is my opinion......
Regards all. Mike

VroomVroomClonk
Just Passed
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Currently Drives:: Megane 1.9 DCi CC 2004
Location: Suffolk

Re: Engine cutting out very briefly.

Postby VroomVroomClonk » Sat May 10, 2014 12:32 pm

:(

So, after this last update, I've been checking every morning for any smoke when I start the engine, or any hesitation in actually starting, but I can't find any. I really don't want to start taking injectors out for testing unless the symptoms get worse first.
Also, a colleague at work who knew nothing about this problem on my car just happened to mention that he is getting exactly the same symptoms. But, his car is a Ford Focus 1.6 TDi. Does anybody have any idea if there are any components shared by a 1.9DCi Renault Engine and a 1.6TDi Ford engine that may give any more clues on this?

eric
Learner Driver
Posts: 74
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2014 10:01 am
Currently Drives:: Megane lldci

Re: Engine cutting out very briefly.

Postby eric » Sun May 11, 2014 7:57 am

one of our work vans, a ford transit does this as well. Loses power up hill then you'll feel it suddenly come back to life. Then again with 1/4 million miles could just be its way of telling you that it needs a rest :D

VroomVroomClonk
Just Passed
Posts: 134
Joined: Wed Oct 02, 2013 8:37 pm
Currently Drives:: Megane 1.9 DCi CC 2004
Location: Suffolk

Re: Engine cutting out very briefly.

Postby VroomVroomClonk » Wed Mar 04, 2015 9:37 pm

Well, I'm bringing this thread back again, as I've just had my worst day yet of 1.9DCi random power losses. I have had many months of not having the problem, indeed it hadn't really occurred since this 1.9dci power loss solved!!! thread was discussing the possible link with a faulty brake light switch. So, despite me saying in that one that I would try WD40 straight away, I actually didn't in the end as I decided to wait until the problem reoccurred again first so that I could be sure the fix had really worked. But, as it has taken so long, I thought I would try some tests whilst I was waiting by accelerating and braking at the same time with one foot on each pedal to see if having the brake lights on did indeed cut the power to the engine. And, I can confirm that it does not. I have just tried it again this evening, and I can drive along with my left foot on the brake pedal hard enough to have the brake lights fully on (and a noticeable amount of braking force) but with my right foot on the accelerator I can still get plenty of power. BUT, this evening I noticed that if I had the brakes on much harder with my left foot and if I was in 2nd gear and with plenty of revs and turbo boost the power was fine and continued to be fine for a few seconds, but then the power would cut just like in the random events. I've just tried this half a dozen times, and I can make the engine power cut every time but I do need to have the brakes on much harder than just enough to put the brake lights on.

So, does this give anyone any more ideas please? Have I got something wrong with my car that having the brake lights on doesn't cut the engine power? I'm assuming that the brake light switch is the one I've found on the passenger side of my right-hand drive car, i.e. it is where the top of the brake pedal would be on a left-hand drive car? Is there perhaps another switch somewhere else that only operates under heavier braking to cut the engine power?

As always, any thoughts or suggestions on the subject will be very welcome please. Many thanks.

Jut to recap, my car is a 1.9DCi 120BHP manual gearbox 2004 convertible, which has now done 135,000 miles and has a full service history.

VroomVroomClonk
Just Passed
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Currently Drives:: Megane 1.9 DCi CC 2004
Location: Suffolk

Re: Engine cutting out very briefly.

Postby VroomVroomClonk » Sat Mar 07, 2015 7:02 pm

I've just put the car on CLIP today, and it had a stored DF008 Pedal Potentiometer Circuit Track 1 - 2. DEF.
This code wasn't there when I last looked several months ago, so I cleared the code and then went for a drive until the engine power cut again. Then I read the codes again, and it was back.
So, my CLIP program says that 2. DEF means "Jammed accelerator pedal detected", but the manual MR366MEGANE1 says 2. DEF means "No Signal", does anybody know which is correct please?
I'm assuming that "No Signal" could just be a bad connection but that "Jammed accelerator pedal detected" means I need a new pedal potentiometer, so I would like to be sure which message is the genuine one.

