Thimk my cat might have gone tonight!

[geordieracer]

Was out for a drive, pulled out of a junction and moticed the car struggling in second gear, then it struggled in third, fourth, and fifth.

Basically the car struggles a bit in all the gears, my toxic fume monitoring light has started flashing, and when i got home i walked around the car with the engine running and there is an eggy (sulphur?) smell from the rear of the car. The car also sounds a bit rough (like a diesel).

Is this my cat knackered, and how much is that likely to cost to have fixed?

Or any other suggestions as to what it might be?

Did a search and coil packs are mentioned, as are the lambda sensors. Just thought that as there is an unpleasant odour, thought it must be the cat. If it was the cat would this cause the poor performance?

So many questions but am really worried about my car. Please help.

 

[SBV116]

Stick coil i would say, causing a missfire, would bring your ligh on the dash aswell!! not a major worry! get it sorted asap though!

 

[geordieracer]

how would that cause the eggy smell?

 

[SBV116]

how would that cause the eggy smell?

chucking unburnt fuel down the zorst! leave it to long and it would knacker the cat! trust me fella!

 

[geordieracer]

Ahh ok, so looks like i am gonna have to get some new coils then. Just ran the engine again and it did seem like it was misfiring at idle, and its difficult to pull away in first gear or reverse as well.

Are all clio coil packs the same?

 

[mini-valver]

I got 4 from a scrapyard for £10. Worth doing that as they are £20 each new IIRC (Could be more...)

 

[SBV116]

Ahh ok, so looks like i am gonna have to get some new coils then. Just ran the engine again and it did seem like it was misfiring at idle, and its difficult to pull away in first gear or reverse as well.

Are all clio coil packs the same?

Most are the same from memory! the V6's etc are different!

 

[pinky]

My cats fine but some times its eggy...passed mot recently with flying colours.

 

[SBV116]

My cats fine but some times its eggy...passed mot recently with flying colours.

Not unusual either, some just smell more than others! he he!

 

[geordieracer]

right, no scrappys around here locally, found some on ebay and they are £9.50 each plus £3.50 each postage. So looking at £52 for four! Do these all need to be replaced at once or could i buy one and change one at a time until the fault goes away?

 

[SBV116]

Yes, buy one, swap them one at a time until it stops missing! it MAY need to go on a diagnostic machine to turn the light off, sometimes your lucky and it will go out on its own!

 

[mini-valver]

^^Goes out on it's own as it does'nt illuminate until your going over a certain RPM or you use half or more throttle.

Buy 2, more than one can go at once. in my case 3 went at once, lol. To find which one it is that's buggered, pull the wiring plug from one coil at a time, if the engine note changes, the coil works so replace the plug and move onto the next one. When you remove the wiring plug and theres no change in engine note or RPM, swap the coil.

 

[geordieracer]

Ah ok. Just found a set of four on ebay for £39 inc postage, so may just stump up for them. God, i hope this is all it is, can't afford to be replacing anything more expensive at the moment. Am also clutching at straws here but could it just be water ingress, as its been raining heavily for the last two days.

 

[mini-valver]

It wont be mate. They are a common problem, don't worry about it!

 

[geordieracer]

^^Goes out on it's own as it does'nt illuminate until your going over a certain RPM or you use half or more throttle.

Buy 2, more than one can go at once. in my case 3 went at once, lol. To find which one it is that's buggered, pull the wiring plug from one coil at a time, if the engine note changes, the coil works so replace the plug and move onto the next one. When you remove the wiring plug and theres no change in engine note or RPM, swap the coil.

Do they just pull off? ALso can i do this with then engine running or should i disconnect, start the engine, listen, turn off, reconnect, disconnect the next one etc

 

[mini-valver]

Start the engine and pull the wiring plug out. If you hear a change in engine noise (it's very obvious) plug it back in as that one works fine. When you find the one that makes no difference, replace the coil and plug it back in.
Done!

 

[geordieracer]

Nice one. Thanks a lot for your help. Just been out and one coil is definately making a difference, with another sounding like it might be on its way out.

The knowledge of members of the club are part of what makes this a great club to belong to.

Going to give Renault a ring in the morning to see if I can buy a couple of coils and for how much, as I would like to get it sorted asap. Otherwise will have to wait on ebay delivery.

 

[mini-valver]

When you unplug one and the engine sound changes that coil ISNT broke. There will be at least one that makes no difference at all to the engine sound when you unplug it, thats the broken one!

Glad to help! Ill PM you my PayPal addy

 

[geordieracer]

Yeah, i get what you mean, just didn't explain it myself that well. Two of the ones i unplugged made the engine almost stall, one didnt make any difference whatsoever, and the remaining one made it struggle a little more, but not to the same extent as the first two, which makes me think this one is on the way out.

Like i said, the help is much appreciated, and hope i might be able to return the favour someday.

 

[mini-valver]

Thats it mate. No worries

 

[geordieracer]

Just been on phone to renault dealer and they want £73.68 for two coils! I need my car fixed now though, so not sure i can wait for ebay.

 

[Dcds4]

You can get them for about 20 quid each from gsf so euro parts prob do them for around the same place, not very cheap but much cheper than renault!

 

[geordieracer]

Needed my car running asap, so bit the bullet and bought two from Renault 15 mins ago. The drive in to the dealer wasn't fun, sat at 40mph in 5th in order to keep the toxic fume light off. Bought two coils, fitted them in the Renault dealership car park (bet they loved that!) and, yes! fixed. Thanks god! just a bit gutted at how much it cost me, but i needed my car working now.

 

[Timmay]

73.68! f**king hell

if they ever go agian let me know - my mate works for reno and get get them dirt cheap with his discount

 

[geordieracer]

^^will do, might just have to buy a couple spare in the near future.

 

[mini-valver]

£74!!! At least Dick Turpin wore a mask. f**k me!

 

[Reyes]

I also have an eggy smell coming from my exhaust

 

[geordieracer]

£74!!! At least Dick Turpin wore a mask. f**k me!

Tell me about it. Since fitting them though, my car seems a little pokier than it was before the coil actually failed. Perhaps it had been on the way out for a little while.

I also have an eggy smell coming from my exhaust

I am pleased to say that the smell from mine has definately gone.