Renault keycard question

[wuvvum]

I picked up this thing today.

 

 

It's not my usual fare, but it was unusually cheap for a 54-plate motor with 10 months' test so I felt it would have been rude not to. It's a 1.4 pez, so not the fastest thing on the road, but it manages OK (partly thanks to rather low gearing) and did 41.5mpg on the run back from Hants, which is not too bad given that traffic was quite heavy.

 

It's an Expression model - no idea where that comes in the range but to my untrained eye it's very well equipped for a small family car - aircon, electric windows all round, auto lights, auto wipers, CD player, electric handbrake etc. etc. Being a Renault, a few bits don't work - three of the windows (driver's works, which is the important thing) and the locking buttons on the keycard, so no surprises there. It also needs a new rear wheel bearing - fortunately these don't look to be too hideously expensive.

 

Anyway, to the point of my post. The last couple of times I've gone to start the car a message has flashed up on the dash saying "Change card battery". The car has still started fine. My queries about this are twofold: firstly, what are the chances of the keycard shitting itself and forgetting the code when I change the battery, thus permanently immobilising the car? Secondly, what does the card battery actually do? Is it needed for the immobiliser to recognise the card, or is it purely to operate the locking system (which, as mentioned above, it doesn't do anyway)? My (limited) experience of immobilisers is that the transponder system is powered from the car and the key just contains a passive chip that gets detected by the system - is this not the case with Renners?

[Ben_L]

Expression is the lowest of the low I believe. Wheel trims and the like...

 

Keycard shouldn't forget it's coding when you change the battery and there is a way of starting it without the cards battery (I think you have to hold it in a certain place whilst pressing the start button in a certain fashion, but I've not seen it done for years). I think the emergency method relies on a transponder chip (a-la Vauxhall/Ford) being recognised in the certain emergency position so that you'll never be left in the cold, not least until the thing wont start due to imminent mechanical failure

 

Best engine to have imho, no OMFGTDIFAILRUNAWAYBANG to deal with... Clio/Megane proven for many moons before, think it'll be the same basic idea as my Mum's V-Reg Megane Sport.

[R9UKE]

Congratulations. The Scénic II is brilliantly shite which is the reason you got it for buttons.

 

The Expression is only the second model up (Authentique was lowest) but was the best VFM in terms of all the toys it got. Electric windows is a cert, at least one doesn't work in every one I come across. The drivers probably won't last much longer...

 

Does your fan work on all four speeds? It'll be a miracle if it does!

 

As for the car losing the code contact with the card - it won't happen. I've never heard of it happening so don't let that put you off changing the battery. The battery in yours is only for the remote locking, there doesn't need to be a battery in it for it to start the car. The REPLACE CARD BATTERY message needs reset after you put a new one in - there's a few different procedures but the one that worked for me was door closed, card in, no feet on any pedals and press the start button ten times. The battery in the card has a bigger use on the Privilège version which has the hands free feature where you can keep the card in your pocket all the time - the message resets itself on these models as the car is always maintaining contact with the card.

 

Anyway, enjoy it while the digital dash holds out and the automatic parking brake still works. I look forward to hearing about your time with it

 

PS get it some Renault trims. Those ones look shit.

[Ben_L]

Anyway, enjoy it while the digital dash holds out and the automatic parking brake still works. I look forward to hearing about your time with it

 

 

Ahh yes, I forgot that bit haha... Digi dash every MOT time

 

 

PS get it some Renault trims. Those ones look shite.

 

Correction. I think they look splendid

[wuvvum]

Thanks for the responses. I've got a drawer full of remote batteries, so I'll have a go at changing it if it's not going to lose its code - who knows, it may even make the remote locking work again (although it'll probably be the buttons that are buggered).

 

The driver's window has actually recently been repaired, so should hopefully last for a little while. Oddly it now goes up and down in steps - I've come across this behaviour before, I think it was on my first Laguna II. The fan does actually work on all four speeds - at least for the moment... Digital dash all appears to work too, although the "service" light is a little dim. I'm not expecting it to last forever though - even the Twingo's far simpler digi dash started to play up on Friday, although I suspect that may have been partly due to the damp.