Also, has anyone else who has experienced this same problem ever tried changing the pedal potentiometer please? If so, did it work?

Many thanks.

VroomVroomClonk
Just Passed
Posts: 134
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Currently Drives:: Megane 1.9 DCi CC 2004
Location: Suffolk

Re: Engine cutting out very briefly.

Postby VroomVroomClonk » Sat May 02, 2015 9:37 am

FIXED!!! :D
Finally, after all this time. The problem in my case was a brake pedal switch, but not the brake light switch. There are two completely separate pairs of contacts in the one physical brake pedal switch, one that does the brake lights, and another pair that is involved in controlling other things including cruise control (which I don't have) and also deciding if you are trying to accelerate and brake at the same time.
With the car plugged in to CLIP, I could see when I pressed the brake pedal CLIP said pressed, but when I released it again CLIP only sometimes went to released and sometimes went to a status of Indeterminate. The indeterminate status occurs when the signals from the two different sets of contact in the pedal switch don't agree with each other, and whilst in this state the car seems to decide that the throttle pedal is stuck open and you are trying to brake when in fact it is the brake pedal that is stuck and I was trying to accelerate.
The plunger that operates this switch has an adjustable length. On mine I found the length to be 18mm which was correct according to the specification given in technical note 4400A that gives a range of 17mm to 18mm. However, I had to adjust the length to 23mm to make the switch work accurately and reliably. On page 37A-28 of MR364MEGANE3 it says the plunger needs to be pulled fully out before refitting and then it will adjust itself. I'm not sure why there are these two different versions of the instructions, but the 17-18mm version is definitely wrong for my car the way it is now. I've no idea if this is because something else is out of adjustment, I'm just happy that my engine is running faultlessly for the first time in ages.

richardmullins99
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2015 1:57 pm
Currently Drives:: Megane MK 1.6 16v

Re: Engine cutting out very briefly.

Postby richardmullins99 » Sat May 16, 2015 7:24 am

Hi there mate how do you replace this part and the costs please many thanks...i am getting like an air leak sound from inside the cabin that goes as soon as you press the air brake pedal plus the loss in power occassonally cheers mate

VroomVroomClonk
Just Passed
Posts: 134
Joined: Wed Oct 02, 2013 8:37 pm
Currently Drives:: Megane 1.9 DCi CC 2004
Location: Suffolk

Re: Engine cutting out very briefly.

Postby VroomVroomClonk » Sun May 17, 2015 7:55 am

That doesn't sound like the same problem at all!
If I were you, I'd be checking the brake servo.

mycarhatesme
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jun 08, 2015 7:26 am
Currently Drives:: 2005 Renault Megane Mk II 1.5dci

Re: Engine cutting out very briefly.

Postby mycarhatesme » Mon Jun 08, 2015 7:57 am

Hi, My car (Renault Megane 1.5dci 2005 147k) just started doing this this morning. My daily drive is 4 miles of windy country roads, then 15 motorway miles, then 4 town miles. I too get a puff of smoke on starting - this started a month or so ago. So this morning the cutting out thing happened first on a tight bend about a mile from home, when it just stopped momentarily, sort of a cough, as if it had stalled and then restarted. I didn't notice any lights on the dash and the car didn't stop so I decided I must have taken my foot off the clutch before accelerating. (It would never happen). So I kept going and it was fine for a couple of miles and as I was again going round a bend the engine cut out and ALL the dash lights came on as if I had switched off and then switched on the engine, but also the steering became too heavy to steer so I decided to stop and pulled into a bus stop. I called my husband and he came and had a look but found no obvious fault like loose battery terminals. I knew I didn't want to drive it on the motorway so my husband drove it back home and I drove his home. On the way back I followed as he did quick swerves on the road and did the reverse journey home, but the fault didn't happen to him. He has tightened the terminals to the battery anyway and he is going to drive it today while I drive his (he is such a hero). Does this sound like a similar problem to yours? Did you lose power steering after the engine off episode? Does it always kick back in again? Should I just take it straight to the garage? I cant spend a fortune on it but equally I don't want to get stuck on the M5 - tried that once and didn't like it!

jt1996
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2016 12:54 pm
Currently Drives:: Renault Megane 1.5 dci 2004

Re: Engine cutting out very briefly.

