Renault Megane - electrical issues?

[theorganist]

I am currently having a problem with our 1998 Renault Megance Scenic 1.6RT.

 

When it has warmed up, i.e. after five miles or so it has started to have a tendancy to cut out, and it getting more frequent! Over the last couple of days it has cut out twice at major road junctions, rather embarrassingly. It then refuses to start but I have found that if I go under the bonnet and push on the HT leads it then starts, although there seems to be little movement on the HT leads. The car idles smoothly (although I have noticed that sometimes the rev's drop to around 500 rpm) and the car pulls smoothly so it does not feel like it is running on three cylinders!

 

I took it to the garage sometime back but they could not find anything wrong but now it is getting worse. I wonder if it could be the coil pack(s) as some investigation seems to throw this up as a problem on these cars! I may try and get a coil pack and fit it over the weekend as it seems to be a fairly easy job.

 

I just wondered if anyone had any ideas or experience of these modern contraptions?!!

 

EDIT: Should also mention that most times I get a warning when it is going to stall as it stutters so I can stop it by blipping the throttle. Also it is (on occassions) getting a little harder to start from cold!

[scooters]

Crank sensor? Idle control valve?

I'd start by cleaning each the ICV gets coked up with supermarket fuel- it could be a number of problems but a starting point would be to read the codes so you can narrow it down - then its a case of going through the suspect system and cleaning every connection and checking the resistance of every wire

[theorganist]

Thanks Scooters for the suggestion will try checking and cleaning those parts. Better get myself a Haynes manual as the underbonnet of the Megane looks a lot more alien than the Maxi or 14 and I haven't a clue when anything it!!

 

It took me ages to find the battery which is cunningly hidden under the drivers seat!

[R9UKE]

I'd put my fiver on the coolant temperature sensor. This issue has hit both of my Clios. Because the car can't work out what temperature the engine is at, it gets very confused and gives the engine too much or too little fuel. It is separate sensor to the one supplying the gauge on the dash, so don't dismiss it just because your gauge is giving an accurate reading. The part was £11 from GSF last time I bought it and is usually very easy to access and change

[idiotboy]

Hi

 

Interesting, I had use of a 2001 Renault Megane, and that had similar issues which turned out to be coil packs.

 

Mind you it had numerous other issues too....hateful hateful car.

[theorganist]

Okay cheers guys will investigate. Both those issues have come up on google with relation to Meganes, it seems to be a regular problem with them. It seems that if you don't have a diagnostic computer thingy you are just relying on trial and error with these modern cars!!

 

Still it makes life interesting!

[R9UKE]

Still it makes life interesting!

 

Why do you think my signature looks the way it does!

[catsinthewelder]

I used to run a 2001 Megane 1.4 16v that suffered with it's coil packs and that does'nt sound like the symptoms. When a coil pack goes then you're down to 3 cylinders. It runs roughly but shouldn't just cut out, and it won't recover until you fix it. The first one on mine went at about 80k and the others soon followed. It wasn't so bad as it was easy to fix at the roadside as long as you're prepared for it.

 

I took to carrying one spare coil pack and a cheap screwdriver with the correct size of torx bit. When it started to play up I'd pull over somewhere convenient, grab the bits from the boot and open the bonnet with the engine running. The silver plastic engine cover pulls off with a sharp tug and the row of coil packs is there in front of you, where you would expect HT leads. Slacken the securing screws off and use one hand to lift each off in turn while you keep the revs up with the other. Each good one you lift off will leave the car running on 2 cylinders ( ie. trying to stall ), the one which doesn't affect the engine running is the one to replace.

 

Replacing it is simple, unclip the thin feed wires from your dead coil pack and clip it onto your replacement then put that in the hole and do up the torx headed screw. If it's working ok celebrate by replacing your spare coilpack with another cheepie from Ebay.

 

That was the newest car I've ever owned

[25v6turbo]

Also check the MAP hose from the sensor to the inlet manifold,very common the gets split and give the exact symptons.

[theorganist]

Wow, thanks for the responses and suggestions. I am actually looking forward to having a go over the weekend!

 

Why do you think my signature looks the way it does!

 

I think Renaults are cars which you really need to have a "love" of the marque to actually enjoy owning, they are my favourite car manufacturer, possibly after British Leyland, which probably says something about my taste in vehicles! I think you must be a glutten for punishment though!

[jonny69]

Well our Scenic never let us down once until the auto gave up at around 137k, but that was inevitable! I'd heard they have coil pack problems, but ours never did it. Those sorts of electrical niggles can be hard to diagnose on electrically controlled engines. Ours was getting a bit rough on idle and didn't like to idle when cold but I never investigated very far to find out what was up. I think my first port of call would be to pull the coil packs off and clean up all the connections, particularly the 12V end. And just check all the leads going to them are nice and clean inside and making a good connection.

[254575]

another vote here for coil packs. my mums 99 megane went through 5 in 3 years!

[Renault18]

On your 1998 Megane, you will have two coil packs, which can give trouble and let's face it will do at this age. The other cars mentioned (from 1999 onwards) are 16 valve models and have a separate "pencil" coil on each plug. These are much more prone to failure than the two packs fitted to your 8 valve car and it is a good idea to carry a spare, if not more than one!

 

I'd say a sensor may be likely, thus sending the ECU a mesage which is causing confusion. The 16valve engines are the better engine and are pretty reliable and very economical. A set of 4 Valeo coils is about £45 on EBay, but there are more 8 valves in scrapyards - so I'd go and raid one of its two coil packs and assorted sensors.