GWatson Posted January 14, 2005 Posted January 14, 2005 Wasn't sure how to title this one but... Girlfriends father has had nothing but problems with his 2001 Renault Laguna Tdi. 2x new gearbox, clutch, engine mgmt system, immobiliser you name it, it's had it. The car has done 70K and is just out of warrenty, typical!! Anyway, today the car was down on power and then it wouldn't rev past 3000rpm, settled at 1000rpm. He got out to phone the AA then turned round to see thick black smoke pouring out of the bonnet. The car started to rev upto around 6000rpm and sat there for ten minutes. He couldn't get into the car to turn it off (one of those card key things) because it was so thick (and he was worried about it catching fire). Finally someone opened the bonnet and disconnected the battery which killed the car eventually. The fire brigade arrived and they extinguished the smoke. The car obviously isn't driveable and he never wants to see it again. Where does he stand, can he expect anything from Renault since it's out of warrenty? As I say this is not the first problem he's had. I've never like French cars but this takes the p1ss!! Thanks in advance. G Quote
jeff oakley Posted January 14, 2005 Posted January 14, 2005 The company I work for has Lagunas and one of ours did exactly the same thing. Basically I suspect the car has started to burn the oil in the sump as a fuel hence it running on its own . On the one I know of it was a major and I mean major repair running into the thousands as the engine was destroyed. I doubt you will get anywhere with Renault but if the vehicle was on fire under the bonnet then it is an insurance job I would have thought. Quote
Blatman Posted January 14, 2005 Posted January 14, 2005 Sounds more like burning oil in the turbo to me. You get a in to a cycle of increased combustion leading to increased turbo spedd/engine speed which increases oil supply to the turbo which burns it faster as it gets hotter, increasing revs... etc... Something needs cutting to stop the process, so the choice is cutting electrical power, or stopping the supply of air. Cutting the leccy doesn't always work though... Discussion on this phenomenon is here... Quote
Nick A Posted January 14, 2005 Posted January 14, 2005 seen a couple of cars do simular things to this but without the fire bit, running on there own or revving on there own and both times it was traced to the turbo seals failing and therefore running on oil Quote
pistonbroke Posted January 14, 2005 Posted January 14, 2005 Yup burns the oil in the sump as fuel , and you wont stop it till the fuel all gone . We had 2 fleet Mondeo TDs go up 1 did it twice , both times the cars where overdue for service the leesing co wouldn't pay up because they hadn't been serviced to schedule . One Manager had to pay up his self because his re built engine did exactly the same thing for exactly the same reason . Quote
GWatson Posted January 21, 2005 Author Posted January 21, 2005 As usual Blatman was right garage think the Turbo seals went and caused the turbo to start to burn oil. The local Renault garage have offered no help at all. He needs to take the matter up with Renault directly. Oh quote for damage is £5k.... what a joke, just needs a new engine, turbo etc. The funny thing (or not so funny) is a mate and I passed a Laguna on the dual carrige way on Wednesday night on fire, proper fire this time. It even made the local news You've been warned. Quote
steppenwolf Posted January 21, 2005 Posted January 21, 2005 Siboy had an old Rover that did this for the same reason. My other son Adam bravely enterd the car selected reverse and dumped the clutch it screeched, it jumped .... it was great to watch but it stalled Siboy then sold it for £350 but not until after one potential buyer had sucked air through his teeth when told that there was no air conditioning .... With a fried engine he was worried about air conditioning!! Quote
Matt Seabrook Posted January 21, 2005 Posted January 21, 2005 With a fried engine he was worried about air conditioning!! Quote
SteveF Posted January 21, 2005 Posted January 21, 2005 Should've let it burn - a proper viking funeral At least he could've claimed the insurance then Quote
ACW Posted January 21, 2005 Posted January 21, 2005 Yet another reason why I personally wont touch a Renault. However the only good thing about Renault that Ive experienced is that the UK customer service does actually appear to want to keep customers - unlike the garages. One vehicle we had the guy who's car it was wrote and phoned renault UK CS and they did actually bend over backwards to help and provide some small compensation. I very much doubt they will do anything here but with enough history, moaning and it just going out of warranty you could hope. Quote
Nick A Posted January 21, 2005 Posted January 21, 2005 From my experiance the dealers will not/can't do much at all they can only contact the waranty department who will help sometimes but most of the time if it's out of waranty they just say to the dealer you know the rules unless it has been a common problem. However if the customer contacts customer service the will normally try there best to at least contribute to the repair costs but this can depend on milage and service history so give them a call and see what they will do Quote
Thrustyjust Posted January 21, 2005 Posted January 21, 2005 A mate used to work for Renault in Exeter.Spent all his day writing warranty claims.Got p******** of with just 'doing aimless paperwork' and left.Said that Renault use a lot of new technology but unfortunately made by French people,who spend half their working days in the cafe,so never made properly.Apparently,Ford tried to use a renault design sunroof in a Fiesta,they came to France to watch the test roof work and .......it didn't. Quote
Neil Purdie Posted January 21, 2005 Posted January 21, 2005 If the car had been serviced at the specified intervals ( otherwise user neglect may be used as a get out ) and had 2x new gearbox, clutch, engine mgmt system, immobiliser you name it, it's had it. Then all that work could have been a contributing factor in the demise of the turbo seals. If the turbo had been removed ( probably for g/box's ) then the seals may have been damaged due to handling or contamination. Go for customer service and dont take no for an answer. Saw a clio with same problem last year, the fire engine was just arriving. Quote
cast iron Posted January 23, 2005 Posted January 23, 2005 We have been using the Reanult 1.9 and 1.5's in Almeras Micras and Primeras for 2 years now never such a problem reported. However our skill level is far superior, and we do return a lot to Renault before they even get in the car for not meeting our quality standards. Quote
cast iron Posted January 23, 2005 Posted January 23, 2005 We have been using the Reanult 1.9 and 1.5's in Almeras Micras and Primeras for 2 years now never such a problem reported. However our skill level is far superior, and we do return a lot to Renault before they even get in the car for not meeting our quality standards. Quote
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