First of all, let me just say that I love this car, although it is a pain in the a**.
Just to give you a bit of background, I bought my 2009 Clio (the 1.2 TCE model) back in March, with 31,000 miles on the clock. The check engine light came on the day after I bought it but went out as I was driving the car to work. It was a smooth, relaxing drive up until June when I had the cambelt changed. A week after this was replaced, the engine started to make a slightly audible rumble, which could be felt through the pedals and seat (the garage have said on two occasions that the cambelt fitting is fine). Around September, the alternator started to make a grating sound and was promptly replaced. This is when the engine started to misfire now and then, but only when idle and warm.
The engine starts perfectly when cold (idling around 1200ish, as it should). As the engine starts to warm up (just before the temperature gauge hits the quarter-way mark on the dashboard), the engine starts to make a faint "rumbling" sound. The revs will be at around 750 at this point, but the tick-over is perfect. As the revs drop to around 650ish (normal idling speed) the engine starts to misfire. It gets pretty bad as the engine hits normal operating temperature.
The misfiring seems to be worse when under electrical load (headlights, rear demist, heater, etc.), but is still present without the load - it's just not as bad. At first, I could live with it, but now it's so bad that it's becoming very stressful. Two weeks ago the check engine light came on, indicating code P0141 (bank 1 sensor 2 heater issues).
I can't explicitly say that the symptoms are caused by the new cambelt, although the rumbling did start a week or so after this work was carried out. I also can't explicitly say the symptoms are caused by the new alternator because the weather started to get cold during the same time and I was using the heaters, etc. more often.
I'm going to be changing the post-cat lambda sensor soon, but I do not have faith that this will cure the issues. I should also mention that the car drives fine throughout the rev-range - there's no misfiring or juddering when setting off or cruising.
I don't have a lot of money to spend at the moment, so would like to narrow down which of the following could be causing these issues:
- Maybe it's just the lambda sensor
- Change the spark plugs
- Change the coil pack
- Check for vacuum leaks
- Replace both lambda sensors, not just the post-cat sensor
My theory is that the engine operates fine when in open-loop mode, but as it transitions to closed-loop mode, these symptoms appear. However, I'm still new to all of this so could likely be wrong.
I'm looking for some help with this issue - hopefully, I can get some better sleep at night. Any help is appreciated!
Just to give you a bit of background, I bought my 2009 Clio (the 1.2 TCE model) back in March, with 31,000 miles on the clock. The check engine light came on the day after I bought it but went out as I was driving the car to work. It was a smooth, relaxing drive up until June when I had the cambelt changed. A week after this was replaced, the engine started to make a slightly audible rumble, which could be felt through the pedals and seat (the garage have said on two occasions that the cambelt fitting is fine). Around September, the alternator started to make a grating sound and was promptly replaced. This is when the engine started to misfire now and then, but only when idle and warm.
The engine starts perfectly when cold (idling around 1200ish, as it should). As the engine starts to warm up (just before the temperature gauge hits the quarter-way mark on the dashboard), the engine starts to make a faint "rumbling" sound. The revs will be at around 750 at this point, but the tick-over is perfect. As the revs drop to around 650ish (normal idling speed) the engine starts to misfire. It gets pretty bad as the engine hits normal operating temperature.
The misfiring seems to be worse when under electrical load (headlights, rear demist, heater, etc.), but is still present without the load - it's just not as bad. At first, I could live with it, but now it's so bad that it's becoming very stressful. Two weeks ago the check engine light came on, indicating code P0141 (bank 1 sensor 2 heater issues).
I can't explicitly say that the symptoms are caused by the new cambelt, although the rumbling did start a week or so after this work was carried out. I also can't explicitly say the symptoms are caused by the new alternator because the weather started to get cold during the same time and I was using the heaters, etc. more often.
I'm going to be changing the post-cat lambda sensor soon, but I do not have faith that this will cure the issues. I should also mention that the car drives fine throughout the rev-range - there's no misfiring or juddering when setting off or cruising.
I don't have a lot of money to spend at the moment, so would like to narrow down which of the following could be causing these issues:
- Maybe it's just the lambda sensor
- Change the spark plugs
- Change the coil pack
- Check for vacuum leaks
- Replace both lambda sensors, not just the post-cat sensor
My theory is that the engine operates fine when in open-loop mode, but as it transitions to closed-loop mode, these symptoms appear. However, I'm still new to all of this so could likely be wrong.
I'm looking for some help with this issue - hopefully, I can get some better sleep at night. Any help is appreciated!
