Hello
Yeah. Still happening. I know. I KNOW!
Well, lots has been going on personally so just have not had the effort to throw at this until lately.
One thing that did happen was the battery, out of the blue, all of a sudden. Just. Died.
Literally arrived at mums after a 15 minute drive from the shops, hopped out to give her some groceries and back in literally about a minute after. Nothing. Threw on a charger. Nothing. Threw on a booster. Nothing.
Even checking the voltage on the battery it was actually all over the place, I have never seen that.
Anyway, threw a new battery on and up she spun. It did have a little wobble with the immobilizer for a minute or 2 after the battery was replaced (solid light), again , never seen that before but might just have been the nature of how it failed or something? Anyway, that went away on the second or 3rd attempt at a start. Weird.
I guess I did have some symptoms of this prior such as the trip computer resetting and things like that. I have also noticed that since the new battery went in, I have had 0 rear O2 sensor failures randomly reported.
Also, an interesting observation and one that I hope doesn't sound crazy. But since the new battery went in..............the car smells different. I mean the exhaust etc and the smell of the car when it gets a horsing. Interesting right? So I am almost sure it was affecting running.
So, back at the task.
I am almost resigning myself to stop chasing this and just live with it which is a bit sad having owned the car for over 10 years now and muggling through most things, even the scary stuff (to me) such as the timing myself
To further update my efforts, I brought the car to a local indy who came well recommended (from an auto electrics and general gremlins pov) to see what his thoughts were. Told me timing. Definitely timing.
I then brought it to Renault (one out in the country as our closest is, well........useless). Paid for the diagnostics and they told me nothing was coming back as having any issues (I did blow all the errors away as there were MANY after the battery issue) but when I asked them about the hesitation they told me they are like that. I advised how long I have owned it and it did not do this in my first years of ownership, they then suggested............timing.
Ok, so, bought 2 new cam plugs and reluctantly spent a Saturday afternoon checking this again. Bear in mind, I checked this last year so these guys put doubt in my head that it could have slipped or something.
No. Perfect. Couldn't be any more perfect. The exact same experience as when I last checked it where the cam tool just slides in like butter.
I also checked the crank locking position using a bore scope (got bless Lidl) that I got a wee while ago and was worried that perhaps, had I missed the correct spot all those times? No, perfect. Sitting in the little notch in the crank.
So here we are again. :/
Parts cannon has NOT been pulled, just can't afford it.
Latest observations, I don't know if it might help or not.
On start up, at slight throttle..........the car is brutally off a/some cylinders.......sounds 2cv like and the stench of petrol is unreal. After a short while this goes and while I haven't actually checked, I am pretty sure this is when it is in open loop and when it switches to closed loop this disappears.
It categorically, did not do this previously.
So, going down that avenue, if it is displaying an issue in open loop, am I right in assuming that this rules out the O2 sensor? (which has been changed oh so many times with zero effect on this issue). What sensors are in use in open loop? Intake temp, map, coolant temp, tps, knock etc?
As I say, I know they are lumpy but this is top fuel lumpy.
Other musings.
Reverted to old injectors. Zero change until one actually failed and threw the light. Back to new ones.
Reverted to old coil pack. Confirmed coil pack issue with old one which is a much sharper feeling misfire than this. Back to new coil.
Reverted to old plug leads. Zero change.
Pulled the plugs. Completely fouled with soot as one would expect. Cleaned and popped back in as they are nearly new.
Pulled the O2 sensor. Completely fouled with soot as one would expect. Cleaned and popped back in as again, nearly new.
Have not touched the TB at all
Have not replaced the intake temp sensor
Have not replaced the map sensor
Replaced the inlet manifold donut gasket last year
Replaced the knock sensor wayyyyyyyyyyyyy back at the start of ownership.
Replaced the thermostat and water temp sensor maybe last year
New O2 sensor last year
New plugs last year
New fuel filter (yes, external one under the rear of the car) maybe 3 years ago
So, would appreciate a new steer and a fresh angle if I am going to even try sorting this.
J
