Gearbox fault?

[Symon]

My problems with this car continue.

On the way back from work today, I had to give the car some beans to overtake a slow arse.
When doing so i noticed a banging noise from under the car as I was accelerating. Also I felt like there was some slip in the transmission.
I am pretty sure it isn't the clutch as there was a grinding sort of noise, like you get when two gears are spinning and rubbing together slightly.

The car drives, changes gear fine and the box isn't otherwise noisy.

Is this sounding like a typical gearbox/diff fault?

I am really annoyed as I have only had the car a month. I am tempted to take it back to the person who sold it (A trader who trades from home) and ask for my money back, but I am not sure how I would stand on that.

 

[ADS_V6]

Symon was this guy in cirencester?

 

[Symon]

No, the car was bought in Witney and the previous owner was in Hastings IIRC.
I have just changed all of the engine mounts by the way, and it has made no difference.

I will get the box out and have it fixed if necessary, but as I use the car for work it is going to cause me problems.

The car also sometimes makes a banging noise from underneath f you lift off the accelerator, and then put your foot down again.

Personally I think it is the Diff, but I would like to jear if anyone else has had the same issues/symptoms.

 

[ADS_V6]

you close to any specialist on here m8 i wish u the best bloody cars

 

[Symon]

I am not sure, I put a post up asking about RS friendly garages, but it was moved to the pay members area where I cannot see it. At this rate I won't be keeping the car long enough to justify joining as a paid member. :sweat:

 

[ADS_V6]

http://www.renaultservicingleeds.co.uk/

 

[Symon]

Leeds is a bit far away, I am in Oxfordshire. I am not sure I would trust the car on such a long drive either.

 

[ADS_V6]

put a thread up asking for speciailist i cant find 1 ive been looking for you m8

 

[smac4494]

I doubt you'd stand at all by taking it back to a "trader" who trades from home. It would be too easy to for him to pull the whole "bought as seen" trick. Or a pass it as a private sale, where you have next to no rights. If you didn't pay cash, check who you actually paid (business name or personal)

As for the gearbox, it could easily be any number of faulty components related to the engine or driveshafts. Get a renault dealer to do diagnostic inspection on it. Costs a pretty penny but even the lazy s***s give a good solid opinion

 

[Symon]

I paid the trader by Paypal gift, as it was easier than going to the bank to pay cash.

They only live around the corner from me, so it would be easy for me to pay a visit.
They currently still have other cars for sale on ebay as well...

I am pretty sure I will find out what is wrong soon if I keep driving it as the problem is getting worse. Like I said it feels like the clutch is slipping when accelerating hard, but it doesn't happen as quietly.

 

[-Dan]

I paid the trader by Paypal gift, as it was easier than going to the bank to pay cash.

They only live around the corner from me, so it would be easy for me to pay a visit.
They currently still have other cars for sale on ebay as well...

I am pretty sure I will find out what is wrong soon if I keep driving it as the problem is getting worse. Like I said it feels like the clutch is slipping when accelerating hard, but it doesn't happen as quietly.

Hi mate,

I live in Witney, which trader was this? And where abouts is he based?

Does the car drive badly at all? Neil plant at barrie plant and sons garage in bicester is a renault sport specialist. Give him a ring.

 

[Addicted]

I've seen people who pay for parts via gift and get bent over, but cars too!?

 

[Symon]

The trader was on Deer park, it was a she not a he.
I did pay with Paypal gift, but I had looked at and driven the car befored as you do, and I don't consider it much different to paying cash.

The noise is definitely getting worse, There is a definite noisy slipping there, and the car seems to pull to the left slightly when it is happening, but other than hard acceleration the box is quiet and changes gear smoothly.

I did pull away in a bit of a hurry on one occasion, and there was a loud clonk, and a definite slipping at the time, but there was still drive afterwards.

Not sure what to do, my dad reckons it could be a driveshaft but I am not convinced. taking it to the specialist in Bicester is an option, but I am short of time at the moment due to work.

