DCi engine swap

[rainagain]

Thought I’d share the fun I’ve been having swapping the engine in my OH’s Megane cabriolet. 

 

It started with this nice blue Megane which we managed to do 300 miles in before one of the big ends went, note my shiny new £100 ebay crane:

 

So I bought a second hand ‘low millage’ engine

 

However on inspection it didn’t look as good as they said it was:

Seems to have had rusty water as coolant,  furry:

 

Also why is this injector bolt been loosened?

 

So having a 90 day warranty I decided to bash on a quick as I could.

 

[rainagain]

So after removing the front bumper and the intercooler and the condenser and the radiator you get this:

A mass of pipework which all needs disconnecting

 

Then you have the fun of removing all the many many wiring plugs and unthreading the loom. I was a bit stuck with the starter motor wiring:

That’s it hidden behind the catalytic convertor and a driveshaft

 

I couldn’t even get my hand on the connections, I had a look at the factory manual on how to remove the starter motor for some hints on removing the wiring, step one was “remove engineâ€Â

 

So in the I left it attached and disconnected it once I’d removed the engine mounts and pulled the engine forward:

 

At last no engine:

[rainagain]

One knackered engine:

 

Or and look the clutch is worn out:

 

I’m measuring it because the one I bought of ebay was 10mm too small, so I ended up getting another one from Eurocarparts, where the guy at store kindly let me use the ‘parts25’ code on a store pickup given me 25% off it. Making it almost as cheap as buying it from carparts4less 

[rainagain]

So I spend today swapping the flywheel round and fitting the new clutch, then attaching the gearbox to the ‘new’ engine, followed by the starter motor. I then fitted the inlet/exhaust manifolds using a new gasket but weirdly enough the new gasket was just plain metal whilst the original one had film of rubber sealant on both sides. I hoping it’ll still seal ok. Next thing I’ll do is change the timing belt as it’s a lot easier now than when it’s in the car!

[crapcarcollector]

That looks like no fun at all fella. 10/10 for effort!

[catsinthewelder]

Christ,  I had a go at swapping the engine on a mk1 Megane 1.4 when it threw a rod and gave up.  I don't think I could have found the mountings on that.  Best of luck with it.

[Honey Badger]

Christ, the jumble of hoses would of sent me off for a brew and contemplative hob nob, never to return, hope all the hose attachment randomness goes well.

[rainagain]

Well got the engine back in and all the hoses reconnected!

 

The engine sounds like a good un, and due to a slight oversight I even managed to check it had good compression by starting it with the glow plugs disconnected.

 

However when I rev it I get a big cloud of unburnt diesel coming out the exhaust. I've ran it until it was up at temperature, the smoke was still there but not quite so bad, but bad enough you couldn't drive it on the road. I didn't change the injectors over when I swapped the engine so the ECU is using the old engine's injectors' codes. Could this be enough to cause the smoke or do I have a faulty injector? When the replacement engine was delivered I noticed one of the injector clamps had been loosened, which made me think someone had been thinking about changing an injector. There is no engine management light on and when I read the fault codes I just got one from when I had previously forgotten to connect the glow plugs

 

Any advice would be appreciated as I'm so close to the petrol and matches.

[daverapid]

Black smoking on a turbo diesel is usually because of an air leak on the induction system, like a turbo or intercooler hose split or disconnected.

[dieselnutjob]

or EGR valve stuck open

[rainagain]

The smoke is white/grey and stinks of diesel. The EGR valve moved freely when I pressed it. 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Don't get the matches out rainman, you have done spectacularly just to get this far! My hat is well off. The injector theory sounds plausible though i am no expert. Presumably you have no chance of getting the flow rates for the injectors on the new engine and would have to swap in the injectors from the old cattled engine?

[cort16]

Are these ones that need the about 3000 tons of negative pressure to pop out? If not I'd swap the set from your other engine, as it's not going to cost anything other than time.

[dieselnutjob]

sounds like unburned fuel.  wife's 806 did that when the burner went in the webasto heater

 

the thing is that if an injector was stuck open I would expect terrible diesel knock, so I don't know

[Joey spud]

Have you got the means to recode the injectors ?

 

I do agree with your thoughts on swapping the injectors from the old engine into the new one just dont muddle up their fitting order.

I've had injectors go down on Mondeos before and been able to recode them at the roadside but only with limited and temporary success

 

Egr probs usually gives you an acrid smoke/smell and poor idle/reving and a code of P0400

 

P.S you are a brave boy swapping that lot over i wouldn't have took that on as a private job even if i was 6 months behind with the mortgage.

[rainagain]

I think I might have to spend another £100 on the renault clip SW and interface from ebay

[panhard65]

I wouldn't of thought it was injectors but I did have a smoky kangoo some years ago that turned out the previous owner had been messing with injectors and had fitted 2 copper washers on one injector. This drops the compression and will give unburnt diesel. The other possibility is the exhaust being full of oil but this is usually after turbo failure. Takes ages to burn off and can only be done by driving it

[phil_lihp]

That's some impressive work, full respect for taking that on.  You can't give up now, you're so close!

