Clio 2 1.4 Etoile 2001
Hey guys
Firstly some details. My car is a Clio 2001 1.4 Etoile (Y reg). I bought it 2nd hand in 2005 with 32000 miles on the clock. It was in very good nick (had it checked out by the AA). Car now has 46000 (so 14000 in 2 years). I have just had my 5 year service. It cost me £1500 - they replaced the timing belt, an ignition coil, the rear bushes and the rest was the usual stuff. Ignition coil went right before the service, thats really why it went in. I was originally going to wait till August for the service but I couldnt drive with only 4 cyclinders. So the car should be almost perfect now after all that money spent.
The trouble I am having (and I have had this from day 1 but hasnt gotten any better since service) is that when I start the car first thing after a period of inactivity (i.e. the engine is cold), until it warms up it runs ragged in first and second gear.
For example, I get in in the morning, turn on and ease out of my parking bay. As I start off down the road the car will jerk, almost like when you try to start in too high a gear (i.e. not enough power to weight) or you are running out of petrol. So I normally change to second cause this makes it a bit better, but as I accelerate if I take my foot of the pedal at all, the car slows very sharply. It is very hard to explain I am sorry if I am doing a bad job.
This only seems to happen when cold, as if I use the low gears later on (i.e. at traffic light start off) then they work normally (well as I guess normal should be). First is very powerful and I cant stay in it for long before the revs start rocketing, but second is also very powerful (I can start in 2nd sometimes if it is flat).
I dont pretend to know everything about cars, but I had an old banger of a Vauxhall Opel 1981 model as my first car before electronics and worked a lot on that. If this is not just a weird renaul thing, then I would hazard a guess at it being something to do with fuel flow or the combustion process. However I have put that fuel cleaner stuff in, and the garage said the magi computer didnt report any other faults.
The other thing I have always noticed is that the gear stick moves in your hand when you accelerate etc. I have never noticed this in any other cars and just took it as being a Renault thing. Is this right?
Any help/suggestions I would appreciate. I thought all of this would have been sorted by the massively expensive service, and I am thinking of taking it back and complaining that they didnt sort out the problem if there is indeed one.
Many thanks
Raab
Firstly some details. My car is a Clio 2001 1.4 Etoile (Y reg). I bought it 2nd hand in 2005 with 32000 miles on the clock. It was in very good nick (had it checked out by the AA). Car now has 46000 (so 14000 in 2 years). I have just had my 5 year service. It cost me £1500 - they replaced the timing belt, an ignition coil, the rear bushes and the rest was the usual stuff. Ignition coil went right before the service, thats really why it went in. I was originally going to wait till August for the service but I couldnt drive with only 4 cyclinders. So the car should be almost perfect now after all that money spent.
The trouble I am having (and I have had this from day 1 but hasnt gotten any better since service) is that when I start the car first thing after a period of inactivity (i.e. the engine is cold), until it warms up it runs ragged in first and second gear.
For example, I get in in the morning, turn on and ease out of my parking bay. As I start off down the road the car will jerk, almost like when you try to start in too high a gear (i.e. not enough power to weight) or you are running out of petrol. So I normally change to second cause this makes it a bit better, but as I accelerate if I take my foot of the pedal at all, the car slows very sharply. It is very hard to explain I am sorry if I am doing a bad job.
This only seems to happen when cold, as if I use the low gears later on (i.e. at traffic light start off) then they work normally (well as I guess normal should be). First is very powerful and I cant stay in it for long before the revs start rocketing, but second is also very powerful (I can start in 2nd sometimes if it is flat).
I dont pretend to know everything about cars, but I had an old banger of a Vauxhall Opel 1981 model as my first car before electronics and worked a lot on that. If this is not just a weird renaul thing, then I would hazard a guess at it being something to do with fuel flow or the combustion process. However I have put that fuel cleaner stuff in, and the garage said the magi computer didnt report any other faults.
The other thing I have always noticed is that the gear stick moves in your hand when you accelerate etc. I have never noticed this in any other cars and just took it as being a Renault thing. Is this right?
Any help/suggestions I would appreciate. I thought all of this would have been sorted by the massively expensive service, and I am thinking of taking it back and complaining that they didnt sort out the problem if there is indeed one.
Many thanks
Raab