 

First priority at the moment is to get the wheel bearing done as the drone is quite tiresome, and replace the driver's wiper blade which is shite. I might also send the keycard off to that place in London that fixes them for about 25 quid - locking and unlocking these things with the emergency key is a bit of a PITA.

[kinkersaab]

Regards to the window going in stages. It is the anti trap function needing reset.

Press the button to get window right down the right up and hold switch in up position for a few seconds, then release, that should reset it. Loads of cars do this. Resent mazdas totally stop working from drivers switch pack after flat battery.

[R9UKE]

The buttons on those don't generally fail, so a battery should do it. To get the window to work probably the anti-pinch needs reset. With the window shut, pull the switch up (as if to close it) for 5 seconds - it'll now work perfectly (for at least two weeks).

 

And yes Ben - there's a Scenic at the auction at the moment that's had 4 dash's!

 

Edit - sorry, repeated you there KS!

[pandarus]

After market trims on any car are a huge faux-pas...why do people do it...why?

[barefoot]

To the untrained eye, four pound land trims look better than three Renault Nissan etc.

[sierraman]

Being french it will have some overly complicated solution to the problem. One of the worst cars my old man ever had was the megane, not a scenic albeit but it was enormously shite, it cost hime 10K new, he covered about 90,000 unreliable miles, constantly inconvenienced by coil pack failure/ TDC sensor failure etc... He was half relieved when at 3.5 years old the garage gave him £1200 for it. It was that bad it's only redeeming feature was a good cassette deck. What an awful car.

[Ben_L]

Being french it will have some overly complicated solution to the problem. One of the worst cars my old man ever had was the megane, not a scenic albeit but it was enormously shite, it cost hime 10K new, he covered about 90,000 unreliable miles, constantly inconvenienced by coil pack failure/ TDC sensor failure etc... He was half relieved when at 3.5 years old the garage gave him £1200 for it. It was that bad it's only redeeming feature was a good cassette deck. What an awful car.

 

Seems that Meganes/Scenics have their various appetites for various things... They don't seem to have been reported to eat their own passengers yet, but digital instruments, CV Joints, various sensors and of course OMFGTDFAIL... Made to last these things... Until they're 2 days out of warranty when they turn to mouldy congealed Pease Pudding and disintergrate rapidly.

 

Any survivors should be museum pieces by default.

[ashmicro]

This is my sister's old Megane Secnic 2 1.4 Authentique, after I stuck a new engine in it. Old lump shat a conrod, I *think" it was oil pump failure.

 

 

Nothing else went wrong with it though!

[Ben_L]

This is my sister's old Megane Secnic 2 1.4 Authentique, after I stuck a new engine in it. Old lump shat a conrod, I *think" it was oil pump failure.

 

 

Nothing else went wrong with it though!

 

Access to drop an engine in looks tight... Is it a case of drop car onto engine or is it possible (Unlike the Scenic Mk1) to put an engine in the top without removing the tail lights?

[ashmicro]

We put the car on the engine. It was a cunt of a job. Oddly, none of the fasteners were stuck or snapped, it's just a crap design. Mind you, everything in there was covered in oil...

[theorganist]

Our 1998 Megane Scenic is still going pretty well. It sounds like a bag on nails (from the outside) and now looks like one after someone scraped their car down the side!

 

It has had a Crankshaft motion sensor apart from that starts and drives well, the passenger front door often doesn't lock/unlock with the central locking and the lighting behind the clock display no longer does. The only other problem is I have never managed to get hot air out of the heater, it had the head done about three years ago and does not overheat, so not sure what the problem is.

 

Yours (Wuvvums) looks quite smart, I used to think the Scenic 2 was bland but looking again I think it is a nice looking car.

 

Peter.

[FredTransit]

After market trims on any car are a huge faux-pas...why do people do it...why?

 

I cheered up a mates Mk5 escort by just spraying the steelis silver! Looked good and nothing to loose. Poundland wheel silver.........