Hi all, I've suddenly had an issue with my Megane 250 this morning whereby I can select gears perfectly fine without the engine running but when I try to select with the engine running and pressing the clutch it will not go into gear. The clutch comes back to it's normal position after being pressed but it sort of get's halfway up and then pings back to the top twice as fast. The peddle first started to feel like this towards the end of last week and it almost feels as if it has lost some pressure compared to how it was and I only get pressure when it's almost touching the floor. I've checked the brake fluid level and it's dropped below the minimum line but not by too much. I've had a search and I can see that it could be either slave cylinder, master cylinder or the slave clutch pipe/resonator, is there anyway to identify which one it might be? Or other things I could check? I've also read that you can bleed the clutch by wedging something in to keep the pedal pressed down overnight but I'm not sure I'm wondering if that is going to help in this situation? Thanks
Typically due to naff reno design (and bit your failure to maintaine vehicle) the clutch fluid supply line being half way down side of reservoir a low fluid level combined with bit cornering will allow air into clutch line. Bleeding clutch line could be answer (plus better future maintenance)
Yep there is definitely failure on my part to check it! I've got some more brake fluid so I shall top it up and see if I can wedge the clutch down overnight to see if I can get it to bleed. I suspect there is an underlying issue if the brake fluid is low though! Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
check the resonator (round black plastic thing) they weep after while causing fluid loss, its under battery tray, take wheel arc lining out should see the underside of resonator if its wet
Check your brake calipers too for leakage of fluid. It will be obvious on the caliper and/or wheel. I had a blown piston seal causing fluid levels to drop below minimum
Had a check around the brake calipers (without taking the wheels off) and can't see any obvious signs of leakage. I'm unable to check the resonator as I don't have a jack to hand or space where it's parked. Just topped up the fluid and thought I'd try the clutch and it now seems worse and very slow to come back to the point where it pings up to the top. So my last resort is to attempt to keep the pedal pressed down for a few hours and see if that will help so I can at least drive it to a garage as currently it's sat somewhere that a flat bed won't be able to get to which is a pain. Is it okay to keep the clutch pressed for extended periods of time? Whilst doing some googling this morning I came across a thread on reddit saying it could damage the pressure plate springs, just wondered if anyone has actually done it here and can speak from experience?
yer not ideal keeping plates under constant pressure plus thats not traditional way to sort clutch problems out think just need to bleed the clutch properly from bleed valve at engine front where enters the bell housing, only takes few mins but do need get vehicle up on a ramp
Yeah I see your point, probably not worth doing in case it causes more damage! If it's the slave cylinder, master cylinder or hopefully just the resonator/damper that needs changing, is it worth taking it a specialist Renault garage or should just a local garage be suitable for the job? There's a specialist about 40 mins away from me or there's plenty of local garages within a few miles so just trying to weigh up my options as I won't be able to drive it there
Looking at the workshop manual here http://megane-rs.nl/dl/manuals/meg_3/MR427MEGANE3_Chassis.pdf on page 37A-67 it shows a variety of bleed screw types, but looking at pictures of the PK4 I can't work out which one it is. Can anyone point me at the type on the Megane 250?
Thanks for that! In terms of bleeding the clutch, what is the process? Would a vaccum bleeder be suitable?
yes vacuum but tie the clutch pedal to steering wheel so doesn't collapse, the air is between reservoir and bleed point
I’m going to say you’re probably wasting your time trying to bleed it. If there’s no obvious fluid loss from your brake system, then it must have escaped from the clutch system. If it was air in the line causing issues, you would have had to have lost the volume of fluid from where it was last filled to in the reservoir, all the way down to the master cylinder before air could enter. That’s quite a large volume of fluid, so I think you would be better off working on the assumption that one of the three main fluid-carrying clutch components has failed, especially as it happened so suddenly. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I decides against it yesterday and it's getting recovered to a garage on Monday! I'm intrigued to know what's causing the problem, I've got a braided clutch line to go in anyway so the resonator doesn't cause issues in the future! Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
good move getting rid pesky resonator, be interesting to know what cause is so post up when find issue if like
So it turns out it was the slave after all so £1200 later and the car is back on the road! As it turns out the clutch plate was almost completely worn down to the rivets anyway so would have needed doing sometime soon so that was all done at the same time along with new driveshaft seals, gearbox oil, slave and my new braided line was fitted too! Thanks for all your advice, it was an expensive one but I'm glad it's back on the road [emoji41] Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
Unfortunately not, they sourced the clutch kit from Renault direct and was almost double what I could've got it for online by the looks of it. Labour came in at £660 (8 hours - inc. VAT). I didn't really have a choice as I needed the car running again!
Guessing they did as it’s an exchange unit so they must have given old DMF back to reno, wouldn’t hurt to ask though
Nope DMF wasn't done as it looked fine and apparently there was a 10 day lead time for one from Renault. So I'm not sure what's happened there
