Dacia Sandero Engine Failure Risk

Tony H

the wife was driving home last night and had to stop a few times when this message came up , I checked the coolant and it was full but seemed discoloured and there was a sludge on top of it ,

thanks for any help

magicbastarder

oil in the coolant? a quick google suggests a possible blown head gasket.

10-10-20

Engine-oil mayonnaise. The vehicle needs to be towed to the dealer/repair shop. It's probably the head-gasket as the magic one says. What year and how many km's on it?

get towed to garage. Do not drive. Oil is mixing into the coolant for whatever reason.

Tony H

thanks for the quick reply's , was thinking that myself ,just needed someone to confirm , the dealer collected the car and drove it away , which i thought was a bit crazy , the car is a 231 with only 6000 km , regged last may .

listermint

Jesus that's baaaad for 6000km . What engine is it ?

Tony H

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121739312#Comment_121739312

1L TCE 90

magicbastarder

at least it's under warranty i presume?

djan

I'd echo the others, looks like a severe oil leak. Crazy of the dealer to drive it but that's their problem now. As annoying it is to deal with, I'd look to get a replacement car and consider yourself lucky that you won't have to pay anything for repairs as it will be a relatively extensive job.

Tony H

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121739693#Comment_121739693

Did you mean get a temp replacement car or make them replace the car itself ?

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121739830#Comment_121739830

I'd say that's a replacement engine. There's no good that could possible come from that level of oil mix. That's either long running or a very catastrophic failure between the cooling side and the business side of the engine block.

djan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121739830#Comment_121739830

Initially I meant to get replacement car but given that such a fatal issue occurred after just 6k km, I'd be concerned what else was not put together properly so would try to get a permanent car replacement.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121740252#Comment_121740252

You've about >< this much hope of swapping a year old car.... that's not a sensible option regardless of how the engine went. It's warrantied. It'll probably be swapped and should be.

colm_mcm

Could it be something as simple as the oil cooler malfunctioning causing this?

kirving

It certainly looks bad, and the warning message all but confirms it.

As an aside, my sister had a Corsa which had similar mayo under the oil cap, but never lost a drop of coolant. I think it was just condensation, due to successive very short trips every day.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121741046#Comment_121741046

Certainly.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121741073#Comment_121741073

The tank is packed with oil mix. Not just some on the lid tbf. Imagine how all the pipes look.

Luna84

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121741073#Comment_121741073

I don't know that looks a lot worse than a bit of condensation. If it is an engine fault you just got an unlucky one as that 1 litre engine is out a few years at this stage a couple in the Clio(it was out in the Clio long before the Dacia's) and three years in the Sandero and I forget how many in the Duster. If it was a widespread problem we would have heard about it.

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121741046#Comment_121741046

Does a 1l even have an oil cooler?

kirving

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121741093#Comment_121741093

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121741107#Comment_121741107

Oh yeah sorry I should have been more clear. This is oil in the coolant, not water in the oil, so this Dacia looks like it needs a new engine due to the coolant color, or work so serious that it would never be done and re-warrantied by the manufacturer.

It was really just to mention that you can have quite a serious build up on the oil cap (it was worse than this), and it may not be a major issue.

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121741134#Comment_121741134

That's typically a condensate buildup which becomes an emulsion and then sits under the oil cap. You're right, that's not a concern, but buckets of mayo in the cooler header sure is!

djan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121740998#Comment_121740998

Yeah yours right, for some reason I thought was just 3 months old.

colm_mcm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121741122#Comment_121741122

Yes, it’s the Renault 1.0 turbo engine.

Tony H

Thanks for all the helpful insights , have calmed the boss down a bit now and hopefully all will be sorted ASAP, got a Duster on loan in the meantime

PukkaStukka

Do those cars have a temperature gauge? If not, I'd wager the engine failure message is because it's running quite hot. Agree on the face of it that this looks like head gasket failure and is something those baby Renault engines are known for

Luna84

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121742935#Comment_121742935

something those baby Renault engines are known for

Where did you hear that as I never did. Got a link or anything?

PukkaStukka

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121742962#Comment_121742962

Google "renault 0.9 tce engine problems". The HB4 engine has popped head gaskets and chewed timing chains. The newer 1.2TCE and 1.3TCe's are problematic too. Separate to the engines, the Renault electrics in some of them are comical. I've replaced a few UPC's for the weirdest faults imaginable.

Luna84

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121743015#Comment_121743015

That's a different engine. There an older 0.9 and the one the OP has is the newer 1 litre. Also that 0.9 litre engine is reliable too.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121739693#Comment_121739693

Maybe the dealer decided that the engine was cooked anyway so not much further harm in driving it?

Also, I guess it would depend on how far he had to drive it too. If the garage was only a couple of km away there wouldn't be time to build up that much heat. My car takes about 5 to 10km for the engine temp to reach 90C.

Tony H

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121741046#Comment_121741046

That's what it was ,part ordered should have it back soon , wife calmed down so all is good again ,

Thanks again for all the helpful input really appreciated

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121761967#Comment_121761967

You want to make sure that entire coolant system is crystal clear when you get it back and monitor it going forward for a good few weeks. Every bit of oil needs to be flushed out of it.

Tony H

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121761983#Comment_121761983

Will do , thanks

Andrewf20

Argh! Has the delete post option vanished?