02 Laguna Engine trouble, any ideas?

Hey Lads & Lass'

In a bit of a spot of bother and wondered if anyone would be able to help me out?

Car is a 2002 Rentault Laguna 1.6 16v Expression (think its expression anyway). 70k-ish miles. Due a service in the next 5k.

Well, on to the problem...

Went into shop, car was fine. Came out, started up and it was making a loud rattling noise & kept cutting out. Checked engine, belt etc appeared all ok. Managed to get it going if I kept revving a little.
The noise was there when idle, and at low revs in gears, but after you change gear and speed up a wee bit it the noise was gone and went away. Checked oil & coolant later on and topped them up, after that the noise was still there but it wasn't cutting out.

So, was driving home from work then, on M1, Friday 6pm Mental traffic, in fast lane and car cuts out (doing about 60kph) tried to start again, and again, no joy, put the hazards on and tried to move my way over the inside lane and onto the hard shoulder (nearly crashing into other ignorant people who wouldn't let me across, despite it being obvious I broke down.

Got across anyway, mortified with the amount of rubber-neckers going by, nothing obvious wrong with engine, but it wouldn't re-start, just kept ticking over. After a bit it wouldn't even do that. Queue recovery.

So, loud rattling / shaking kind of noises, cutting out etc.

I know I'm being vague, but anyone got any idea what the problem might be? Not much of a motor head myself.

The cars prob only worth about a grand or so, so if you do know what the prob might be, what kinda price would it be to fix? Or would it be worth just getting rid.
If its not worth fixing, what kinda price should I be looking for if I'm selling for parts?

Cheers lads, if anyone can help, would sincerely appreciate !

Spy

junkyard

Did you put the wrong fuel in it by any chance?

BrianD3

That sounds quite like a flywheel sensor problem and it is a known issue on the Laguna. It might just be case of cleaning the sensor which is a 5 minute job. See below link
http://www.renaultforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=10062

Dartz

it might be detonating, maybe because it's running lean at low rev's. Could be poor fuelling, either low fuel pressure, or just not squirting enough in.

Nope, correct fuel.

Engine was chugging at one point too, so could it really be something that simple?

beam99

I wod replace the flywheel sensor and wiring loom, the 2 parts come as a kit, They do give a lot of trouble, when you unplug the loom from the sensor if u have water in it, check the water hose above the sensor for a leak.

Cheers for the replys lads, much appreciated.

BrianD3 - Cheers, will give it a shot, might be able to do it myself.

Beam00 - Thanks for the advice, any links or anything for pics or walk throughs so I can try and figure it out myself ?

P.s Say I cant figure it or whatever, how much should I be looking for for parts / scrap etc? Do ya's know any yards or whatever who might take this kind of salvage? Because, the tax / nct is up on it recently, due a service in the next 4/5k miles and needs a new tyre or two, so it might not even be worth fixing, even if its a small problem.

Saab Ed

Might be a coil!!!

Saab Ed

Saab Ed wrote: »

Might be a coil!!!

Hrm.....Thanks, think this is going to be far too much effort / time to fix.

Any idea on how much I should look for it or where to even start selling..
Someone in work said Byrnes Car Dismantlers in Strabally should buy it ?

Saab Ed

Deleted User wrote: »

Hrm.....Thanks, think this is going to be far too much effort / time to fix.

Any idea on how much I should look for it or where to even start selling..
Someone in work said Byrnes Car Dismantlers in Strabally should buy it ?

I'll buy it......at a price of course

junkyard

Saab Ed wrote: »

I'll buy it......at a price of course

Maybe this thread could move to the Masochism forum if there is one.......if there isn't there should be and you could add Alfa, VW, Mercedes and a few others in there for good measure.

Saab Ed

junkyard wrote: »

Maybe this thread could move to the Masochism forum if there is one.......if there isn't there should be and you could add Alfa, VW, Mercedes and a few others in there for good measure.

:D:D:D:D:D:D......but you know what you've started now

junkyard

Saab Ed wrote: »

:D:D:D:D:D:D......but you know what you've started now

I don't care, some people just can't handle the truth. They have high expectations from some marques and when they get left down they simply don't want to admit it. The day my BMW f**ks up repeatedly i'll be the first on here to slate it but so far so good and it's number 11 for me now so it's looking good. I've had Renaults, Alfa, Mercs, Toyotas, VW's, all ages and they f**ked up big time in some cases and regularly so that's the way I see them.

Saab Ed

junkyard wrote: »

I don't care, some people just can't handle the truth. They have high expectations from some marques and when they get left down they simply don't want to admit it. The day my BMW f**ks up repeatedly i'll be the first on here to slate it but so far so good and it's number 11 for me now so it's looking good. I've had Renaults, Alfa, Mercs, Toyotas, VW's, all ages and they f**ked up big time in some cases and regularly so that's the way I see them.

