Roffle Camembert flavoured Safrane - £6 a ticket - updated list page 7

[beko1987]

Fluid change in the new year?

[Steve79]

Yep definitely need the change the fluid. This is exactly what my diesel safrane did after driving up long hills and would lock itself in 3rd gear. As previously mentionned the oil was like treacle and rancid smelling. Once oil and filter was replaced it never did it again.

[RustyNuts]

Fluid change vote here too.

 

The ph2 safrane has a common problem that when putting the shift into reverse the car will make a big thump sound and impact in the engine bay. It scares the crap out you the first few times as it make the car jolt too.

 

Changing the fluid makes it go away. No idea how or why but its like it puts some magic in there that makes it all well again. No idea about the ph1 (renault say its sealed for life which is utter rubbish) but with the ph2 only about half the fluid actually comes out of the plug so i'd do the first change, run it for a week, do a second, another week and then a third. By that point its pumped fluid round all the pixies, got them smooth with the fairies and the box would run like a good'un again.

[KruJoe]

I speak for the masses when I say

WE NEED A CLOSE-UP OF THE TIPP-EX'D CLOCKS!

 

(Ta.)

[Skizzer]

Yeah, wot Joe said!

 

Also thanks to RusyNuts for the first explanation of how an automatic gearbox works that actually made sense to me.

 

I'm really rather liking the Safrane. Phase 1 nose is more handsomer than phase 2.

[25v6turbo]

A Phase 1 and 2 use the same bodyshell,but the Phase 2 changed the front/rear end,mouldings etc,but look at the rear of a Phase 2 and you will spot the outer lights on the rear wings are the same as a Phase1,tailgate is different(not to my liking to be honest)Renault ploughed a lot of money into the launch of the Safrane and the amount of brochures and other publicity items they released was amazing and in France it was launched in Feb 92 a year before the UK,and to this day I still find publicity items that I don,t have in my collection,i only collect V6 related items really but its amazing how much stuff is out there.

I feel that the time for the Safrane is yet to come,but thanks to a few articles like this its starting to get noticed,problem is its to late really,few Phase 1 exist now and the phase 2 is getting in short supply,most have gone into banger money so still cheap.They are great cruisers and have plenty of room,if you want one for reliability and some sort of parts backup go for a Phase 2,if you prefer the Phase 1 you can still get them,in France! and if you are mega brave get a V6 version,There was a V6 RT,V6i and V6 RXE over the 3 years they were sold in the U.K.The Safrane forum is good for helping with buying tips etc,but only has a few members,but useful threads to read to help.

Parts stock in the U.K at Renault is practically zero except for service items and a few mechanical items,forgot interior bits and door mouldings etc,long gone.

If anyone spots a Safrane they are interested in and thinking about buying drop me a line and I can help if I can and if you find a V6......!!!!!!!

[purplebargeken]

Couldn't even spot one on ebay.

[RobT]

I speak for the masses when I say

WE NEED A CLOSE-UP OF THE TIPP-EX'D CLOCKS!

 

(Ta.)

Yeah Joe sorry! I teased you with that morsal but failed to deliver, will get a pic today.

 

There's loads of them on Leboncoin, although after a brief search the majority seem to be manual dizzlers.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I'd defo eat one of these for a few months. Roll on 2017!

[25v6turbo]

One of the gearbox oils is Renaultmatic D2 (the gearbox uses 2 different oils)but not 100% sure you have to stick to this,maybe a cross reference is listed somewhere,i would advise removing the gearbox sump and cleaning out the filter,it doesn,t look to difficult.

Now since you bought this subject up its been going through my mind if I should change the oil on mine,ive done the diff oil which was fine and I drained a fraction from the overfill plug today on the D2 side,oil came out which is good as the level is correct,it was a touch cloudy,but the gearbox works fine,maybe I should leave well alone,or should I do an oil change?don,t want to upset anything,sometimes its better to leave alone....

