Dephaser unit????

[mackemalk]

ive had my 172 for 4 month now and last month i noticed an oil leak that seemed to get worse pretty quickly. I booked the car into the local Renault dealer just before xmas but couldnt get it straight in cos they were v busy!! Anyway, on the way to drop the car at the garage last week the car suddenly died - no warning - just cut out. When I pulled up at the side of the road all my oil was very quickly abandoning its rightful place in the engine!

I got the car towed to the garage where they diagnosed that the dephaser unit (I presume thats how its spelt) had 'fallen apart' - result same as the timing belt snapping - belt valves, knackered cylinder head the works - and a £2500 bill to boot!!!

First thing Im told that this dephaser unit controls the variable valve timing and is bolted to the end of the camshaft - does anyone know any more about it?

The car is only 9 month out of warranty and 2month before I bought it it'd been into a dealers after the timing belt snapped causing much the same damage - all done under Renault warranty.

After a few phone calls by the dealers and myself to Renault customer services, they agreed to pay 70% of the bill due to the fact that the car is only 9 month out of warranty and has only done 26K with full dealer service history etc.

Are these problems common?

 

[TomTom]

Common as muck mate, mainly on 1.6s meganes and scenics as theres lots of them about. Basically what happens it theres a end covering on the dephaser that it held on by tiny bolts, and in time these work loose, leaving a gap for oil to come out, or in some cases, almost totally fall off.

70% isn't bad to be fair, Lucky they agreed any to be honest.

 

[nuppy]

Phone customer services and do a lot of moaning, if they could have looked at your car eairler it may have not failed in this way!! saving you £££££

 

[mackemalk]

yeah thats what ive already done - that got their contribution up from 50% to 70%

I know the car is out of warranty but its only done 26K.

My main gripe is the fact that when the timing belt snapped 6 month ago among all the bits that got replaced was the camshaft oil seal where the dephaser unit fits - which I believe means that the dealer that did that work had to remove and re-fit the unit that has now failed - only a few months and 3K miles later - but they accept no suggestion of this failure being possibly related to the work they did.

 

[nuppy]

I know that they will say that the work they have already will not extend the warrant. but if the dealer has removed the dephaser and it now "fell off" then in my mind they have to take the blame it was ok for 2.5 years before they touched it. start saying things like watchdog

 

[Fred@BTM]

and a £2500 bill to boot!!!

i hope you're not paying that!

new engine from matt is £1250+vat

 

[edde]

and a £2500 bill to boot!!!

i hope you're not paying that!

new engine from matt is £1250+vat

70% contribution so its only £750.

 

[Fred@BTM]

still!!

 

[nuppy]

A NEW ENGINE IS £1250 are you sure thats not a recon?

 

[Fred@BTM]

nope brand new, in the crate, straight from the factory, we've had 5 or 6 of them

 

[edde]

still!!

Yep not to bad though new cambelt etc.

A NEW ENGINE IS £1250 are you sure thats not a recon?

Thats not direct from Renault from Renault there £3.5k list price.

 

[mackemalk]

Thanks for all the feedback.

£750 is still a lot i agree, but it's better than the full price!!

As for the cost of a full engine I'd imagine the £3.5k from Renault would be closer to the mark if you are paying dealer prices as the dealer told me a Renault cylinder head would be around a grand. Don't know if theres someway to get a big discount to get the full engine for £1250

Best thing is when I rang to see how they were getting on at the garage they told me they had needed to get another cylinder head from Renault as the first one they got was tight on one of the camshaft journals causing it to stick!!

Any way I should get the car back tomorrow, fingers crossed for no more delays - Im lost without me motor and its been nearly 2 weeks all in all now

 

[kneebs76]

ive had my 172 for 4 month now and last month i noticed an oil leak that seemed to get worse pretty quickly. I booked the car into the local Renault dealer just before xmas but couldnt get it straight in cos they were v busy!! Anyway, on the way to drop the car at the garage last week the car suddenly died - no warning - just cut out. When I pulled up at the side of the road all my oil was very quickly abandoning its rightful place in the engine!

I got the car towed to the garage where they diagnosed that the dephaser unit (I presume thats how its spelt) had 'fallen apart' - result same as the timing belt snapping - belt valves, knackered cylinder head the works - and a £2500 bill to boot!!!

First thing Im told that this dephaser unit controls the variable valve timing and is bolted to the end of the camshaft - does anyone know any more about it?

The car is only 9 month out of warranty and 2month before I bought it it'd been into a dealers after the timing belt snapped causing much the same damage - all done under Renault warranty.

After a few phone calls by the dealers and myself to Renault customer services, they agreed to pay 70% of the bill due to the fact that the car is only 9 month out of warranty and has only done 26K with full dealer service history etc.

Are these problems common?

Hello Al, fancy seeing you here !

He bought his 172 after driving mine for a weekend, so technically he could say he wouldnt have this bill if it wasn't for me!!

I'm not couging up, before ya ask