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Re: Renault Megane engine looses power.

I've got a Renault Megane 1.6RTe S-reg, and while driving over the weekend

> engine suddenly lost most of its power, I just had enough to crawl along > into a side road. Called out Greenflag and they have a fiddle with the > spark plugs, and the car seems to run OK after that, but only for a couple > of miles. So I replaced the spark plugs and HT leads, and the fuel filter > (which was overdue a change anyway). Again it was fine for a few minutes > then the power disappeared. > > I'm suspecting some kind of fuel delivery problem, hence my reason for > changing the fuel filter. It seems OK when the engine is stone cold, but > once slightly warm it has this problem. Any ideas, or similar experiences > out there? > > Its a 1.6 8v multi-point injected engine.

Tricky one. Would be helpful if you could tell us how it runs when its got problems? does it mis fire? Stall? easily start, how is the idle?

If it behaves normally (starts fine and idles happily at right speed) but is just totally gutless when asking for some power then most likely you have a blocked exhaust. Either the cat has broken up and the bits are blocking the rear box, or the baffles in same have dislodged.

Tim..

Reply to
Tim..
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When its got the problems it doesn't misfire but feels a bit uneven in its running, but certainly not missing sparks. It can just about hold idle sometimes, but often cuts out. It can rev a fair bit when not under load, but does sound rough when it does it. It generally starts OK, but needs a blip on the gas to get it going which you wouldn't normally need.

That certainly came to mind, and I did notice a rattle from under the car after the second time it did this, which certainly sounded like the exhaust. Whether it was just a bolt coming loose due to the rough running causing large vibrations, or was the cat itself falling apart.

I've taken it to my local garage today, so hopefully they'll spot the problem easily.

Reply to
Davemar

The garage found the fault in the cat as suspected. It had basically disintegrated, with all the debris bunging up the exhaust. So thats a fair old wedge for a new one :( . At least its a simple fault though, if an expensive one.

Give me a pre-cat car any day!

Reply to
Davemar

. At least its a simple fault though,

£140 > £160 from GSF or EuroCar Parts
Reply to
WD40

Arrghhh!!!! Picked up the car last night, clunking from under car... loose exhaust bolts or mounts or something I thought, nothing too serious. Then after a couple of miles, loss of power again! Back to the garage today, I'm not a happy man :(

Reply to
Davemar

Did they actually empty the exhaust system of bits from the previous cat failure?!?!

Tim..

Reply to
Tim..

They replaced the whole exhaust system, so I would hope all the debris would have gone with the old one! Maybe the new cat is duff?

Reply to
Davemar

Maybe. It certainly shouldnt rattle. Mebbe the baffles were loose, and the rattling you herd were them moving about and re-blocking the exhaust??

tim..

Reply to
Tim..

Found the problem at last. One of the HT coils had gone bad, so couldn't produce enough HT for a combustible spark for plugs 2 & 3. Firing on only two cylinders isn't going to make much power. It also possible all that unburnt fuel might have led to the downfall of the cat.

I drove it the 40 miles to work this morning and it seemed fine. So hopefully this little saga is over!

Reply to
Davemar

There seems to be more and more documentation of Renault coil packs failing, must be sourcing them from same people as VAG...!!!

Tim..

Reply to
Tim..

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