I have a 2.0 16v (F4R741 - 140bhp standard) Renault scenic and a few of you may remember I put the whole top end from a 172 on it (head, cams, manifolds, tb etc) And had no end of trouble getting it to run right (turns out the cams were a mile out)
It still only made 155bhp (which was obviously not enough!). I took it to fred at BTM who said there was nothing actually wrong with it and suggested it was because the scenic bottom end is lower compression ratio (10:1 as apposed to the 11:1 or whatever it is on a 172) and was costing me the power. We did a compression test and it got 162 psi on each cylinder - which confirmed this.
So I kept my eye out for a 172 bottom end and eventually found one. 9.5 hour round trip later and I had it home.
I phoned Mick at Diamond Motors (Renault specialist in Nottingham) and booked it in for the bottom end swap.
Once we'd got the engine out we noticed that timing was out again (albeit only slightly) despite it being adjusted by a well known specialist on here..
We ran into a few problems during the swap, the main one being that the bottom end I bought had a hole in it!! And i didnt see it when I bought it
(see pics later)
Luckily the scenic block had the same oil pump cover plate and it was intact, so Mick took it off and transferred it over.
The other problem was that I had the bottom end bouncing around in the back of my car for a few weeks before it was fitted so the dipstick tube had snapped off, meaning Mick had to knock the remainder of it into the sump and take the sump off to get it out! A trip to renault and £15.71 later and I had a new dipstick tube (£15 for a metal straw!!!)
Sump back on and it was good to go.
My car runs on LPG and the amount of wires involved was crazy as I'm sure Mick would agree(!). Engine back in and Mick did a much neater job of all the wiring than the company that did the LPG conversion!
Put a new timing belt kit on (was really interesting to watch this! trust the french to make something where 3 locking tools are needed to change the belt!) Timing is now spot on for probably the first time in years, no more engine shake/splutter at tickover! It's amazing how much difference it makes having properly timed cams it's like a different car! Would definitely recommend Diamond Motors to anyone on here that is due a cam belt change.
Been taking it steady since the swap so can't really comment on the difference in power, though the power at around 2.5k seems better now which makes it more driveable around town.
When i get time I'm gonna take it back to Diamond motors to do a compression test to see how healthy the bottom end is and get myself booked in on a rolling road day at some point!
I'm very happy to have it eventually running right, Mick at Diamond did a great job and is an absolute top chap too.. couldn't ask for more!
Few pics:
Starting to take bits off - note the wiring on the windscreen.
More wiring!
Engine out.
Better pic. So much space! shoulda got a V6 lump..
Old lump
Old Block - Note the crown of the piston how it has a slight bowl to it - that's why the compression is lower. (All this effort to get rid of a small bowl on each piston!!)
Hole in the new engine!
From another angle - Timing belt must have snapped and took the casing with it which caused the hole.
Head transferred over and shiney new water pump fitted.
Belt etc on & ready to be timed up.
Flywheel and clutch on. I insisted the same clutch be put back on as it wasn't very old.
Gearbox on.
Exhaust manifold back on with new fitting kit (NWP sent the peugeot kit... which comes with bolts that are too short - I recommend you get a manifold fitting kit from elsewhere!)
F4R 730 in its new home.
It still only made 155bhp (which was obviously not enough!). I took it to fred at BTM who said there was nothing actually wrong with it and suggested it was because the scenic bottom end is lower compression ratio (10:1 as apposed to the 11:1 or whatever it is on a 172) and was costing me the power. We did a compression test and it got 162 psi on each cylinder - which confirmed this.
So I kept my eye out for a 172 bottom end and eventually found one. 9.5 hour round trip later and I had it home.
I phoned Mick at Diamond Motors (Renault specialist in Nottingham) and booked it in for the bottom end swap.
Once we'd got the engine out we noticed that timing was out again (albeit only slightly) despite it being adjusted by a well known specialist on here..
We ran into a few problems during the swap, the main one being that the bottom end I bought had a hole in it!! And i didnt see it when I bought it
(see pics later)Luckily the scenic block had the same oil pump cover plate and it was intact, so Mick took it off and transferred it over.
The other problem was that I had the bottom end bouncing around in the back of my car for a few weeks before it was fitted so the dipstick tube had snapped off, meaning Mick had to knock the remainder of it into the sump and take the sump off to get it out! A trip to renault and £15.71 later and I had a new dipstick tube (£15 for a metal straw!!!)
Sump back on and it was good to go.
My car runs on LPG and the amount of wires involved was crazy as I'm sure Mick would agree(!). Engine back in and Mick did a much neater job of all the wiring than the company that did the LPG conversion!
Put a new timing belt kit on (was really interesting to watch this! trust the french to make something where 3 locking tools are needed to change the belt!) Timing is now spot on for probably the first time in years, no more engine shake/splutter at tickover! It's amazing how much difference it makes having properly timed cams it's like a different car! Would definitely recommend Diamond Motors to anyone on here that is due a cam belt change.
Been taking it steady since the swap so can't really comment on the difference in power, though the power at around 2.5k seems better now which makes it more driveable around town.
When i get time I'm gonna take it back to Diamond motors to do a compression test to see how healthy the bottom end is and get myself booked in on a rolling road day at some point!
I'm very happy to have it eventually running right, Mick at Diamond did a great job and is an absolute top chap too.. couldn't ask for more!
Few pics:
Starting to take bits off - note the wiring on the windscreen.
More wiring!
Engine out.
Better pic. So much space! shoulda got a V6 lump..
Old lump
Old Block - Note the crown of the piston how it has a slight bowl to it - that's why the compression is lower. (All this effort to get rid of a small bowl on each piston!!)
Hole in the new engine!
From another angle - Timing belt must have snapped and took the casing with it which caused the hole.
Head transferred over and shiney new water pump fitted.
Belt etc on & ready to be timed up.
Flywheel and clutch on. I insisted the same clutch be put back on as it wasn't very old.
Gearbox on.
Exhaust manifold back on with new fitting kit (NWP sent the peugeot kit... which comes with bolts that are too short - I recommend you get a manifold fitting kit from elsewhere!)
F4R 730 in its new home.