:D:D:D:D:D

Ha....dont know what I've started, but on a *different* note...
Saab Ed, what kinda price did you have in mind?

Or does anyone have any idea what price to start at, sincerely dont have a breeze what to start at and want to get the ad up soon so I can get the ball rolling !

Cheers lads

Green Hornet

junkyard wrote: »

Maybe this thread could move to the Masochism forum if there is one.......if there isn't there should be and you could add Alfa, VW, Mercedes and a few others in there for good measure.

Agreed.

Next the usual suspects will appear defending the rubbish to death though............

Renault threads here very frequently. Just dont understand why people buy the junk.

galwaytt

Green Hornet wrote: »

Agreed.

Next the usual suspects will appear defending the rubbish to death though............

Renault threads here very frequently. Just dont understand why people buy the junk.

Give it a rest. Renault bashing is far more popular than Renault-defending, so if no-one started it, no-one would respond to it......

OP - silly question maybe, but if the car was 'fine', and you're not servicing it for another 5k..........why was it in the shop ? I'd start, there......

I'd go with the coil theory, and OP, you can buy a set of 4 now for less than Eur 100, if need be. Takes one Torx screw and unplug one plug to change. Less than a 5 minute job.

Junkyard has a point about his 11 BeeEmms.......but he's had 11, so maybe didn't keep any of them long enough for problems to develop......;) ...they're not short of issues themselves.


Me ? I'm currently Renault-less, and the only experience I have of them is the 3 I bought since 99, two of them new, two of them petrol 16v. Yes they have coil issues, but in the scheme of things, so do: VAG, Opel - and that's and awful, awful lot of cars.....

unkel

galwaytt wrote: »

Give it a rest.

+1

We all know recent Renaults in general and the Laguna 2 in particular are associated with more reliability / electrical problems than average. That said, if the issue is as minor as BrianD3 suggested it might be, the car is hardly a write-off now, is it? FWIW, a colleague and a neighbour have had a couple of Laguna 2s each over the last few years, none of which ever had a serious problem.

galwaytt

galwaytt wrote: »

Give it a rest. Renault bashing is far more popular than Renault-defending, so if no-one started it, no-one would respond to it......

OP - silly question maybe, but if the car was 'fine', and you're not servicing it for another 5k..........why was it in the shop ? I'd start, there......

I'd go with the coil theory, and OP, you can buy a set of 4 now for less than Eur 100, if need be. Takes one Torx screw and unplug one plug to change. Less than a 5 minute job.

Junkyard has a point about his 11 BeeEmms.......but he's had 11, so maybe didn't keep any of them long enough for problems to develop......;) ...they're not short of issues themselves.


Me ? I'm currently Renault-less, and the only experience I have of them is the 3 I bought since 99, two of them new, two of them petrol 16v. Yes they have coil issues, but in the scheme of things, so do: VAG, Opel - and that's and awful, awful lot of cars.....

IT wasnt in the shop, I was in the shop. There was nothing, nothing wrong with it, cant stress that until I got back in the car after buying my lunch :P

unkel wrote: »

+1

We all know recent Renaults in general and the Laguna 2 in particular are associated with more reliability / electrical problems than average. That said, if the issue is as minor as BrianD3 suggested it might be, the car is hardly a write-off now, is it? FWIW, a colleague and a neighbour have had a couple of Laguna 2s each over the last few years, none of which ever had a serious problem.

I knew the problems that I might have in the future....I knew that Renault isnt the most reliable make, but in fairness I only paid a grand for it, over a year and half ago, and have had no problems with it until now....I think thats an OK deal !

Anyways.....spoke to one of the engineers in work who walked past me driving on Friday evening...he said by the sound of it & by the description of what happened I gave, that theres a good chance its the tensioners on the belt that have gone....or the crank shaft.

Thanks for the help all the same lads :rolleyes:

The lads were saying I'd be lucky to get between 5-800 (800 being very, very lucky)

Would this be right?

Spy

galwaytt

Deleted User wrote: »

IT wasnt in the shop, I was in the shop. There was nothing, nothing wrong with it, cant stress that until I got back in the car after buying my lunch :P

LOL

Deleted User wrote: »

.. but in fairness I only paid a grand for it, over a year and half ago, and have had no problems with it until now....I think thats an OK deal !......The lads were saying I'd be lucky to get between 5-800 (800 being very, very lucky)

Would this be right?

