Laguna Mk3 fun and improvements

[Lankytim]

It's been a while since I've  started a thread about a specific car I own so I thought I'd better compile something about the Ex-Wuvvum Lauguna I recently collected.  I'd been after a diesel car  for a little while as I sold my petrol V70 to a mates dad then suddenly needed a motorway cruncher to visit my own Dad in Birmingham a couple of times a week when he fell ill. I feel I was pretty lucky to bag this old Reno as everything is getting snapped up so quickly nowadays.  The drive home from Castle Wuv in Norwichshire back to Stoke on Trent went swimmingly with no drama apart from a couple of extra error messages appearing on the dash- something to be accepted in a high stakes situation such as this.

It's important when purchasing a car which is A) 15 years old, B.) Quite leggy at 160k and C) maybe the most critical, French, to manage expectations.  So far I can't complain at all. It really does go very well, is easy to drive and comfortable. The M9R Diesel engine feels powerful, the 6 speed autobox does what it's meant to do and it hustles along at motorway speeds very nicely, in fact it seems to cruise at 90 which I need to avoid if I want to keep points from my licence. 

The Laguna was pressed into use the next day with a 130 mile round trip to visit my Dad in Birmingham with the present Mrs Lankytim and the Lanklets in tow. They all gave it their seal of approval which is pretty rare with some of the cars I bring home and makes ownership so much more easy, "when are you getting a decent car Daddy, everyone at school thinks you car is shit" e.t.c

 

Safely back home and I had a spare few hours to finally get to work cleaning the interior. A good hoovering pulled out a satisfying amount of dust and debris, dash shine shone all the plastics up a treat and some carpet shampoo was applied to some stubborn stains dotted around the upholstery and floor coverings.  It's all come up very well and has made the Laguna a  very pleasant place to spend time in. The exterior needed some attention too but I drove to a car wash and let someone else do the work to save flooding the driveway at home (I CBA at that point too).  If I get time I'll get a polishing mop on the paintwork and try to get a decent shine, although it's pretty shiny as it is. 

Not a massive fan of these 18" wheels TBH, although it still rides pretty well over bumps and potholes, If I manage to bag a set of mint 17" alloys I've got a good set of Michelin tyres I can fit to them.  

There's an area of damage on the N/S/R arch and door which has been badly repaired, I don't think It'll be worth getting this sorted properly so I'll just have to live with it. 

Wuv explained that this Laguna had an issue with the DPF filter which was throwing up error messages on the dash, the pipework to the sensors rotting off/melting and being replaced with rubber gas pipe. Getting this all into a serviceable condition, where the DPF regens when it's supposed to may or may not be achievable.  Add to this the "new" error messages which include the parking brake (works automatically, but i can't apply or release it via the button) and another for something to do with the speed limiter. I have access to a snazzy SNAP ON code reader and was able to borrow it for 10 mins to have a look at the codes, reset them and see what returned.

With everything cleared I had this lovely message on the dash.

 

Somewhat predictably it was short lived when I pulled away..

The park brake works fine automatically, i.e applying when you park up and releasing when you try to pull away but if I try to use it manually it'll throw up an error when I try to release it and then won't work manually at all.

This message hasn't returned however... yet.  It will at some point though.

None of these error messages seem to affect the way the car drives or cause it to go into limp mode but will need to be sorted out at some point.

If anybody has any idea on how to tackle these issues I'm all ears. 

So there we have it, another cheap "temporary" car I'm now emotionally invested in that I'll end up spending far more than it's worth on repairs and improvements. 

 

[SiC]

That parking brake on Scenic II/Laguna II/etc is often the cables stretching. I presume this has the same cable handbrake setup like them? Or is it a motor directly on the calipers?

 

[Lankytim]

1 hour ago, SiC said:

That parking brake on Scenic II/Laguna II/etc is often the cables stretching. I presume this has the same cable handbrake setup like them? Or is it a motor directly on the calipers?

 

The motor is a separate box bolted to the underside with a couple of cables going to the calipers. I think some models are available with a “normal” handbrake so I assume they use the same calipers. 
 

Another important job today involved the removal of the little convex blind spot mirrors a previous owner had fitted. Normally I find these quite useful but these were placed in a way that they didn’t offer any improvement in the field of vision and were really distracting. A kettle of hot water softened the double sided tape holding them on and after a bit of gentle levering with a putty knife both mirrors were removed without cracking anything.

I’ve found them a home but the new owner finds them just as distracting as I did. 

[Noel Tidybeard]

renno autos can throw up "injector fault" if the brake and accelerator pedals are pressed at the same time- i.e if you are like an old colleague who had a damaged ankle and couldn't feel he was still "on the gas" when braking

[grogee]

'Check injection' was blocked EGR valve on our M9R Espace. Is this a 2.0 dizzle? 

I remember it being reasonably straightforward to remove valve, clean it and lube motor then refit. That kept the warning away for a year or so until I had to do it again. I may even have taken the plunge and bought a new valve, can't remember. 

