A Tale of Three Renaults

FCS Event Manager Joined: 04 Jan 2005 Posts: 3680

my mother has a megane, bought after many years of owning an R5 and a citroen BX, that BX was diseal and had over 200,000 miles on it before finally rusting away to nothing.

I've only driven it a couple of times and not found too many probs with the dash layout, i prefer the look of the laguna dash but with the size of it, it wont fit the 19, we know the megane dash will go in so why i'm thinking along those lines.

worse dash i've ever had to put up with is the one on my old Mk4 Escort XR3i, with those stupid little buttons on the intstument surround and those little stubby stalks, hated it.

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

the ford layout is far better than the meganes.

It really lets the car down, Amber is abotu 5'10" I am 6 foot 5 so we are i suppose tall but the layout is no use at all with me and the seats right back on the lowest height and I still have my knees round the wheel.

the laguna on the other hand is just nice for me.

FCS Event Manager Joined: 04 Jan 2005 Posts: 3680

well, not updated this in a while so here we go:

The phase 2 has been developing leaks, first the power steering rack and then the water pump.

The power steering had been getting noisy and on checking the fluid, noticed it was below the min, so topped it up, and the noise went away, job sorted i thought . .

anyway amongst its problems is very wooly steering, Chris H suggested it would be the steering column with play where it connects to the rack, so up on jacks the car went, front wheels off and under i go to investigate, packed up the joint with cardboard like Chris H again suggested and crawled back from under the car.
gave the steering wheel a few turns to each lock and yep it felt a lot tighter so that means the column has to be swapped out, went back under the car to remove the cardboard and drip . . drip . . drip . .

red liquid was dripping down the drivers side trackrod, damn, power steering fluid, felt the gaitor on that track rod and it made a squishing noise, squeezed it tighter and a small bead of power steering fluid came out from under the gaitor, wonderful, a seal has gone so change out the rack as well, oh joy i am thinking.

as i am pulling myself back from under the car i catch sight of some water on the subframe, hmmmm its not been raining for a while, there is no water on the ground, where did that come from.

I spark up a cig and watch it for 5 minutes, nothing too bad but defo a water leak, get the rag out and give the subframe and block a clean and watch, yep there it is, slowly coming from the water pump.

what a wonderful day i am thinking to myself . .

so ordered a rack from infinicar, which has arrived and is in very good condition (Â£60)
Got a column off ebay but alas its missing the bottom half so no fricking good to me so that job has not been done yet.

Have done the water pump thou and that went easier than expected, job done and no leaks Smile

Since having done the water pump thou, the car has been running hotter than i like, it sits on the 3rd big line and is just high enough to have the fan running all the time, and in traffic it tends to run cooler than when i am blatting it down the motorway, odd.

Also i have painted my rocker cover

I have also at long last managed to get hold of a str8 thru decat pipe from ebay (Â£17)

FCS Event Manager Joined: 04 Jan 2005 Posts: 3680

Saturday 16th July 2005:

todays tasks were meant to be:

A: Fit Decat pipe
B: Oil & Filter Change
C: Plugs, leads, rotor arm and dizzy cap change
D: Flush Cooling system

So i drive the car round the block a couple of times to heat up the oil so as to drain it easier, park it up, jack it up and on stands, under i go to undo the sump bolt, (i had bought the filter, oil and sump bolt socket a couple of weeks ago in preperation of this job, quick txt to chris h whilst in halfords to get the correct sump bolt socket)

hmmmm the sump plug is not the standard 8mm jobbie, looks like someone has replaced it at some point in its previous life with a non standard one and of course i dont have anything that will fit it to get it undone, bloody typical, so trip to halfords tomorrow to get one that will undo it. so no oil change done today.

OK so lets flush the cooling system, expansion tank off and clamped the hose pipe into the left pipe and on it goes, surprisingly i only get rusty coloured water for about 30 seconds and then it runs clear, i leave it to carry on pumping thru water whilst i change out the plugs, HT leads, rotor arm and dizzy cap.

whilst running the water thru it i pop off the rad top hose and thats running clear too, put it back on and flush the expansion tank out in the sink (i've not put my nice new one on yet, dont want to until i know the system is properly flushed and running at the right temp)
I also wanted to change out the thermostat too, got a nice new low temp one but again was thwarted by a bolt that would not shift and was so tight it managed to twist my torx head out of shape. ( i hate this car lol)
So i put the expansion tank back on, first connecting the left pipe, shove the hose in the tank and let the water run thru it, still getting clear water out of the matrix pipe and as its running i connect that one back to the expansion tank too, let it fill up to the max mark and removed the hose.

Started the car up and ran it for about 10 minutes with the cap off the expansion tank, watching for air bubbles, squeezing the water pipes at the same time to try to get out any air, hardly any bubbles this time (when i did the water pump and topped it back up i was getting loads of air come thru)
Shut the car off and left it to cool down whilst going for a coffee and a smoke.

right now to fit the decat pipe, the cat came off again easier than expected, only one bolt sheered off and that was in the cat's flange so it came off very easily.
got the old gun gum out and smeared it on both ends of the decat and went to fit it, pushed it onto the downpipe and then lifted onto the rest of the system, got the 4 bolts in and left them loose on the tail end and then went to put the 2 bolts onto the downpipe end, one bolt in and the 2nd, hmmm why wont it push thru . . got my head right underneath it to see why and blow me, the holes dont line up . . arghhhhh . .

decat pipe back off and out with the drill, extended the original holes into a slot and back on with the decat with a fresh layer of gungum.
it fits now, used copper grease on the bolts in the hope that when mot time comes around, i can get them undone fairly easy to put the cat back on.

so now the remaining jobs are, oil and filter change, swap out PAS rack and steering column, then i can start to pay some attention to the bodywork.