Postby jt1996 » Mon May 30, 2016 7:10 pm

Hello,

I have the 2004 1.5 dci model and I tend to experience an intermittent dead spot in the accelerator. It has occured when pulling off and when I am at steady speed. I have read the reply about the EGR valve but I'm yet to try the theory out.

Jamie.

triumph2.5man
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Re: Engine cutting out very briefly.

Postby triumph2.5man » Mon May 30, 2016 7:47 pm

Hello Jamie, hopefully I will be able to help you with this annoying problem.
Wow, this has become a long thread that I started over a year ago. In fact I had an earlier thread on the same subject so the problem had been going on for some time. When a thread gets this long it is easy to lose the "thread" excuse pun!
My car that had the original problem is still running and thanks to Vroom Vroom Clonk Clonk (!) the problem was cured permanently. If you read his post earlier in this thread (go straight to 02 05 15) all will be revealed. It is the brake light switch which is in effect two contacts in one, causing the problem. One set puts the brake lights on and the other tells the DCU (injection computer) that the brakes have been applied. The contacts for this lead directly to the DCU and can be slow in clearing.
We worked out that the problem often arises when the brakes have been applied. For a few seconds because of poor contact, the DCU reduces the power but clears fairly quickly leaving the driver baffled and worried!.
The switch is behind the glove box and can be seen by lying down with a torch and looking up. Originally of course, with a LHD car the switch would have been at the end of the brake pedal. Give it a twist and it will come out and the wiring plug detached. It can be easily dismantled and contacts cleaned - it is a fiendish device! You can pull the pushrod out and adjust it but it should automatically find its own position ie between the pedal and the backplate. I was initially sceptical but believe me it did the trick. A good idea would be to get one from a scrappy and try that. Many Megs in scrappies now and the cost of a switch would be a few bob. handy to have a spare.
As a matter of interest, Ford with the TDCI Mondeo uses a similar system but uses TWO separate switches.
The best of British to those of you with this problem.

Michelle22
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2017 7:29 pm
Currently Drives:: 2003 Renault Scenic Megane

Re: Engine cutting out very briefly.

Postby Michelle22 » Tue Feb 21, 2017 7:37 pm

Sorry to bring up a really old thread again, I found it by googling what appears to be a problem with my Renault Scenic Megane and this has popped up.

My car has 140k on the clock, runs/drives perfectly however, recently it's been 'cutting out' when I hit a bump or pothole, sometimes I don't have to hit anything and it's as if the engine 'blips' and then the car runs fine again after a few seconds. Sometimes the 'STOP, battery and handbrake light' all illuminate on the dash, then go back off within seconds. Once or twice it's as if it has actually stalled when trying to pull out of a fast junction, but hasn't actually stalled - the engine is still running.

I took it into my local garage who openly admitted that they had absolutely no idea what it could be, took it for a test drive around an estate with speed bumps and found that it did cut out, but still no idea what it is......... They adjusted the 'earth' in case it was that causing an electric short. Car ran perfectly for another 2 weeks, then started again. Today, it 'stalled' at a fast junction/roundabout again when I went to pull out.

I've rang the garage again and booked it in for Thursday, mentioning this brake pedal switch, so they said they'd hook it up to the computer and see if anything comes up.

Like many PP, it has me absolutely baffled. I've got no idea what it could be or where to start looking - well until I came across this thread. I'm hoping that's all it is and that it's an easy fix (need a new exhaust but that's being sorted). I still makes my heart jump into my throat every time it happens.

Thanks

Michelle

Stevie67
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Re: Engine cutting out very briefly.

Postby Stevie67 » Wed Feb 22, 2017 2:11 am

Hi Michelle,
Check the battery terminals, not only for cleanliness but check the battery terminals haven't broken loose inside the battery, alternatively try another battery. If not check all the major wires coming from the battery, especially the connection at the alternator. To me it sounds like the battery is loosing connection when the car is shaken and effectively you are bump starting it afterwards, that is what could be bringing on the dashboard lights. Just a theory, let us know how you get on.
Steve.


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