Looking for some advice.. Looking to have the belts done soon on my 250, and I'm wondering whether you should change the vvt pulley too? The reason I ask is I used to own clio 182's where the dephaser pulley can develop play and become noisy over time so people change them when they do the belts, but I'm unsure whether the meganes have the same problem? Any help appreciated! Cheers Ash
It's a very similar pulley, in fact I believe it's the same as fitted to the 197/200. On the mk2 Clios the life expectancy is around the 95k mark if the oils been kept clean. Dirty oil kills the Dephaser pulley lifespan, so if you've kept the service schedule up to date with quality oil I see no reason why it would need doing before 90-100k.
In that case I will probably just change it tbf, I thought it would be the same unit as the 197/200. Do people change it on them? Reason for doing belts is mileage, my neighbour who I bought the car from travelled a lot for work so covered a fair few miles in the 3 or so years he owned it. I think the service interval is 72k or 5 years? Also I seem to have a rattle coming from the belt area which I think could be one of the fixed roller bearings which a lot of meganes had replaced under warranty?
If it sounds like a loose spanner rattling around the belt area it'll be the pulley tensioner as I had mine sorted. There's a thread on her 're the noise it makes and a video toi
Yep that's what it sounds like, listened to that video too and sounds the same. Unfortunately the car is a few months out of warranty though!
Mine was too, ring up customer services not the local dealer and explain the issue. I bought my car 7 months out of warranty at 34k and got an 80% contribution toward the cost. James on here got 70% also out of warranty. Cust service are really good and we'll worth a go.
Ah sweet worth a try then! Will they replace everything that would need to be done as part of the Cambelt service anyway? And do you think they would let me pay extra to do the dephaser pulley?
Not sure the service is belts cam and aux belts timing and labour, not sure if they'd charge extra for the pulley although I think it's peanuts in comparison to the total bill. Mine was 960 for the lot nowhere near log book etc but pulley was 20ish
They'd be daft not to do it esp as it seems to be a well known issue that a lot of had done under warranty that's probably why they let me and James have 80&70% off due to a history of similiar ssues. Give em a buzz and let me know who it goes
My bill would have been £850 + the £67 diagnostic fee I paid but Renault UK contributed 75% It's all about how you put it across in the phone call really, but either way they should contribute. My car is 9 months out of warranty, I'm the third owner and it's never been services at Renault, always at an independent specialist. I expected to get 20% max but was blown away by the contribution. However, don't go to Holdcroft Renault in Crewe! I paid for a 4 year service there too and they overfilled my oil, the timing belt is whining and they snapped my Milltek (but won't admit to it). I've had a nightmare with them which I am still in the process of sorting. Go anywhere but Crewe!
Ah well that's good. Spoke to Renault customer service earlier and they said they hadn't head of the issue but will contact a few of my local Renault places to see if they have. But they basically said because my car is nearing needing the Cambelt doing anyway they can't guarantee that they will contribute :/
If you want Renault to contribute then you'll have to book it in for diagnostics and take in the document I've attached. My opinion after these problems I've had would be to get it done at a specialist. If you're in the Northwest then take it to Birchdown Autos where I was quoted £460 or £550 with the water pump and aux belt. I spent £570 including a 4 year service in total, and that's with me providing some of the parts for the service and getting 20% discount on the parts. Crazy stuff!
Ah I see. I'm not far from Mick @ Diamond so do you think I would be better to just go there? He charges around £600 including water pump. Also did you have your dephaser pulley changed? My local Renault dealerships are Leicester and Coventry. And Coventry is meant to be an RS specialist.
Ash I'm in Coventry but went to see Mark Black in Chesterfield two weeks ago to get my R26 belts done ... he was £1000 cheaper than Coventry Renault!! It's only an hour each way and he'll do it at weekends plus it only took him about 2 and a half hours!
Yes I only paid 20% of the bill, I then asked the garage I bought it from to refund me that 20% also so all in all it was free, just a bit of time and hassle but all sorted now
Bit of an update on this... Spoke to Renault customer service who had never heard of this Cambelt issue, who then contacted my two local Renault dealers (Leicester and Coventry) and said that neither of these dealers had either. He then said the best thing to do is to book it in for a diagnosis with Renault which would cost around £100 to see if the issue is what I suspect it is, but went on to say he was unsure whether Renault would be able to help because the mileage is approaching the Cambelt service mileage anyway. So my thought is just to take it to a specialist rather than paying £100 to be quoted £1000 for the service and not be offered any help! Even if they offered 40% that would still be the same price as taking it to a specialist but more hassle! Thoughts? Cheers
Well if you do end up going to a specialist, the latest parts that they will order in as part of the timing kit will fix the issue. At first, it looked as though a specific list of parts had to be ordered for this fix. So there's a bit of peace of mind for you. Mine has finally been sorted out at Renault (well, I'm picking it up tonight so hopefully it's sorted!), but I would recommend going to a well known specialist. Much less hassle and probably the same sort of price! They will also do your aux belt and water pump for you, whereas Renault didn't do at first for me.
Ah I see thanks for the info. Hopefully yours is all okay when you collect it then! Think I trust the specialists more than Renault anyway tbf! And can't believe they would change the Cambelt and not at least fit a new aux belt! Seems a bit stupid really!
I'm pretty certain it's 75k/6years because the service interval is now 12.5k instead of 12 so 6 x 12.5 is 75k
Cheers Mick. Also does anyone know whether it's completely necessary to change the Dephaser Pulley when doing the belts? Thinking I may just do it anyway.
They were common problems with 172/182 and the 1.6vvt engines i beleive, i got mine done on my 197 for piece of mind, and you really only have to pay for the dephaser, as fitting doesnt cost that mush do while the cambelt is already off.
You don't have to but..... I'd recommend you did Dodd law says 2weeks after the belt change it would start to rattle
Yea I agree! Was just wondering if I could make it a little cheaper but not at the cost of possibly having to have it redone!
