renault clio 1.2 2002 petrol 80k - Clio Intermittently cutting out and not starting

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Wed 17 Aug 2011 16:11
renault clio 1.2 2002 petrol 80k - Clio Intermittently cutting out and not starting - bovlington

Hi all, I was wondering if anybody could help me as I am about to lose my marbles over this car.

Its a 1.2 2002 clio with nearly 80k on the clock. I bought it second hand from a car dealer 12 months ago. When I purchased it the orange airbag light was illuminated after a few days, as it was under warranty I took it back to the garage and after EIGHT revisits to them the problem was eventually solved.

In April the clutch went which i'm putting down to general wear an tare but I've been experiencing no end of problems ever since which are costing a fortune to get resolved and keep reoccurring.

Towards the end of June it began randomly refusing to fire, this problem worsened and in July i took it for a diagnostic which resulted in a new starter motor and crankshaft sensor. The car worked fine until the following morning when the battery died and kept dying after jumpstarting it.

After taking it back to the garage they ran a few tests and said the battery wasnt holding its charge therefore I had a new battery.

All was rosy until two weeks ago when the car decided to delay firing, followed by not firing, followed by not even turning over, the lights and windows etc still working fine. This problem was very intermittent, sometimes working fine first time, sometimes taking 15mins to start. Until eventually it would not turn over at all.

The garage by me are brilliant (masons autos cardiff) and picked the car up for me. This garage trip resulted in a new starter relay an the cars been fab ever since............................

.............until saturday!

Its now picking and choosing when its going to fire, if at all and even more worryingly decides to cut out (as if its stalled) whilst driving.

I must admit i know nothing about cars apart from never to buy a clio or renault of any sort ever again. As i mentioned, my garage is fab but i get the impression that even they're a bit baffled, especially as when they just came to look at it it worked fine.

They recently came back to see the car and have now witnessed the fault. They think it could be the petrol pump but have advised me to let it get worse so that they can pin point the exact fault.

I forgot to mention that I have also renewed the battery in the key fob and have tried the spare key, sadly to no improvement.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

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Wed 17 Aug 2011 17:47
renault clio 1.2 2002 petrol 80k - Clio Intermittently cutting out and not starting - piston power

Im sure these have problems with coil packs as i replaced one on a freinds car that had starting issues.

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Thu 18 Aug 2011 09:27
renault clio 1.2 2002 petrol 80k - Clio Intermittently cutting out and not starting - bovlington

Thanks for your help mate but would that not have shown up on the diagnostic?

You'll have to forgive me as I know extremely little about cars, especially these blimming french ones. What I'd give to get my amazingly reliable corsa back.

I dont know if this is relevant but I have just realised that when I said the clio has been cutting out mid drive I may have been coasting (I know its naughty but on NHS wages and the rate of inflation I've picked up this fuel saving habit )

Since I realised I've been doing this I've refrained from doing it and -touch wood- no further cutting out but the starting problem is still there and worsening

I only have two bars of petrol left and am not sure whether to top it up and see if that makes any difference, any advice?

also someone has mentioned it could be some type of ring around the ignition blocking the signal from the key? :s

Edited by bovlington on 18/08/2011 at 09:30

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