Fuel System Failure Renault Clio Dci

pinkemsy

At 4pm last Friday, as everyone was closing for Christmas, I received a call from my garage to confirm the catastrophic engine failure that had taken place late at night earlier that week, was a fuel system failure. They had been waiting to test for metal filings in the fuel system and it was confirmed that this was the worst case scenario last Friday. I had previously been towed there a few days before after the engine just stopped working, smoke, banging, engine problem light on in the car etc.

I have a Renault Clio 1.5dci with approx 60,000 miles on the clock. I called my insurance company just to confirm I couldn't claim (I couldn't), called Renault HQ (I'd read people had got assistance for cars out of warranty, a percentage of the repair might have been funded by Renault, but not in my case). I called a Renault parts dept at my local Renault garage, the guy said it wasn't worth fixing.

So, I'll speak to my local (excellent) garage that I use on the 2nd Jan. But in the meantime I have been searching for possible solutions; getting a refurbed engine, scrapyard etc. There seems a dead end at every option!

As I can't speak to my garage til 2nd Jan and have had many sleepless nights over the last week, I just wondered if there are any knowledgable people on here who may be able to offer any advice?? I'd be very grateful!

Clioterus

The fuel pump has started to disintegrate internally it will have clogged the injectors up and stopped the car from running. The garage will have removed the fuel filter to see if there are any metal filings inside it. It will need a new pump, the fuel system cleaning out and the injectors reconditioning, I recently had four injectors reconditioned and it cost £380! A second hand pump roughly £100 plus £8 for a fuel filter plus labour. What year car is it?

pinkemsy

Hi and thanks so much for the reply, the car is 2007. There are metal filings which requires a full new system, both the garage and Renault told me this. They said they would just do the injectors if there were no metal filings, but because there were, the whole thing needs replacing. This is the problem, I have to wait til 2nd January to start discussing prices etc although Renault parts dept have already said it's not worth repairing...?

atrixblue.-MFR-.

i wouldnt listen to renault parts department, they are not qualified, and would love you to come in and "check our new stock here arriving daily!!" in the plight of your fuel pump going.

your concern is what caused the pump to lose its lubrication to its internal parts, contaminated fuel with water? petrol? sugar? is there an underlying problem to the cause of this problem your overlooking?

the 1.5 DCI engine is the reliable out of the two (1.5 vs the 1.9).

go and have a detailed plan of action word with your mechanic and ask him your options, salvage pump? refurbish this pump? recon replacement from somewhere like bosch? fuel parts?.
his opinion of what caused this? what checks he has done to enure you dont have this problem 100 miles down the road after this problem because the underlying problem wasnt solved?

where can he get your injectors cleaned out if they can be cleaned out, or refurbished?

at what cost to you?

and then go from there.

Clioterus

Which ever way you go about this sadly unless you can do the work yourself it's going to cost a lot of money. The fuel tank will need draining and cleaning which requires the axle to be taken off, second hand pump for an 07 £180ish, injectors refurbed £380, £35 for a fuel filter and the dreaded labour! Depending on how much the garage charge p/h I'd say at least £1000. The car is worth £5-6000 so worth doing.

Clioterus

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

i wouldnt listen to renault parts department, they are not qualified, and would love you to come in and "check our new stock here arriving daily!!" in the plight of your fuel pump going.

your concern is what caused the pump to lose its lubrication to its internal parts, contaminated fuel with water? petrol? sugar? is there an underlying problem to the cause of this problem your overlooking?

the 1.5 DCI engine is the reliable out of the two (1.5 vs the 1.9).

go and have a detailed plan of action word with your mechanic and ask him your options, salvage pump? refurbish this pump? recon replacement from somewhere like bosch? fuel parts?.
his opinion of what caused this? what checks he has done to enure you dont have this problem 100 miles down the road after this problem because the underlying problem wasnt solved?

where can he get your injectors cleaned out if they can be cleaned out, or refurbished?

at what cost to you?

and then go from there.

It is quite a common problem with the pumps failing same with the Delphi injectors apart from these issues it's a cracking little engine.

Flying-High_2

Are these 1.5 DCI Pumps all Delphi?... Not done much with 1.5dcis accept look at a couple of Clio/Kangoo Vans... 60/65bhpish IRC? lack of personal knowledge put me off..... Any decent/proper software freely available to plug em in and see whats what?

Clioterus

Flying-High wrote: »

Are these 1.5 DCI Pumps all Delphi?... Not done much with 1.5dcis accept look at a couple of Clio/Kangoo Vans... 60/65bhpish IRC? lack of personal knowledge put me off..... Any decent/proper software freely available to plug em in and see whats what?

Yes they are a nightmare same with the Mondeo being Delphi injectors. You can buy the clip software off fleabay with the interface for £150ish.

Flying-High_2

Clioterus wrote: »

Yes they are a nightmare same with the Mondeo being Delphi injectors. You can buy the clip software off fleabay with the interface for £150ish.

Like I say not done much other than Basics with the DCI stuff.... Does that Software let you code stuff etc aswell?...

Clioterus

Flying-High wrote: »

Like I say not done much other than Basics with the DCI stuff.... Does that Software let you code stuff etc aswell?...

Yes you can code the injectors and the pump not sure about the keys though? The bloke I use has an older version of it and is not exactly computer savvy he uses it for personal use.

Clioterus

Forgot to add the Timing belt will have to come off so will have to add this to the price aswell it may as well have a new one on it unless it's very recently been done?