OMG OMG OMG - you spent 1000 a year and a half ago, you might get half that back now, and had zero problems in between ? :eek: :eek: That's €300 depreciation A YEAR ! Oh that I was that lucky ! Thats is as near as motoring for free as you can get !! A lot of people are losing 10x times that per annum on their cars, as-is !

And yes, you're already lucky !

Drummerboy08

TBH, you made this one too easy for us OP.

The clue is in the title.....;) Its a 6 letter word, starts with L and ends in A. Thats your problem right there....;):)

galwaytt

galwaytt wrote: »

LOL



OMG OMG OMG - you spent 1000 a year and a half ago, you might get half that back now, and had zero problems in between ? :eek: :eek: That's €300 depreciation A YEAR ! Oh that I was that lucky ! Thats is as near as motoring for free as you can get !! A lot of people are losing 10x times that per annum on their cars, as-is !

And yes, you're already lucky !

Not quite sure what to make of that. Sarcasm is hard to read.

On a serious note, back to the subject at hand, can anyone tell me what price I should be looking for so that I can at least get an ad up ?

BrianD3

Before deciding to sell it for pittance, why not find out for sure what's wrong? Just because "the engineer" at work says it is probably the crankshaft doesn't mean it is! Based on your description of the symptoms, I'd still say it's more likely to be something small. If it is running badly all the time then it may be a plug coil (do any warning lights come on on the dash?) If it is running badly some of the time particularly when starting then I'd be looking at the flywheel sensor. The link from renaultforums says how to replace the sensor, cleaning the existing sensor is the same only easier/cheaper.

BrianD3

BrianD3 wrote: »

Before deciding to sell it for pittance, why not find out for sure what's wrong? Just because "the engineer" at work says it is probably the crankshaft doesn't mean it is! Based on your description of the symptoms, I'd still say it's more likely to be something small. If it is running badly all the time then it may be a plug coil (do any warning lights come on on the dash?) If it is running badly some of the time particularly when starting then I'd be looking at the flywheel sensor. The link from renaultforums says how to replace the sensor, cleaning the existing sensor is the same only easier/cheaper.

Cheers Brian....I work for an insurance company, he assesses (spell?) cars for a living, so I'd generally trust what he thinks (honestly not being smart there)

Just got a crappy rover to do me til payday at the end of the month, might take a look into it then. Being honest, not at all mechanically minded, so a 20 min job would take me hours. & as it wont start, I'd have to get it recovered to a garage.

P.s it wasnt some of the time or all of the time, it just came on all of a sudden. Would something so small really make the car chug or make so much noise?

BrianD3

Deleted User wrote: »

P.s it wasnt some of the time or all of the time, it just came on all of a sudden. Would something so small really make the car chug or make so much noise?

A faulty coil would be very noticable and would happen suddenly. The car will chug and shake, will be down on power but feel smoother when revved. Moving off from a standstill it will feel like you're trying to move off in 3rd gear instead of 1st.

The car will generally start if it is a coil problem though. Bad starting is more indicative of flywheel sensor.

Bit of an update....opened the bonnet and thing I found that sensor, will try and replace at the weekend when I have the time / light !

Just a question, when I take it out, how do I know its broken....any obvious signs, eg its snapped or anything?

One other thing. Only noticed there, I put the key in, and theres sort of a continuous beep coming from the engine / computer, and the computer sounds like its working away....if that makes sense....does this indicate anything?

P.s BrianD3 - That does kinda sum it up, sort of. So if its a coil, what steps do I need to take now.....would it maybe be the computer stopping me from starting it because of the coil problem....like when I go to start, nothing happens in the engine, it just ticks and all the lights go on / off

Cheers
Spy

BrianD3

If you want to try something I'd say just clean the flywheel sensor. There are two screws holding it in place. Do not drop the screws because if you do they could go into the flywheel housing and will cause a major headache. The sensor is shaped like a "T" and the bit you need to clean is the bottom of the "stem".

However the symptoms you now descibe with the ticking noise and lights when you try to start sounds more like a flat battery. It could be that unsuccessfully attempting to start the engine has now resulted in an additional problem i.e flat battery.

It may be time to bring it to a garage.

BrianD3

BrianD3 wrote: »

It may be time to bring it to a garage.

Agreed - Thanks for all your help

Bazzy

Clean the sensor yourself and get someone to jump start you theres a recession on man save the few bob and you never know it might work

and you'll have learnt something new!

I've learned a lot with this car.....most importantly, dont buy Renaults !

BlackWizard

For 1000 euro you get to drive around in a comfortable 2002 Laguna for 1.5 years. That's pretty good going, if you can get another one but higher up the years for 1000 euro and make it last 1.5 years then I don't see the big deal.