STARTING PROBLEMS

[kenny1001]

Afraid i still have the problem, i have had just about everything changed on the engine i.e temperature sensors e.t.c but still no luck. Am having the throttle body cleaned on Thursday, so will let you know if that fixes it.

[antipacker]

how did you get on m8

[antipacker]

my car is going in on friday to renault.

i rang renault head office and he said that its unlikey they will contribute to the cost for fixiing the dephaser pulley, i stated that i no its a common problem with the megane and that i have read on many forums about this problem.

there is no OTS on my car ???

he is going to ring my local renault garage on friday when the car is there and they no more about the problem,

now what should i do guys to make them pay for some of the cost of repair?

[antipacker]

also drivers windows goes down on its own without the button being pressed?

i can hear the motor

any ideas guys

[jonton]

HELP!!! just had a 03 reg megane 1.6 16v VVT, when i start it from cold or a few hours after driving it sounds like a deisel...
Bought it second hand from garage and stil has 30 day warranty, when i spoke to the owner of the garage he said they do this and in a week or so should be fine. Is this true or is he stalling me for warranty to expire?!?!
Any ideas please please help......

[keeforelli]

do not wait for a week!!!....i guarantee he is stalling you!!.....how can it be normal and how exactly does he think it will correct itself!!!

get it in there right away!!!

[jonton]

Cheers its going back tonite... Any ideas what it could be?

[AlexB]

Idea 1: you bought a diesel. Well, mine is a diesel and it does not sound like that...

Idea 2: Do you mean a loud knock on startup after being parked for a few hours? It might be the dephaser, as described, for example, here:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8033
It is replaced together with both belts.

Cheers its going back tonite... Any ideas what it could be?

[jonton]

hey alexb

no it's a petrol, makes noise like a diesel starting mainly from when engine is cold... any idea???

[AlexB]

Hi again,

It is a joke about a diesel. Please ignore it.

However, the second part is not a joke. I don't quite understand what you mean by "noise like a diesel starting mainly from when engine is cold". If it means a loud knocking sound which appears when you start the engine the first time in the morning and then goes away in a few seconds, then it is the dephaser. If the dephaser is badly worn, then the same sound may appear at idle. This sound often does not happen if the engine is stopped and restarted soon. It is a very frequent fault with 1.6 vvt engines caused by a design fault in dephasers made before some point in 2006.

I also gave you a link to the thread about dephasers.

[jonton]

Hey alexb

cheers for help, i've took it back tonite to the garage and he has two other meganes one's 1.4 the others a 1.6 estate, both of these cars made the same noise as mine. Like a grinding then starts fine and runs fine after... the garage told me tonite that it may be the wrong oil!! they used 10 40 semi synthetic and stated this may be to "heavy" so is doing an oil chane for 5 30 full synthetic, if problem still happens going to take it to my renault dealer and get charged for diagnostic, the joys of owning a car!!!

[AlexB]

Jonton,

1.4 has no dephaser, so it is different from yours. They could have meant a 2.0 version, which suffers the same problems, but less frequently due to a different arrangement of parts inside the dephaser.

You mentioned the issue of oil. Oil quality might have some significance, but dephasers are also known to fail at low mileage, under frequent oil changes and when using synthetic oils. The dephaser part number has changed 3 times recently (so Renault and Delphi are aware of the problem), people took them apart and there seems to be a design fault. Now back to the oil. Please see the following link for the requirements to the oil:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7943

You see now, that the viscosity range, e.g. 5w-30 or 10w-40, is not sufficient to determine whether an oil is suitable or not. For your car it should have RN0700 written on the can. This seems to be equivalent to Mercedes MB229.3 and MB229.5 standards plus satisfy the four-ball wear test (boundary lubrication requirement). The latter is important as all dephasers fail due to excessive wear caused by insufficient *boundary* lubrication...

Anyway, this is of little relevance to your car, as the dephaser is likely to be already damaged. If it is the case, then make sure that it is replaced with the latest modified part having, if I am not mistaken, 505 in the end of its part number. Then insist on using RN0700, RN0710 or at least MB229.3/5 standard oil.

BTW, dephaser failures do not usually show on the diagnostic computer, but the dealer will charge you anyway... Learn your rights under the Sale of Goods and Services Act and insist on the seller either fixing the fault of giving your money back!

[jonton]

Cheers AlexB, really appreciate your help...
I'm getting car back tonite to see how it goes, if the problem continues i'll get the garage to look at the dephaser arm...
Any ideas on cost, knowing my recent luck were talking mega bucks, but with car still under warranty its his cost not mine.
Or would it be worth taking it straight to renault and getting them to replace it as its a faulty part?
Once again thanks for your help, Jonton

[keeforelli]

hi there!!


with the age of your car and Renault's current stance on this..(rarely helpful), your best bet, and the way you are legally covered for goods to be 'fit for purpose' is with the vendor that sold the car.

While you have this cover, from the sale of goods act, you should ensure you get the situation sorted. An item has to be 'fit for purpose' -basically that it can complete the job it was designed and bought for.
look this up on the internet and become familiar with your rights, they are there to protect you. .... Do you have the car on finance?.....if you are unhappy you do have time (28 days i think) to back out of the deal.

do not be railroaded into keeping this car if the garage do not impress you with their service. it has been said on here that quoting consumer direct and trading standards has a big effect on traders, esp dodgy ones, so do that if you are unhappy. If you have a 30 day fix anything guarantee, get the best use out of it- without argument....Do you also have a warranty?

If you leave it and don't push it this fault can cost upwards of £600 to fix, so i would work out how long you are covered legally for, and take advantage of it. Once they have applied a fix, this work is then covered for another 12 months against failure.

the megane is a nice car, but if you read some of the shocking stories on here of Renault's attitude to this problem and the cost to fix, simply not worth letting it go.

[jonton]

hey all,
got my car back an so far so good touch wood!! The garage changed oil an filters an cleaned throttle housing, but here's the best, I told him about the dephaser an that it was probably t same on the other meganes he has on forecourt, I told him I would be take the car t a Renault specialists between now an Saturday regardless if noise is there or not get them to take a look give me an quote an bring car back to him to repair and he was fine with this, didn't even have to threaten with returning car or trading standards so will post more when I get more info... Thanks for help guys speak soon jonton