Engine chugging soon after cambelt replacement!!!

[steviet]

Hey guys, Ive got a 1.6 clio rsi, which has been off the road for nearly a year now, after it developed an engine fault. I will soon be moving to the lincoln area due to a change of job, and would like to get it back on the road, with the final aim of using it as a track car. However the engine problem has me foxed, so if anyone can tell me what could/would cause the following symptoms, id be very grateful.
-The car starts, but cant maintain an idle (and a very rough one at that) without a touch of throttle
-It sounds a bit like a vw beetle, so thought maybe it was running on three, to test this theory, I ran the engine with each of the ignition coils disconnected in turn, each coil being removed made the same amount of difference as the rest of them, so i would discount it being an ignition fault.
- It is also massively down on power and reluctant to rev, and smells very 'fuelly'
The fault occurred not long (400 miles) after having the cambelt changed, though it ran fine immediately after leaving the garage near my folks in reading, to getting up to where I live near dundee, could this have any bearing on the problem.
Sorry for the essay, but I could really do with some help/advice, as id rather not scrap a possibly working car unless im looking at big money to fix it. Cheers, Steve.

 

[Sean6545]

You cannot test coils like that by disconnecting them. All your doing is killing them. The right way is to unbolt them all and rest them all back in. Start the engine and pull them out one by one and which ever one is faulty wont arc on the cylinder head and wont make a change to the engine note.

It sounds very much like a coil to me.

 

[steviet]

really? id have thought disconnecting the lead from the coil would be enough to stop it firing, therefore allowing me to see if any single one is causing the problem...... Im not a car mechanic by trade, so not completely au fait with how some of the systems work, but im more than happy to take things apart and put them back together.

 

[BigRich1]

I agree

It sounds like a coil problem

If it isn't that i would say that... if it isnt idling properly then maybe the throttle may be broken

 

[steviet]

are coils cheap?? does it make much difference where you get them (renault, gsf, etc...) I need this to be a cheap fix, otherwise its getting scrapped or broken!!

 

[Dangerous_dave]

yeh, they are pretty cheap.

dont know if this is the right one, but gives you an idea of price.


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/renault-clio-1-6cc-twin-coil-pack-98-01-7700100589_W0QQitemZ270395091265QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item3ef4cda941&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1689%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

 

[steviet]

I dont think thats the one, theyre individual coils, one per plug.

 

[steviet]

So its a pretty safe bet that its a coil...............
No offence guys, but I really dont want to be chucking money at something thats not broken!!!!

 

[Sean6545]

Do what I said above, and it will be easy. The pencil coils work in pairs, they the pairs share a 12v feed so each one works on 6v. When you dissconnect one the paired coil gets a full 12v.

This is why you can replace one and some times the paired one goes soon after.

 

[Darren S]

Do what I said above, and it will be easy. The pencil coils work in pairs, they the pairs share a 12v feed so each one works on 6v. When you dissconnect one the paired coil gets a full 12v.

This is why you can replace one and some times the paired one goes soon after.

V6's go through them for fun. Easily the biggest weakest link on the engine. I've changed four myself on Jain's.

Luckily, they are easy enough to get to on the Mk2's at least. The Mk1s are supposed to be a right biatch because of the plenum location, iirc?

Think of it as a Renault 'trait'!

D.

 

[steviet]

like these??
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/IGNITION-PENCIL-COILS-For-Renault-CLIO-1-4-1-6-1-8_W0QQitemZ270328153976QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item3ef0d04778&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1689%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50
Its a 2000 reg rsi, with the 1.6 16v (k4m) engine btw.

 

[bmh.01]

Just to go down another route, did you use the locking tools to change the cambelt? If not the timing is most probably out hence the rough running, if it were a coil they disconnecting the bad one wouldn't make a difference.

 

[steviet]

Hmm, well i think it was a renault dealer that did the cambelt, so id like to think its been done right, but you never know.... if I was to sling those e-bay coils in at 40 quid for the set, i suppose it would eliminate them, what im unsure about is that each pencil coil has its own lead going into it, which was where I disconnected them to test them. but from what ive read here, theyre paired... So does the wire split further back and just give the connected coil double the voltage when its paired coil is disconnected??