[Lankytim]

On 5/24/2022 at 2:53 PM, grogee said:

'Check injection' was blocked EGR valve on our M9R Espace. Is this a 2.0 dizzle? 

I remember it being reasonably straightforward to remove valve, clean it and lube motor then refit. That kept the warning away for a year or so until I had to do it again. I may even have taken the plunge and bought a new valve, can't remember. 

Correct, it's a 2.0 dizzle. The EGR valve looks to be on the front of the engine too ,as far as I can ascertain. Should be reasonably easy to remove and clean if it is. 

The "Check Anti-Pollution system" message has appeared again, together with the engine check light, although it's still running OK. Instead of borrowing my friends Snap-On scanner are there any cheap code readers than can reset stuff like this? It'd be handy to keep one in the glovebox. There are loads on Amazon starting at £20 odd and going up to a few hundred but I've no idea which ones are capable of turning off engine/airbag lights e.t.c.  

[grogee]

The one I bought was £100ish and does airbag and abs in addition to the usual powertrain stuff. Foxwell something or other. You're welcome to borrow it. 

 

[Lankytim]

On 5/24/2022 at 5:32 PM, grogee said:

The one I bought was £100ish and does airbag and abs in addition to the usual powertrain stuff. Foxwell something or other. You're welcome to borrow it. 

 

That’s very good of you to offer, I’ve got access to a Snap On gizmo at a local garage, so long as they don’t get annoyed with me borrowing it then I should be ok though. 
 

I did look into a cheap OBD2 scanner to keep in the glove box. I’ve avoided buying one for a while as there’s so many you can buy and I was told not to bother with the cheap ones. Obviously I ignored the advice and did a little research online.  The small ones you plug in and download an app on your phone to use seemed to be the best combination of cheapness and functionality. 
 

Eventually I opted for this one on Amazon for under a tenner for the WiFi version (apparently my iPhone finds it hard to connect to the Bluetooth version)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CTJT7VQ?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_9GW6SVW6A7K61V4ZKP14 

There seems to be quite a few identical units with different names available but they appear to be from the same manufacturer. 
 

It arrived the next day and after downloading the imaginatively named “Car scanner ELM OBD2” app I tried it out. It took a couple of attempts to get my head around what needed to be done but it eventually connected to the Lagunas ECUs and found some faults to deal with, all  seeming to match what the garages Snap On code reader found. The fault codes were cleared successfully on the second attempt, although no doubt they will all return. Overall I’m super impressed with this OBD2 reader, It obviously not going to have the functionality of more expensive units but for turning engine lights off it seems to be spot on, it will be a very handy thing to have in the glove box. 

 

[beko1987]

It's a handy gizmo to turn the lights off in the mot station car park for sure! 

Does @SiCs Oh no Renault app still exist? That saved my arse a fair few times 😂

[Lankytim]

Well, it’s made it to Aberystwyth, taking the family on a weeks holiday. So far it’s been pretty good with no new warning lights, fault codes or bits falling off,  I did make sure to pack a few tools just in case, although if I manage to sneak off and visit any breakers yards they’ll come in handy. Visiting “new” scrapyards while on holiday is good fun but it’s usually hard to find the time with a family in tow.  Going to the beach is “spending time together” while scrapyard trawling isn’t, apparently. 

I’ve started looking about  for a tow bar, a new one can be bought for £200 odd but hopefully I’ll be able to get a used one for a fair bit less than that. There’s a few other bits I could do with like an engine cover, though perhaps I shouldn’t go over the top with buying stuff for this Laguna before is proven itself over time in case it grenades for some reason or another.

[Lankytim]

We visited Cardigan today and on the way home dropped into  Tanygroes Car Dismantlers www.tcdsalvage.co.uk (as seen on HubNut) which was handily on the way back to our accommodation and didn’t raise too many complaints from the family. 

The place is seriously big and it was great fun to have a rummage. There was only one Laguna 3 in stock, a petrol version which had O/S damage that apparently consigned it to the breakers.  Being a petrol the engine cover didn’t fit but I did manage to salvage the bonnet prop and the parking brake button for £15 +VAT.  These have now been fitted so I now have a bonnet which stays open and a parking brake which is now fully functional. 

As this yard was so large I didn’t manage to explore it all but from what I could see there wasn’t any really old stuff save for a crunchy looking Rolls Royce and a Bedford CF camper, it was pretty much all standard ELVs and insurance write offs. 

In the brief time I was there I spotted a Renault VelSatis, 2.9 Volvo S80  and a rusty looking Volvo 850.  The staff were all really friendly and it’s definitely worth a visit for anybody looking for parts from a traditional breakers yard. 

[Lankytim]

The Laguna performed pretty much faultlessly on its Welsh week long jaunt, delivering us back home without issue, although I did notice an odd “popping” noice that was only audible with the drivers window down  when I passed a parked car or similar and the noise was reflected back.  Driving shite let’s you develop a heightened sense of hearing and any new noises are quickly detected.  Under the bonnet the aux belt seemed to be wobbling and a failing harmonic balancer crank pulley was found to be the culprit. These things are £150+ so I did the only sane thing and bought a used one.    The job only took an hour or so and with the “new” pulley fitted silence was restored. 
 