FCS Event Manager Joined: 04 Jan 2005 Posts: 3680

well, took it out for a spin on the private test track to check the cooling and its defo running a bit cooler now, on the fast parts of the course it was sitting just over the 1st line and then after that i took it down to the seafront where all the local boy racers hang out, for a slow cruise around the front to see what the temp would do in slow moving traffic, it rose to the 2nd line and when i left to come home it dropped to between the 1st and 2nd line, much much better than it was.

incidently whilst on the private track i owned a BMW, not sure if it was a 318i or a 320i but it had me on acceleration from the start line, i caught it in 2nd gear and passed it once i had hit 5000rpm in 3rd, the look on the drivers face was priceless as i pulled past him and continued to leave him in my exhaust fumes Smile

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

what pump did you get, the open backed oe impellar one of a closed back cast one?

FCS Event Manager Joined: 04 Jan 2005 Posts: 3680

this one that i've had in the boot of the car since buying it

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

open backed

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

coincidently i had my thermostat housing off the other weekend and i too had a fucked bolt that i had to drill out...charming.

FCS Event Manager Joined: 04 Jan 2005 Posts: 3680

it's just one fault after another with this car at the mo, get one job sorted on it and 2 days later another job has to be done.

the car has now developed an intermittant rattle on the top end, sounds like an aerosol can being shaken around under the top cover.
Chris has suggested its a lazy tappet so i shall dump some wyns cleaner into it tomorrow and see if that helps.

This weekend coming i hope to be able to do the oil and filter change and change out the thermostat, then another coolant flush and then to put on the nice new expansion tank and fill the system with renault coolant.

The white ph1/ph2 hybrid thats still sitting in my front garden is slowly getting stripped ready for its conversion.

I may even start a new project thread on that one as its getting a 2.0 Litre 16v F7R and JC5 box conversion.
I also have for it a new subframe, wishbones, bushes etc which will be fitted to it prior to having the engine and box conversion, still debating on wether or not to change out the entire wiring loom and change the 19's dash for the meganes.

FCS Event Manager Joined: 04 Jan 2005 Posts: 3680

well i think i may have an idea what the intermittant rattle was on the car.

the cambelt idle pully!

it seized on me in south london on friday!

see pics for the damage.

Neal: how much do you want for your spare head?

FCS Event Manager Joined: 04 Jan 2005 Posts: 3680

i have also acquired yet another 19 16v

this is a ph1 chamade

it needs a new back box, handbrake cable fitting and a couple of front tyres and it should go thru the mot.

it has a IK and a decat pipe fitted to it.

biggest problem on it at the mo seems to be its killing the battery very quickly and then it wont idle or start.

with a fresh charged batt it will start first time on the key and idle fine.
took it for a spin and only after 5 minutes it would not idle or start.

left it over night with the intention of swapping out the alt, tried to start it and it went on the first key . . odd.

but again only after 10 mins, it started to splutter, then would not idle and would not start again.

not sure what the prob is at the mo, will swap out the alt tomorrow.

FCS Event Manager Joined: 04 Jan 2005 Posts: 3680

Right, been talking to JB on msn about the prob with the chammy
and there is a possibility thats its about to seize when its hot hence the idle prob and not restarting, there is a knocking sound at 3000 rpm and over and the car dies quicker when u drive it than when its sat idleing, whilst driving its getting hotter faster than it does at idle, so could be the big ends that are making the knocking noise or piston slap.

anyway i still have the engine from the white 19 so i think my best plan is to swap them out.

Site Subscriber Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 4722

neo is cursed for 19's!

Site Subscriber Joined: 28 Jan 2005 Posts: 3547

sounds like mine! but mine is well feckered

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

if its killign the battery that quick then theres an issue with that that really needs sorted.

As for it getting hot on the move, this could be so many things.

It could be doing the usual run ok then seizing leave for 20 mins then work again though.

FCS Event Manager Joined: 04 Jan 2005 Posts: 3680

Chris - thats exactly what the chammy seems to be doing - run ok, seizing, leave for 20 mins then work ok again.

On the Ph2 front.

gonna replace the whole cam belt kit and head to get it back on the road

Head - sorted (thanks JB)
Head Gasket Set - Sorted (thanks Neal)
Cambelt Cover - Sorted (thanks Neal)
cambelt kit on order from renault
Head Bolts on order from GSF

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

new engine in chamade.

FCS Event Manager Joined: 04 Jan 2005 Posts: 3680

aye, thought as much Chris.

well i have the engine from my other ph1 that can go into the chammy so not too much of a problem.

Site Subscriber Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 4722

how many miles the chamade got on it?

Site Subscriber Joined: 28 Jan 2005 Posts: 3547

should it not be called a tale of 3 renaults?