[rainagain]

I wouldn't of thought it was injectors but I did have a smoky kangoo some years ago that turned out the previous owner had been messing with injectors and had fitted 2 copper washers on one injector. This drops the compression and will give unburnt diesel. The other possibility is the exhaust being full of oil but this is usually after turbo failure. Takes ages to burn off and can only be done by driving it

Unfortunately I know the exhaust should be clear as when the big end went otherwise the engine was running fine. I've been told I can look at the flow rate in the Renault Clip program and look for one injector having a different flow rate, but I'm still not sure it is an injector problem.

[Mr Lobster]

Impressive work, I'm getting a headache just looking at it tbh.

[Asimo]

Thank you for reminding me why I  prefer petrol engines.

 

With SU carbs.

[panhard65]

I don't think the clip can check individual injectors for flow, but you can get a leak off kit to test them. I would start with the injector that had been messed with take it out and check that it hasn't got 2 washers as sometimes they come out with the injector and sometimes not so it could easily have 2. Put a screwdriver down the hole and lightly scratch the soot off to see if it is a copper washer or the alloy of the head. Does that make sense ?. These injectors can get well stuck use a 13mm spanner on the flats where the clamp fits and try rocking it back and forth. If you can swap your old ones over then I would but remember to check the washers.

[rainagain]

I don't think the clip can check individual injectors for flow, but you can get a leak off kit to test them. I would start with the injector that had been messed with take it out and check that it hasn't got 2 washers as sometimes they come out with the injector and sometimes not so it could easily have 2. Put a screwdriver down the hole and lightly scratch the soot off to see if it is a copper washer or the alloy of the head. Does that make sense ?. These injectors can get well stuck use a 13mm spanner on the flats where the clamp fits and try rocking it back and forth. If you can swap your old ones over then I would but remember to check the washers.

I think I'll give that a try tomorrow, just need to visit my local friendly Renault dealer so I can get fleeced for some washers. They charged me £4.91+vat just for a new lower ball joint pinch bolt, the nut was an extra £1.80+vat!!!

[rainagain]

I spent another Ã‚£118 and I'm now the proud owner of a clip interface and SW. Which so far has allowed me to reprogram two of the injectors codes.The engine now sounds more like a modern diesel and less clattery but is still smoky

 

I've only managed to do two due to the an error message I keep getting which says:

 

Code writing has failed.

Perform the procedure again after ignition switch-off and

waiting 40 seconds necessary for computer switching to standby

If the fault is still present, contact Techline

 

If I turn the ignition off then the interface stops working, so I have to turn it on and then try to reconnect. So I've spend about two hours now turning it on and off trying to connect. I can only assume that the clip interface I've got should be powered externally. And with the fun card key I've got to turn the ignition on by trying to start the car then quickly taking my foot off the brake so it doesn't start. Has anyone got any experiencing using clip?

[panhard65]

To turn the ignition on put it in gear press the brake then press the button that should give ignition. Check the codes you are entering, as a wrong code will throw a fault in. The clip I have is powered by the diagnostic socket only it doesn't have an external power lead. Good luck

[crapcarcollector]

Not helpful I know, but I would have bundled the whole thing into a lake by now. 10000001010101000/10 for patience.

[rainagain]

To turn the ignition on put it in gear press the brake then press the button that should give ignition. Check the codes you are entering, as a wrong code will throw a fault in. The clip I have is powered by the diagnostic socket only it doesn't have an external power lead. Good luck

I take it there is a sensor that tells the ECU it's in neutral or not?

[rainagain]

Not done much work as I'm not very well at the moment I managed to made up a leak off kit from aquarium hose and hooked it up:

 

 

Then I discovered the battery was flat, rather typical. Feeling knackered I put the battery on charge and decided I'd leave it for today, if I'm feeling better I'll have another go tomorrow. 

[panhard65]

Yeah it should know when it is in neutral. I have done loads of these and they aren't too bad once you have done a few. I have got one that has been a nightmare from the day I bought it. It had a loom fault where it would run for 10 seconds then cut out. Took ages to find that one

[rainagain]

Yeah it should know when it is in neutral. I have done loads of these and they aren't too bad once you have done a few. I have got one that has been a nightmare from the day I bought it. It had a loom fault where it would run for 10 seconds then cut out. Took ages to find that one

That's good to know it will save me dancing about on the brake peddle when I press the start button. Any idea what the error message I'm getting from clip means? This one:

 

Code writing has failed.

Perform the procedure again after ignition switch-off and

waiting 40 seconds necessary for computer switching to standby

If the fault is still present, contact Techline

 

What I was doing was turning the ignition on by pressing start then immediately releasing the brake peddle, then connecting with clip V127. I can connect to the systems fine and conduct a full network test. But I keep getting this message when I try and code the injectors. I managed to do two but only after trying lots and lots of times. What does it mean by waiting 40 seconds for the computer to turn to standby?