 

[Mr Plums]

Have you replaced the dogbone mounts for polybush ones?

Has it only done this once? Are you sure you didnt change to quick or miss a gear?

 

[Symon]

I have replaced the mounts for new, standard ones. The Dogbone was a genuine.

It makes this noise every time if you accelerage morte than moderately hard and it is getting worse.

I am tempted to get the car up in the air at the weekend and have a look to check the driveshafts.

On one of my other cars (A fiat Bravo) I had a problem with the diff, the ring gear was shrink fit and was slipping. the symptoms on this are very similar, only a lot noiser.

The cause on the Fiat was previous boy racer abuse, and i wouldn't mind betteing my cup has suffered similar.

 

[Bear Head]

Is the dogbone mount fitted the correct way up? This is very important. Is the big end of the small bush facing up towards the car or is the big end of the small bush pointing down towards the road?

 

[Symon]

I think the biggest part of the rubber is facing up to the car on the small end.
It was fitted the same way that the old one came off.

I am pretty sure that isn't the cause, that wouldn't cause slip in the drivetrain would it?

Due to the other issues with the car I am tempted to sell it as spares or repairs and get something German again. I am thinking that this car has had a hard life before I got it and is likely to carry on causing me problems and expense.

 

[Bear Head]

I think the biggest part of the rubber is facing up to the car on the small end.
It was fitted the same way that the old one came off.

I am pretty sure that isn't the cause, that wouldn't cause slip in the drivetrain would it?

Due to the other issues with the car I am tempted to sell it as spares or repairs and get something German again. I am thinking that this car has had a hard life before I got it and is likely to carry on causing me problems and expense.

No I don't think it would.

Yeah seems to be fitted correctly then.

To be honest I genuinely would get it to a local specialist. I cannot tell you just how much of a warm feeling it is inside leaving it with them. Knowing that everything your car could ever have wrong or any problem you may have they've seen and fixed a thousand times! They know the car's absolutely backwards so it costs you less due to their existing knowledge etc.

Don't sell it and buy a boring german shed. Keep it lol!

 

[Symon]

I can imagine the bills will be quite high.
The Dephaser is rattling, the cam cover is leaking oil onto the exhaust, so it will need a full belt change. Despite it only having been done about a year ago.
That is on top of probably a reconditioned gearbox and a new clutch. So i reckon on an easy £100 to put it right, that is if there is nothing else wrong.

Not sure what the car is worth as it is, cosmetically it is very tidy. That is why I bought it, but I didn't do enough research into buying one before I went for it.

 

[ADS_V6]

howfar are you from somerset

 

[Symon]

I am probably about 100 miles from somerset.

 

[ADS_V6]

right i am 80 miles in cardiff from dan sjm he sorted my belts m8 and is top notch,i drove to him with a timed up wrong engine and loose aux belt lol,might be worth a trip

 

[Symon]

Thanks for the help. I will have a think about it, do some maths and get the car up in the air at the weekend to rule out anything obvious like a drive shaft issue.

I can live with the leaking cam cover and rattling dephaser for the time being, but when winter arrives again and the smell of oil comes through the heater it would be a good time to get those fixed.

I am pretty sure I can whip the box out myself on the drive if it comes to it, although part of me thinks that i would be better off dropping the engine and doing the whole lot in one go. That is providing I could get my hands on a set of timing tools to borrow/hire. Doing a belt on one of these can't be as hard as doing one on a quad cam Alfa V6 can it? As I have done one of those...

 

[Symon]

Well just to update on this.
I have got the car in bits and the gearbox is about to come off.
The gear oil was clean with no traces of metal in it, the driveshafts look ok, and as far as I can tell the diff looks ok.

There is evidence that the car has been apart in the recent past. I am thinking someone has fitted a cheap clutch and it has failed in a stange way, but I will update further once the box comes off. (Hopefully tomorrow).