[RobT]

Here's the Tipp-Ex'd shonky rev counter

 

 

The giffer/nutter has also coloured in some of the bits with marker pen where the black backing has peeled off. In the dark the whole poorly applied skin graft look comes across better!

 

 

Had a recurrence of the non-starting issue today. I waited patiently for 20 minutes or so whilst Mrs T was muttering expletives, cranked it over a few times and thankfully it fired up. I'm wondering if the immobiliser is playing up, so next time it happens I'll try entering the code manually as it still has the card with the Code Electronique in the owners wallet, which is handy.

 

I'm going for a scenic drive with a mate tomorrow, but might chicken out and take the R8 dizzler instead as it could do with a run.

[Skizzer]

Fab giffer repairs there. Three randoms please.

 

I'm going for a scenic drive

Five pounds says this means a trip to Clacket Lane services

[RobT]

Erm, might do...but only on the way home, as we're starting at Box Hill and then heading south towards Dunsfold. Last time we tried I was in the Daimler and the exhaust sheared in half, so I'm hoping for less drama this time!

[Ghosty]

It looks like Vincent Van Gogh made your clocks.

 

At least it wasn't Dali.

[greengartside]

Back in the early 00's, when I was doing my mechanics course at college - we had one of these to work on. It was a '93 3.0 RXE in Black, reg K503 NTP, with all the options.

 

Apparently it was donated to the college by Renault UK after it developed some electrical fault - it was only on the road for a year, tax expired August '94. I also remember it was the only car in the workshop that the college were reluctant for anyone to 'tinker' with.

[RustyNuts]

RobT that dashboard is totally awesome. Reminds me of some old grey haired scientist type (like Doc Brown) who bodges it to make it work lol. Absolutely love it!!! I can't help but wonder what caused the dash to deteriorate in the first place though as i've not seen that before and it isn't a problem that is typically mentioned in safrane circles.

 

skizzer you're welcome for the explanation mate. I'm glad i helped you in some way 

[bub2006]

The dashboard clocks flaked and peeled on the 440 I had, yours looks better than mine did!

[RobT]

To ease the pain of going back to work last week I replaced the train with the Safrane for the daily commute. Apart from the centre exhaust starting to blow it did four days without incident and was far more comfortable. 23 year old Renault more reliable than Southeastern trains. FACT. OK it was only 50 miles in total, but I've set the bar low with this one and am judging reliability in the 10s, not 100s of miles.

 

Here it is parked up near another silver Renault with flowers on. I've only just noticed the car under the tarp in the background, but can't figure out what it is. Any ideas? Might just be a Fiesta but if I drive in tomorrow I'll take a proper look.

 

 

The exhaust blow is annoying as it's a near silent driving experience otherwise. So today I bodged it with one of those Holts flexiwrap things. It looks a right mess as the hole is in an awkward spot where the pipe joins the box. OE looking centre exhausts can be had for 70 quid, or ones of dubious quality for £34. Despite spending bloody ages mucking about it still blows a bit, but hopefully will hold until I get the chance to change it.

 

Photo orientation gone to cock but you get the idea.

 

 

Apart from that there's been no recurrence of the non-starting issue. However, I'm sort of hoping it does it again to test my theory of the immobiliser playing silly buggers, which I'll then try and manually override with the code. If it starts then that's one foible I know has a workaround!

[panhard65]

So, in passing on my admittedly limited safrane wisdom, my ungrateful barsteward of a safane has decided to lunch its headgasket and now won't start (not overheated), even more annoyingly its still got 11mths MOT (no advisories)

 

I'm left with two choices, repair it or break it.

 

I've not bonded with it since I've owned it as I found that I preferred the 2.5td that I had. So I'm reluctant to have it fixed as I don't think its now really me as I now got a hankering for another Jag XJ6 (x300).

