relays??

[jo hine]

Hi there,

My 2001 clio sport is driving me mad. It only starts when it wants to and if it decides not to turn over I have to pop the bonnet and take the 2 brown and 1 purple relays out swap the places of the brown ones and put them all back in again. About 7 times out of 10 this works. However there have been 3 occasions now where i have had to leave it in a petrol station as it will not start up again even after doing this and many more when it just hasnt started outside my home, never mind getting anywhere. This happens at least once a week. It has now also twice cut out while im driving it.
Does anyone know if i should just replace the existing relays or could it be something more sinister? I do not have the money to put it into a garage to risk getting charged for things it may not need doing to it.
I have a 1 year old daughter and I need a reliable car as ive had to walk carrying her in the pouring rain a good few times now to the nearest bus stop or taxi rank.
Can someone please help or give me some advice.

Thank you

Jo

 

[Nik]

 

[Jonny1*2]

Sounds more wiring related mate. Have you tried getting spare relays to see if it cures the issue?

 

[jo hine]

Ive looked into trying with some new ones but they are £24 quid each and you have to order them in. So I dont want to pay for something if I dont need it ha ha.
Ive been round scrap yards and recovery places just to see if anyone has any I could just try but no joy so far.
Someone has said the ecu? Is that expensive to fix? Im guessing thats the circuit board??

 

[Terry172]

Jo try replacing the relays

3x RS Stock code: 535-2542 @ £2.80 each +vat
15A SPCO 12v relay

linky

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/

Hopefully they are the same ones you have but will be black and not brown