Radio Stays On / Wiped Out in Renault Fluence 2010

jt72

I have a 2010 Renault Fluence with the Tom Tom / Carminat audio package.

On a few occasions, the audio system will seem to stay on after the car is shut off, at whatever volume the sound was set to when the car is shut off. All controls are disabled and you cannot power off the radio by any other means except to disconnect the power via fusebox or battery as far as I can tell.

This has happened to us 3 times previously, and this makes it a fourth. It involves a replacement of the entire audio system.

I'm curious to know if anyone else has heard of this or had any problems.

christy02

jt72 wrote: »

I have a 2010 Renault Fluence with the Tom Tom / Carminat audio package.

On a few occasions, the audio system will seem to stay on after the car is shut off, at whatever volume the sound was set to when the car is shut off. All controls are disabled and you cannot power off the radio by any other means except to disconnect the power via fusebox or battery as far as I can tell.

This has happened to us 3 times previously, and this makes it a fourth. It involves a replacement of the entire audio system.

I'm curious to know if anyone else has heard of this or had any problems.

Renaults are renowned for electrical gremlins. Suggest you find a good auto electrician.

braddun

That means you didn't put your signal switch in right. The signal switch should be connected to your radio. So when your car shuts off it sends a signal to your radio to shut off then your radio sends a signal for your amp to shut off.

ltdslipdiff

By any chance do you have a phone connected to the bluetooth and is it within range when you're in the house? All under warranty so should be no bother!

jt72

braddun wrote: »

That means you didn't put your signal switch in right. The signal switch should be connected to your radio. So when your car shuts off it sends a signal to your radio to shut off then your radio sends a signal for your amp to shut off.

This is the 3rd or 4th radio unit as provided by Renault. It's a fault that has happened a few times, each time requiring a replacement unit.

When we get to the dealer tomorrow, and they disconnect the power to the radio it will be completely wiped out/useless and will need to be replaced.

jt72

ltdslipdiff wrote: »

By any chance do you have a phone connected to the bluetooth and is it within range when you're in the house? All under warranty so should be no bother!

I have long suspected that this fault is related to Bluetooth. I suspected there was an issue with my ancient Sony Ericsonn K800 or K750, and we had 2 or 3 failures when I was driving with my old phone.

My wife's iPhone connects automatically and I sometimes connect my phone.

I'm curious to know what made you suggest bluetooth?

2010's had 3 year warranty, but we had an offer which gave us a 5 year warranty. Thankfully.

ThisRegard

christy02 wrote: »

Renaults are renowned for electrical gremlins. Suggest you find a good auto electrician.

Old models, current ones have a good rep.

finalfurlong

Maybe so.All i know is I had a renault 19 in late 90s which was a minefield as regards elecrics-think all wiring looms in renault factory around then were fitted by candlelight!

jt72

I disconnected the battery for 20 min and when reconnected things were working again.

I had same issue. Renault updated the software and problem went away. Bluetooth connection has greatly improved since update as I no longer get disconnects.

christy02

ThisRegard wrote: »

Old models, current ones have a good rep.

Seems like it alright!

ThisRegard

christy02 wrote: »

Seems like it alright!

By your logic we can paint every car as problematic based on posts on this forum.

colm_mcm

The fluence is more a Samsung than a Renault anyway.

Breffnigolfer

colm_mcm wrote: »

The fluence is more a Samsung than a Renault anyway.

How so?

It's a Megane saloon. It's 100% Renault.

christy02

ThisRegard wrote: »

By your logic we can paint every car as problematic based on posts on this forum.

Already 2 people on this post have trouble electrically wise. Hardly coincidence.

Any time I am driving behind a Renault or Peugeot, there is reverse lights going on when they brake or brake lights on when they indicate.

Or the dreaded brake lights stuck on and the poor guy driving completely oblivious!!!!

Breffnigolfer

christy02 wrote: »

........

Any time I am driving behind a Renault or Peugeot, there is [sic] reverse lights going on when they brake or brake lights on when they indicate.

...........!!!!

That statement is absolutely untrue.

ThisRegard

christy02 wrote: »

Already 2 people on this post have trouble electrically wise. Hardly coincidence.

Any time I am driving behind a Renault or Peugeot, there is reverse lights going on when they brake or brake lights on when they indicate.

Or the dreaded brake lights stuck on and the poor guy driving completely oblivious!!!!

Nope, never seen that, and it's not like there's a shortage of them on the roads to not notice.

