Fix it, engine refurb or give up....?

[trophyOwner]

Hi Guys,
My Trophy is not well.

Had it since new with all required servicing and I was just arranging its 72k service when I noticed a new clicking sound coming from the engine.
It is most obvious at more than 2500rpm, but can also be heard at idle.
It changes (speeds up) based upon engine speed rather than car speed. It also sounds worse while accelerating than when coasting even at the same engine speeds.

Took it to a garage and they diagnosed that there were problems with both the top end and the bottom end.
Based upon the complexity of further investigation and fixing they have advised that the most cost effective path to getting it fixed is to get a refrubished engine fitted. Estimated to cost in the region of £2k for the engine and work. (I trust this garage as its run by a friend. They got a 2nd opinion from a mechanic from the garage next door. They also cannot actually do the engine replacement work so there is no reason for me to doubt anything they have said.)

I then thought I'd see what Renault had to say as thay should be very familiar with the engine. They looked at it and came back to me saying it had one of 2 issues; the dephaser or tappets.
If the problem is the dephaser they estimate just under £1k with almost double that for a tappet problem (as they would replace the belts + dephaser as part of the job anyway). (Got the belts done (but not the dephaser) about 4k miles ago!).

So, I have two quite different opinions.

If I was to go for the dephaser / tappet fix and the issue is in the bottom end then I would face significant extra costs.
Buying a refurbished engine will almost certainly fix the issue but will leave me with an unkown engine.

Any opinions or suggestions from those in the know would be very much appreciated as at the moment I really am not sure what to do.

Cheers.

 

[liam1610]

Have a chat with Fred from btm he on Clio sport it would be worth talking to him as I'm guessing he will diagnose correctly first time, there is also a low mileage engine for sale on Cliosport at a rather good price talk to Chris205 iv purchased from him before so can vouch for him, one thing with low mileage engine get belts done on it b4 it goes in.

 

[Sam_K]

To be honest if it was big and little ends surely the engine would have given up by now. If these are on their way out its more than just a clicking believe me!

A clicking that is often the carbon canister

however like liam has said take it to a specialist, they would diagnose it in no time

 

[trophyOwner]

Thanks for the comments guys.

I was suprised (to put it mildly) to hear the extent of the problem without having any clear performance loss.

I took the car to Renault in the hope of getting an expert opinion but from what you are saying a Clio / Renaultsport specialist is the best place to go.

Looks like I probably need a 3rd opinion and that should come from a specialist.

 

[hodgy21]

If it were mine I would take it to my nearest specialist (519 Automotive for me). From what I have read/heard and learnt from other peoples problems is that some garages seem to get something wrong on these engines quite regularly. I am not saying that your friends garage does not know what it's doing, (they may be spot on with the top and bottom end problem), I am saying you should get someone to listen to it/have a look at it who has worked a lot with these engines. I wouldn't want you to jump into a 2K engine swap when it could be something much much cheaper.

Good luck.

 

[Jon.G]

I'm pretty sure it wont be the tappets, many specialist say they are very rare to fail, more common is the dephasher. However, if it increases over 2.5k, I'd say it probably isn't that as it should go away. Does it do it from cold, or only when the engine is warm.

This may sound silly, but maybe check your spark plugs and injectors as one of those could be loose/faulty.

I was in a similar situation at the start of the year, I had two options, a new engine from an unknown source, or a head rebuild and a load more work done for a lot more. I opted for the rebuild due to knowing the history of the engine and I'd rather keep the standard engine and have a good knowledge of whats happened.

IMO I'd get it to a specialist that is local to you, who know these cars well.

 

[trophyOwner]

Thanks.
The noise happens at cold and when warm.

Can anyone suggest a good specialist in the North Wiltshire area?
I guess I can travel a little east / west along the M4 (maybe between Bristol or Reading), maybe north / south as far as Cheltenham or Salisbury but I don't want to drive it too far if I can help it.

Cheers.

 

[hoolio]

Well close to you you have Ktec and I'd avoid them, Ren-Tech down in Portsmouth who some rate or if you can get to west London, James ex of JMS (Stone automotive)

 

[Sir_Dave]

Take a video of the sound, then post it up - might help with any online diagnosis that needs to be done

 

[jimmybrown]

I took mine in to local Renault main dealer about 6 months after buying (so thats early 2008) since it had started clicking too. Intermittent, but altering with revs. Luckily it happened on the test drive with the mechanic sat in passenger seat. We pulled up & he listened to it with bonnet open. He rekoned it was a relay problem, something he said was common. Done getting on for 15k since then & its still doing it! Not saying thats defo whats happening with yours but if my option was a new engine, while the current one was still doing fine, I think i'd wait till it went pop before swapping. Anyway, all the best sorting it out.

 

[MarcB]

BTM is the place you wnat to go.
I would be getting the car to fred and let him have a look around it and you will find out what the problem is right away

 

[Renaultsport]

Well close to you you have Ktec and I'd avoid them, Ren-Tech down in Portsmouth who some rate or if you can get to west London, James ex of JMS (Stone automotive)

Thats who i was going to suggest. Can't fault them.

 

[Supersonic]

Well close to you you have Ktec and I'd avoid them, Ren-Tech down in Portsmouth who some rate or if you can get to west London, James ex of JMS (Stone automotive)

K-tec have looked after mine since I got it and i've never really had a problem, bad experience? They fitted the wrong exhaust when I upgraded but thats it, so the one I wanted was ordered and fitted free of charge.

 

[hoolio]

K-tec have looked after mine since I got it and i've never really had a problem, bad experience? They fitted the wrong exhaust when I upgraded but thats it, so the one I wanted was ordered and fitted free of charge.

Tbh I have no direct experience of them so maybe my comment is unfair, I personally wouldn't take the cars there as I've heard a few negative reports but if you've had good service great, I know Jeff takes his T there. I suppose you will always get the odd horror story about ALL garages, JMS were brilliant to me but Tom's name is now mud so........................

 

[Supersonic]

Of course. No one can please everyone all of the time.

 

[Will#I#Ams]

my preference would be fred too tbh.

if i ever took it to a garage that is lol....cant beat getting your hands dirty and doing it yourself tho imho