Hi, I hope someone can offer some advice with this intermittent problem with my Renault Megane. The car is the 05 1.6L 16V petrol which I've had for around 18 month (46K on the clock, and doing around 8K per year).

Every so often the car is very difficult to start. On pressing the 'start' button the engine turns over very roughly, sounding terrible (almost like a two stoke!) and dies again after a few seconds. To actually get the car going I need to start it several times, or gun the engine hard after which it idles and runs normally. The problem seems more prevalent during damp weather, but this occurred this morning (glorious day) and I suspect the problem is becoming more frequent/worse. Having said that the problem does not occur every day, or each time it it started.

The car has had diagnostics checks run on it (which did not identify a fault) and my garage seem at a loss (local none Renault garage) but suggest replacing various sensors/part and hoping it solves the problem! Before 'splashing my cash' I was hoping for a little more encouragement that the problem would be solved. Looking at various forums the coolant temperature sensor, TDC or crank position sensor were mentioned as giving similar, but not identical, faults

So does anyone recognise this problem or have a suggestion? Thanks Bigbob2020