And one guy pointed out his was resolved by a software update for Bluetooth, so not an electrical issue.

Not sure what the relevance of the Peugeot problems is.

Casati

Earthing problems are in fairness fairly common to older French cars and this causing the disco lights effect - in general its a fairly easy fix.

I dont really get the Samsung comment re the Fluence. Samsung motors was a Korean car manufacture which Renault bought out about 5 years ago. In order to try to get sales going, they badged re-badged the Fluence in Korean with the Renault Samsung badge. Its basically using the Megane floor plan and the ones we get here have the same 1.5 DCI's engines that are in most Renault.

ltdslipdiff

jt72 wrote: »

I have long suspected that this fault is related to Bluetooth. I suspected there was an issue with my ancient Sony Ericsonn K800 or K750, and we had 2 or 3 failures when I was driving with my old phone.

My wife's iPhone connects automatically and I sometimes connect my phone.

I'm curious to know what made you suggest bluetooth?

2010's had 3 year warranty, but we had an offer which gave us a 5 year warranty. Thankfully.

All the Fluences were 5 Years Unlimited Mileage, although I have seen some of the 2010's come up as only 3 for some reason. I bet you have a sticker on the back window that says 5 Years Unlimited Mileage. Have seen only one other Tom Tom have similar issue which was sorted with an upgrade and unpairing of a phone (Sony too strangely) which fixed it. Have to stand up for the Fluence in fairness, the service Manager bought a 2008 A6 instead of a newer Fluence and so far with less than 50,000 miles on it it has eaten its own turbo, needed a new dual mass flywheel and now the dreaded oil pump failure has occured meaning a new engine ! Have seen loads of Fluences now with 160k + kilometers even on the 30,000 klm long-life service needing nothing only the regular consumables. I know they're bland and plasticky but they really have shown that Renault/Samsung can built a (boring) reliable car!

jca

ltdslipdiff wrote: »

All the Fluences were 5 Years Unlimited Mileage, although I have seen some of the 2010's come up as only 3 for some reason. I bet you have a sticker on the back window that says 5 Years Unlimited Mileage. Have seen only one other Tom Tom have similar issue which was sorted with an upgrade and unpairing of a phone (Sony too strangely) which fixed it. Have to stand up for the Fluence in fairness, the service Manager bought a 2008 A6 instead of a newer Fluence and so far with less than 50,000 miles on it it has eaten its own turbo, needed a new dual mass flywheel and now the dreaded oil pump failure has occured meaning a new engine ! Have seen loads of Fluences now with 160k + kilometers even on the 30,000 klm long-life service needing nothing only the regular consumables. I know they're bland and plasticky but they really have shown that Renault/Samsung can built a (boring) reliable car!

50,000 miles in 6 years, that's his problem. He should have gotten a petrol car.

ltdslipdiff

jca wrote: »

50,000 miles in 6 years, that's his problem. He should have gotten a petrol car.

His GF has been doing almost 1000km a week since they bought it 6 months ago, oh its an auto too !

The_Scary_Man

I had this issue come up this week, 2011 Grand Megane, battery was dead when I came out of work.

I brought it back in to the dealer I bought it from and they said that software isn't covered under the used car warranty.

They reset it for €45 but they wanted an extra €155 to update the software! If I go back in it'll be €200. If the software is buggy surely it should be updated free of charge?

I said no thanks and the advice was not to pair my phone with the car and it would be fine.

The_Scary_Man

The_Scary_Man wrote: »

I had this issue come up this week, 2011 Grand Megane, battery was dead when I came out of work.

I brought it back in to the dealer I bought it from and they said that software isn't covered under the used car warranty.

They reset it for €45 but they wanted an extra €155 to update the software! If I go back in it'll be €200. If the software is buggy surely it should be updated free of charge?

I said no thanks and the advice was not to pair my phone with the car and it would be fine.

€155 for a 5 minute job! It took all of 5 minutes for the Renault Dealer to update the software on my car. The 5 year manufacturers warrenty should still cover it. Try another dealer or ring Renault HO and complain.

The_Scary_Man

I rang Deerpark motors in Charleville for a second quote and their price for the software update was €68.

That's a pretty significant difference! He also told me that the problem is most likely with the radio unit but the software update might solve it.

I'll get the software update done in Deerpark and if it happens again I'll look to get the radio replaced.

If it is that then the radio is covered under the warranty and I'll go back to Keary's.