 

Sorry for thread hijacking but if anyone is interested in any bits or wants the whole car details are as follows

 

1996N 2.2Vi Auto in Black, towbar, Full Service History including all folders and books, 11mths mot, full black leather interior which is pretty much mint, full set of mint alloys and tyres with loads of tread left. Drove perfectly until I was out in it today and blew loads of white steam out of exhaust.

 

I'm looking for around £150 ish. I'd prefer to sell the car as a whole but will sell bits if necessary.

 

Again, sorry for the thread hijack

The 12 valves had a habit of cracking cylinder heads which it sounds like what has happened to this one. I had a few of these back in the day starting with a diesel that blew both it's air bags on the way home from collecting it. It had been standing and the footwell filled with water. Pulling away from a junction caused the water to short out the air bag module under the passenger seat. The n/s bag blew first follwed by the drivers one. I just wound the windows down to let the smoke out and drove it home. They were half decent cars but like all Renaults worth bugger all. 

[r.welfare]

I just wound the windows down to let the smoke out and drove it home.

I think you've won every collection story ever, I doubt even Chuck Norris could top that.

[HMC]

One of these came up on e bay last week, a v6 IIRC in Wales at 650 BIN. Was tempted but its gone.

[beko1987]

I just wound the windows down to let the smell of my pants out and drove it home.

[xtriple]

Lovely cars these. Back in about 2000 I was dealing from home as I was temporarily between jobs and needed to make some cash. My wife had her first brand new car which she loved and I had a fair old collection which included a BMW2800CS, a Porsche 928 S2 and a Mercedes 'S' class. So, to get some money flowing I bought a load of cars off a mate in the trade as he only sold posh new motors and these were trades. Bought a Subaru Legacy estate, a Mazda RX7, a Citroen Xantia (posh spec) and a Renault Safrane. The Safrane was mid 90s, high spec thing and I was unimpressed and only had it as it was part of the (very good) deal.

 

After a very short time of using them all (trade policy for us both) I'd fallen in love with the RX7 and my wife was all in favour of flogging her brand new car and keeping the Safrane! She absolutely loved it and raved about it so I thought I'd better have a thrash round the block in it... within a few miles I was seriously warming to her idea. In the end, having used them all quite a bit, it came down to the Citroen or the Renault to keep and sell the new car and the others. As the good lord Sod would have it though, the Citroen and Renault were the first cars to have any interest and I needed the money so they both went.

 

That Safrane, was a bloody lovely car and went well and everything worked perfectly (so did the Citroen to be fair) and I was quite sad to see it go, but, money was needed...

[25v6turbo]

Just been told about a V reg(late)2.5 executive that has failed its MOT but still has current MOT until about the 25th,but has to be gone ASAP,its in Dorking,Surrey,it failed on a couple of rear brake pipes,front gaitors and dust covers on ball joints,so not bad.

Anyone interested PM me and I can pass on contact info,its dark blue(twilight)with electric seats,and heated screen,rare options...

[25v6turbo]

The perfect accessory for any Safrane ownership,i have one..or more.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Renault-Actia-XR25-S-Diagnostic-Computer-With-Leads-Cassette-No-18-As-Photo-/162269186715?hash=item25c7ff4a9b:g:rKsAAOSw4GVYHK5S

[25v6turbo]

The owner of the V reg one I spoke about is listing it on Ebay today he says,so look out for it there,could be a cheap one(like most!)

[alcyonecorporation]

I'll look out for it.

 

My Alcyone could do with some depressing French yoke for company.

[alcyonecorporation]

Arse biscuits. 

A V reg 2.5 appeared and then disappeared on eBay. Gutted. 

Edit: Seller confirmed that someone came round almost immediately and bought it. AAARGH. 

[Sir Snipes]

Nice cars. Very understated to look at. I think early and mid-90s Renault design has aged very well. A phase 1 Clio or 19 is a very handsome car IMO.

[25v6turbo]

He sold it for £100 within minutes of listing it...