1.2 Clio Extreme '04
Hi everyone.
So I did a search in the forum for issues related to squealing cars, and the closest I found was this one, but I have a few extra details to add which make me think my problem might be slightly different. I also didn't want to bump an old dead thread as I'm aware people don't usually appreciate that.
Anyway, here are the most important details I can think of:
Vehicle
Renault Clio Hatchback 1.2 16V Extreme 3
Problem
During cold weather, the car squeals a lot for around 10 minutes once it hasn't been used for a good few hours. Without having pushed any pedals or done anything other than turn the engine on, it starts within about 20 seconds. Accelerating makes it a lot worse, and it quickly becomes less of a squeal and more of an outright screech. Seriously, I heard it for the first time without being in the actual car the other day and it sounds 10x worse from the outside. It actual hurt my girlfriend's ears as I dropped her off at work and drove away (she told me later).
It isn't constant either. What happens is it will start squealing and screeching for good 10-20 second chunks (the screeches change/get louder depending on which gear the car is in/how much acceleration I give it) but then it will stop, as if the part of whatever is causing the noise is no longer in the right place to do it, and then about 10-20 seconds later there will be another chunk of the noise. It basically happens on and off for about 10 minutes until it finally stops (presumably the engine has warmed up enough to expand or whatever, enough to stop the culprit from being noisy any more).
One other thing to note is that sometimes pushing the clutch in stops or quiets the noise completely until 10 seconds later when it decides to start again, as per usual), so I'm not sure how but the clutch may be related, as well.
This has been happening for 3 years (almost as long as I've owned the car) and it simply seems to be getting worse each winter that it comes around.
I spoke to a mechanic at a garage last week, who said he thought it might be the clutch release or something, but also that it will cost about £400-500 to repair/replace it. As you can imagine, I'm not particularly excited about the prospect of paying that much to stop my car making a noise. The problem is, it is REALLY embarrassing and people way down the road are turning around to look and see who is making such a ridiculous noise. Humiliating, really.
Sorry if this is too much info, but I hope somebody might have some more concise ideas for me on how this could be solved!
Much appreciated
So I did a search in the forum for issues related to squealing cars, and the closest I found was this one, but I have a few extra details to add which make me think my problem might be slightly different. I also didn't want to bump an old dead thread as I'm aware people don't usually appreciate that.
Anyway, here are the most important details I can think of:
Vehicle
Renault Clio Hatchback 1.2 16V Extreme 3
Problem
During cold weather, the car squeals a lot for around 10 minutes once it hasn't been used for a good few hours. Without having pushed any pedals or done anything other than turn the engine on, it starts within about 20 seconds. Accelerating makes it a lot worse, and it quickly becomes less of a squeal and more of an outright screech. Seriously, I heard it for the first time without being in the actual car the other day and it sounds 10x worse from the outside. It actual hurt my girlfriend's ears as I dropped her off at work and drove away (she told me later).
It isn't constant either. What happens is it will start squealing and screeching for good 10-20 second chunks (the screeches change/get louder depending on which gear the car is in/how much acceleration I give it) but then it will stop, as if the part of whatever is causing the noise is no longer in the right place to do it, and then about 10-20 seconds later there will be another chunk of the noise. It basically happens on and off for about 10 minutes until it finally stops (presumably the engine has warmed up enough to expand or whatever, enough to stop the culprit from being noisy any more).
One other thing to note is that sometimes pushing the clutch in stops or quiets the noise completely until 10 seconds later when it decides to start again, as per usual), so I'm not sure how but the clutch may be related, as well.
This has been happening for 3 years (almost as long as I've owned the car) and it simply seems to be getting worse each winter that it comes around.
I spoke to a mechanic at a garage last week, who said he thought it might be the clutch release or something, but also that it will cost about £400-500 to repair/replace it. As you can imagine, I'm not particularly excited about the prospect of paying that much to stop my car making a noise. The problem is, it is REALLY embarrassing and people way down the road are turning around to look and see who is making such a ridiculous noise. Humiliating, really.
Sorry if this is too much info, but I hope somebody might have some more concise ideas for me on how this could be solved!
Much appreciated
