Clio - Engine management light & acceleration

Kemik

Kemik

Kemik

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Joined
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Hi all,

I have a 55 plate Clio 1.5 DCi. It was sitting on the drive for 6 weeks while I was on holiday, come home to see the orange engine management light on. I took it to a local garage and he said it must just be the sensor because if there was an actual problem the engine would be in "home safe" mode.

Then coming home from work it wouldn't accelerate. It took an age to get up to 30 mph and I knew there was definitely something wrong. At first I thought it must be a flat tyre so pulled over and they were fine. Drove home, tried and again later that night and the car was fine.

Does anyone have any ideas of what it could be? My dad is a HGV fitter so he took a look but there was a limited amount he could do as it was the engine management light so he couldn't see the diagnostics.

Some forum suggestions have been:
  • Shorting of the wiring loom - solution is to tape the wires together. My dad was gonna try this but couldn't get into the box.
  • Acceleration pedal sensor
  • Dirt in the throttle body - he cleaned this.

Cheers guys. I don't want to spend £300+ on new parts only for the issue to carry on occurring.
 
Shorting of the loom.. sounds unlikely.
Sensor on the accelerator pedal.. possible?
Dirt in the throttle body... do diesels have throttle bodies?

Is the engine management light still on?

I would either get it plugged into a diagnostic machine (why didn't the local garage do this?) or buy one; http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ELM-327-CAR-D...170464924448?pt=UK_Diagnostic_Tools_Equipment

I would not start replacing parts willy nilly.
 
Garage that I originally sent it to said the code coming up relates to the Exhaust Gas Recirculation if that helps?
 
EGR Valve first. Remove, clean and reinstall. Takes about 1hr to do. Have a search for renault forums and egr valve, should turn up a few hits. Most i had ever done was change oil/filter before attempting this so it's relatively straight forward.
 
Is your idle rough as hell?

If it is, unplug your MAF sensor and see if it idles smoother.


If it idles smoother it is probably the MAF. Its something that causes similar symptoms and is easy to test without code readers and such.

The maf sensor is plugged in after the airfilter enclosure.

Obviously this is after cleaning out the EGR which is also relatively easy.
 
Gornall said:
Is your idle rough as hell?

If it is, unplug your MAF sensor and see if it idles smoother.


If it idles smoother it is probably the MAF. Its something that causes similar symptoms and is easy to test without code readers and such.

The maf sensor is plugged in after the airfilter enclosure.

Obviously this is after cleaning out the EGR which is also relatively easy.
Click to expand...

Idle is very smooth. Sounds like it's the EGR system that needs a clean then! I'll do some research on cleaning it. Shame my dad could have done that when he was down this weekend, I don't wanna risk driving 200+ miles with the car in this state.

If all else fails, back to the garage!
 
My brothers Corsa did this. Codes were for the EGR valve and Crank shaft sensor. Replaced parts and re-set the code, sorted.

EGR valves commonly do this, they are easy to clean, I'd soak it in Petrol over night.
 
Matt-Page said:
My brothers Corsa did this. Codes were for the EGR valve and Crank shaft sensor. Replaced parts and re-set the code, sorted.

EGR valves commonly do this, they are easy to clean, I'd soak it in Petrol over night.
Click to expand...

Garage just called to say I need a new EGR. I'm hoping they haven't just put it on the machine, the machine gives the code so they tell me I need a new one. I'd hope it's something they can't just clean to be fixed.

£246.26 anyways for parts, labour and VAT!
 
Isn't there a plate that can put in place of the EGR valve or something?

Not sure what the repercussions of this would be..
 
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Kemik said:
Garage just called to say I need a new EGR. I'm hoping they haven't just put it on the machine, the machine gives the code so they tell me I need a new one. I'd hope it's something they can't just clean to be fixed.

£246.26 anyways for parts, labour and VAT!
Click to expand...

I'd be sceptical, try getting in the wiring loom before forking out. The codes that my clio chucked out when I was trying to fix the problem were completely random and wide of the mark.
 
Buy a haynes manual (it'll help for any other jobs later!), a can of WD40 and a few spanners/socket set. Honestly, all you need to do is take off the plastic engine cover, undo some bolts holding the air inlet unit in place and a couple of clips on plastic hoses to give you space to work, then you need to undo a couple of bolts holding the EGR unit in, i had to give mine a couple of whacks with a hammer/blunt chisel to get it out (being careful of the shim in between), then spend 20-30 minutes cleaning all the crap out with wd40 and toothbrush/cotton buds (also try to give the bit in the engine a clean as much as possible). Refitting is reverse of removal. A quick google brought this up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJdkiAaf2zg which pretty much explains it, though i'm not sure about the scraping with the screwdriver!

For fitting of new EGR that cost sounds about right as long as it is an OEM part.
 
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