I felt I was on a roll so removed the EGR valve for a clean up. It was well caked up as expected but a scrub with diesel soon had things clean. The gasket for the EGR pipe was missing so one made up. I don’t think it’s made much of a difference if any tbh but it’s a job ticked off the list. 

[wuvvum]

Glad it's behaving itself as well as a 15-year-old diesel Renault can be expected to!

The only time I got the speed limiter warning was when I inadvertently flicked the limiter master switch on the centre console (it does cruise control if you flick it one way and speed limiter the other way).

[beko1987]

That's one of the things I miss from my lag2 Initiale is the speed limiter. It worked too, keep a light throttle and you felt it resist when you got to the set speed. Was fantastic for 30/40 zones

Unlike my dads modern that happily wafts up past the limiter and just boings at you that you've gone over the set speed 😅

[wuvvum]

55 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

Unlike my dads modern that happily wafts up past the limiter and just boings at you that you've gone over the set speed 😅

That's what the "limiter" on the Rover 75 does.  Bit pointless really...

[Lankytim]

On 6/8/2022 at 10:05 PM, wuvvum said:

Glad it's behaving itself as well as a 15-year-old diesel Renault can be expected to!

The only time I got the speed limiter warning was when I inadvertently flicked the limiter master switch on the centre console (it does cruise control if you flick it one way and speed limiter the other way).

Oh yes,  I see what you mean! I’ve been able to use the cruise control a bit more now as it now doesn’t show a fault as quickly and turn it off. Hopefully a bit more probing will sort it out for good one way or another.

As mentioned in for sale advert, the NSR quarter had been bashed and poorly repaired, the small can of silver paint in the boot the smoking gun for a previous keepers misfortune and attempt to remedy the damage.  The scrape had been sprayed over and the paint “feathered” over the rear door and back over the rear quarter and around the bumper. There was overspray on the glass, lights and it basically looked a bit of a disaster zone.  A full repair is basically out of the question with the value of the car not making it worth while but it could definitely be improved. I dug out the polishing mop and cutting compound and got to work trying to remove the overspray and ugly attempt at “blending” the mismatched new and old paint. It took longer than expected but soon the bumper and undamaged section of rear quarter was free of the excess paint, revealing the original undamaged paintwork underneath. Fortunately the repairer had made no attempt at keying or preparing the panels so it was easy to get a good shine on it.

Overall the effect is pretty good, the damage now only being confined mostly to the bottom of the pillar and it doesn't affect the whole rear quarter like it did before.  I think I’ll have a go at machine polishing the rest of the bodywork at some point as it can really smarten a motor up. 
 

I didn’t bother removing the excess paint from the rear door, I think a replacement is going to be a much easier option. The Laguna in the breakers yard near New Quay had what appeared to be a decent door although it was difficult to inspect properly as the Clio next to it was too close. I was hoping to bag one closer to home but looking online they’ve suddenly become hard to come by. Looking back I should’ve bought it and swapped the doors at the yard but at the time I didn’t  want to splash too much cash on a car that   I may or may not gel with. 

[Lankytim]

Mini update on this thing,

There was still loss of excess paint on the NSR quarter which looked pretty crap so on a quiet evening at work I fired the steam cleaner up to 11 along with the TFR and got to work. There was paint flying all over the place and after half an hour of jet washing the NSR looked slightly better, however after it was dried off it looked a horrendous mess with patches all over the place. Back at home I got to work with the mop and G10 and finally managed to remove the last of the mismatched paint. Luckily the original paint survived and the door actually looks in pretty good shape! Not worth replacing at least. 
 

 

 

[Lankytim]

Mini update on this thing,

There was still loss of excess paint on the NSR quarter which looked pretty crap so on a quiet evening at work I forget the steam cleaner up to 11 along with the TFR and got to work. There was paint flying all over the place and after half an hour of jet washing the NSR looked slightly better, however after it was dried off it looked a horrendous mess with patches all over the place. Back at home I got to work with the mop and G10 and finally managed to remove the last of the mismatched paint. Luckily the original paint survived and the door actually looks in pretty good shape! Not worth replacing at least. 
 

 

 

[Lankytim]

Moving on… I managed to score a cheap “only used once” tow bar from Facebook marketplace. The seller said it would 100% fit a hatchback but then said he had it fitted to his estate.  To clarify he sent me a link to the eBay seller he purchased it from and the seller confirmed it would fit.. It turns out it DOES fit, just not particularly well. The estate is approx 10cm longer than the hatch and although the tow bar bolts up fine it’s designed  to clear the longer estate back end… luckily the tow bar is of the detachable type so won’t look like this all the time. It should be fairly easy to modify to a more appropriate position with a little cutting and drilling. Then again, I may just leave it as it is. 

Edit…
 

Thought better of leaving the tow bar hanging out the back like that and managed to move it further under the car by turning the plates that make up the bracket around and drilling an extra hole. Pretty easy tbh.