Any Renault owners here?

murphaph

Got a good deal on a 96 Renault Megane there during the week. It's for the mother and was nearly as cheap as replacing the gearbox & clutch on her 91 Colt, no decision really. Anyway, it's a grand motor but the only problem is that the remote central locking/immobiliser/alarm is iffy. I got two keys with the car, one worked on and off and the other was completely dead. I retouched all the solder joints in the completely dead key and now it's back working but from surfing around it seems this is the achilles heel of 95-98 Renaults, this awful IR system (ironically not French but German-Siemens made it for Renault!). Just wondering does anyone else have a Renault from that era and if so, any problems, immobiliser or otherwise?

Guy:Incognito

murphaph wrote:

Got a good deal on a 96 Renault Megane there during the week. It's for the mother and was nearly as cheap as replacing the gearbox & clutch on her 91 Colt, no decision really. Anyway, it's a grand motor but the only problem is that the remote central locking/immobiliser/alarm is iffy. I got two keys with the car, one worked on and off and the other was completely dead. I retouched all the solder joints in the completely dead key and now it's back working but from surfing around it seems this is the achilles heel of 95-98 Renaults, this awful IR system (ironically not French but German-Siemens made it for Renault!). Just wondering does anyone else have a Renault from that era and if so, any problems, immobiliser or otherwise?

Ihad a 2000 clio up until a about 2 years ago i sold it to my mother. When I got it i had an alarm installed that was integrated into the key with the remote central locking. I never had a problem, apart form, once or twice comiong out to find the car unlocked (i was sure i locked it but maybe i didnt) abotu 3 weeks ago the remote central lockign stopped working, so i changed te battery and still nothing. seems completely dead. My mother hasnt taken it anywhere so i dont know what the issue is or whether it can be fixed.

murphaph

Is there one keyfob or two? Did both of them pack in at the same time? If there was only one fob it might be woth opening it up and just retouching all the solder joints with a soldering iron.

BrianD3

I've never had a problem with the keys in mine but I have heard of people having problems with keys, immobilisers and aftermarket alarms. Replacment keys from renault dealers will be quite expensive and obviously will need to be coded to the car. Similar story with the ECU. If your ECU goes you won't just be able to get one from a scrapyard and stick it in.

The immobiliser in the pre-facelift Megane is a bit funny in that if you unlock the car you must start it within about a minute or else the immobiliser comes in and you'll have to lock it and unlock it again to get it to start. Not a fault and not a big deal but annoys some people.

Mechanically, just check the same things as in any other 10 year old car and check out reviews on honestjohn.co.uk. Heater matrices and water pumps can leak. Wheel bearings wear out at high mileage. I think the old Renault problem of broken clutch cables can crop up. Head gaskets can go, I believe the 1.6 is worse than the 1.4 in this respect. The 1.4 is an 8 valve unit putting out 75 bhp so it's slow but not as bad as a modern Focus 1.4 or golf 1.4, it's also a fairly simple unit carried over from the R19. In fact the Megane generally has a lot in common with the R19.

murphaph

Well I have to say, the car is excellent for a 96. Solid build as far as I can see, at least as good as a VW from that era. The only let down is this remote central locking on the phase 1's. I paid 900 euro for it with 80k genuinish miles (I know the car's recent history so it's pretty likely to be accurate). The radio is knackered on it too but I got a megane radio from ebay for a tenner and codes seem to be readily available from folks on interweb. The mother needs a radio and i may as well keep the factory satellite radio controls operative buy getting an original Renault one.

The mother is very pleased with the car and it drives very well. I've bought a laguna key and will try to reprogramme it, hopefully it'll be more robust than the megane keys.

Overall, good car for the money.

smash

I had a 98 megane hatch and now have a 2005 megane saloon, both cars are great, can't fault them!

loz

I have a 97 1.6 rt saloon - no problems whatsoever - just passed nct with no worries - just on 90,500 had it 3 years - bought for 3k yoyos, had to change wiper blades and i got it serviced at 90 ( few weeks before xmas ) and got the timing belt changed.

murphaph

Wel it seems decent car when looked after. The timing belt is a 20 min job by all accounts and no special locking tools are required on the 8V engine. Looks like a good car for the mother. She's happy with it anyway!

Lemo

I had a 97 Megane which I sold two years ago. Only ever had a couple of small problems but was very happy overall.

It sometimes used to cut out at idle when started from warm (i.e. if you'd been driving for a while, stopped somewhere for 30 mins and then started it again). Always started again straight away so just an annoyance and didn't happen too often.

Another problem when I first had it was from time to time it would simply not start. The AA guy showed me that an earth strap was not making a good connection. It was awkward to get to because you had to reach down behind the engine and wiggle the connector. I eventually took a pliers to it and it worked fine after that.

It might not be much use to you but I do remember a recall on those keys. Not sure what they did to them or why but I had mine done. Maybe yours were not taken back. I think a key might have gone wonky once but the dealer who I bought it from and was getting it serviced with just reprogrammed it. You can do this yourself using a code that is etched into the glass on the speedometer. I can't remember the exact procedure - sorry.

Good luck.

murphaph

Lemo wrote:

It might not be much use to you but I do remember a recall on those keys. Not sure what they did to them or why but I had mine done. Maybe yours were not taken back. I think a key might have gone wonky once but the dealer who I bought it from and was getting it serviced with just reprogrammed it. You can do this yourself using a code that is etched into the glass on the speedometer. I can't remember the exact procedure - sorry.

Good luck.

Yeah I've already performed that resyncing procedure a couple of times. There's a nack to it but it's pretty easy.

comanche_cor

have a 99 rxi hatchack with 109,000 miles. Am doing about 2500 miles a month and apart from a bit of coolant leakage due to a fraid tubing not much trouble out of the ordionary. In fact leave it out in the cold and rain for 3/4 weeks at a time when away for work and always starts first time. Great motor - 16v 1.4 gives 97/98 bhp which is far better than most 1.4s and cheaper insurace, great fuel economy ~40mpg mixed driving, easy on tires and loads included in with the car for its time, cd player, alloys, electric windows, sunroof. The one thing that does bug me about it though is cabin noise on motorway above 130kph