Hi guys, relatively new to Renaultsport, but not to Renault's in general. Loving the 175 so far. Handling and feel is really superb coming from non-sporty Renault stuff. Brilliant car. I've got a couple of questions regarding starting to maintain it/modify it etc? 1. How the hell do I get the engine cover off? I can see a rubber mount of some kind on the right edge, but that's it? Where are the bolt locations, and how do I undo this rubber mount? Doing my head in. 2. I need to change my glow plugs, has anyone got any advice/experience doing this? Weather's getting cold and the car is struggling on start-up a little. I'm thinking battery cover off, locate plugs if I can see them at this stage? Spray threads as much as I can with WD40. Leave for a couple days, get engine warm, cover off again, then I've got a 10mm deep socket, remove connectors on top of plugs, gently apply some pressure and see if they come out. Wiggle about to get any build up off, hopefully crack them loose without too much issue. Thread the new ones back in, reverse everything back on and done. Anything I'm missing? Mods I'm thinking are rear spacers, new panel filter and a remap really. But right now, glow plugs are my main concern haha. Cheers guys.
Hi and welcome I have a dci 175 and an R26, both are my track day cars, mine is fitted with Megane 250 front brake kit, BC coilovers, cone air filter, half cage, 5 point seat belts and a few other bits. 1. the cover just lifts off, the fixings are pretty much in the corners, if it's not been off for a good while then the rubbers can be a bit hard, i have removed my cover and left it off, think it keeps heat in too much. 2. The glow plugs are at the front of the engine, they are a bit tight to get at but doable. I have had 2 Dci 175 Espace's one had done 188k miles and this is my 2nd Megane DCi175 and i have never changed a glow plug in any of them, you can unplug them and test them each at a time, it will only be one that's gone. Spacers no, panel filter yes, remap of course but there aren't that many around that map these properly, most are flash mapped, there is someone in West Wales once mine is sorted and i'm happy with it i will pass on there details. I'm off to Anglesey for a Thursday trackday
Cheers man. Hugely appreciate that. How was your track day? After fitting some new glow plugs as I thought it would solve my issue, doesn't seem to have worked so many need your help on that haha. I'm getting white smoke on the first start up, along with quite a few cranks to get it to fire. I thought it was a cold diesel issue as when the car has started once, the issues completely disappear. So replaced glow plugs. The next morning,, after replacing plugs, car started perfectly, no smoke, 3 cranks, just like it would've come out of the factory. I've started it 2 days later now, back to lots of cranking, and spluttering, before eventually firing and white smoke. Not a glow plug issue, now I'm quite concerned. Either, oil is in my engine and that's the white smoke, which... pray for me. Or, it's just diesel that hasn't burnt hot enough.. but I'm not sure how to tell. To be honest, it's not causing me a huge issue because the car drives superbly and onces it's hot, causes me no issues. I've got seemingly no lack of torque or performance. Just frustrates me when I go to start the car for the first time in a day. Any ideas mate? It's looking like I'll need to take it to a Renault Specialist to get it diagnosed. But want to have 1-2 more pops on here because I know people like @ianplymouth really know what they're talking about! Thanks in advance.
^^^^^ To add to this above. I've dug up a useful post on another Megane Forum. Suggest it could be: 1. TDC sensor, engine doesn't recognise what position the crank is in, until it cranks over lots of times to realise. But would this explain white smoke? 2. Fuel issues. Leaky injectors, or fuel pump letting fuel pressure out of the lines? This would explain spluttering, and white smoke, as car needs to build fuel pressure, and because the ignition isn't on for very long before cranking, then as I'm cranking, the fuel pressure eventually builds and fires the car up. I think this is it. But how do I get this sorted? New Fuel Pump? Bad seals somewhere in the fuelling system? A little lost on how to tackle this without taking it to a specialist to properly diagnose. Annoying as I'm running out of cash I'm comfortable spending haha. Cheers guys
Could be the diesel filter as well? I'm pretty sure that could have a seal which if faulty, would let in air and cause a lack of pressure.. maybe? Brainstorming really
@Teoman Atik Trackday was great, the weather did turn a bit nasty before lunch https://youtube.com/shorts/touAPfh_z-w?feature=share White smoke is usually water (steam) condensation or coolant, Blue smoke is oil, either valve stem seals, turbo seals , black smoke is diesel. I had the same problem with mine, didn't really bother with it as it always started eventually, i had a problem at a trackday when i tried to leave, the key card wouldn't work, the car got taken to a dealer for me, had two new keys and a card reader fitted, but as they had trouble starting it they plugged it in and it came up with "bad crank sensor" i fitted a new sensor and it was a lot lot better, it will start on the first press of the button now although it does crank for a second or so till it fires up, i think its building up pressure in the injection pump. I did drain the diesel filter, it didn't have any water or anything in it, so i left it there, you could change it just to make sure its not causing the problem. I did get air bubbles in the pipe to the filter when left standing for a few days, but it always starts so as far as i'm concerned it's not a problem.
Right, brilliant. Thanks mate. Your help is invaluable. I'll get a new crank sensor fitted for sure. Hopefully, will help the issue somewhat and then if it's just a characteristic of the car to crank a few times before starting, so be it. About your keycard issue, when you put your keycard into the ignition, are the dash's lights supposed to illuminate? Backlighting for rev counter and speedo etc? When I put mine in, I get power so I can turn on the radio, and the little infotainment screen comes on, but nothing on my dash.. is this normal?
The crank sensor is a bitch to get at, it's at the back of the engine on these, took me a good hour lying under the car, might be easier on a ramp. as for the key card, i think thats right, i haven't really taken any notice, if you insert the card and then tap the button then the dash lights do come on, if you insert the card, push the start button (without touching the peddles) and hold in for 7-10 seconds then that will turn everything on and release the steering lock.
