Renault Clio II Expression - Renault Clio 2001 1.2 16v - Electrical Fault Light

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Wed 10 Aug 2011 12:28
Renault Clio II Expression - Renault Clio 2001 1.2 16v - Electrical Fault Light - Clio_Owner

Hi,

Sorry if this is a double post, my original one seems to have disappeared.

I've recently bought a 2001 Clio privately and am having trouble with the engine management/electrical fault light coming on and the engine cutting out.

This seems to only happen after I've already made a short journey, left the car for a while, then returned and tried to drive home. The car starts fine in the morning, revs are normal at idle, and the first journey of the day is uneventful. It's the return journey where the problems start.

The car will start perfectly, tick over nicely at just under 1000rpm but as soon as I put it into 1st gear and try to drive away the engine management/electrical fault light comes on and the engine cuts out. This will happen 2 or 3 times while I'm in 1st or 2nd gear, especially if I stop at a junction. It will start again easily but still cuts out when in low gears. Once I get up to 3rd or 4th gear the light goes off and the car returns to normal as if nothing was wrong.

Also while the light is on, if I rev the engine to about 4000rpm for a minute or two while stationary this will cure the problem temporarily.

My husband has changed the air filter, spark plugs and checked ECU wires for chaffing. They were already taped up but he removed the tape and inspected them, there didn't seem to be any damage to the wires themselves, just the plastic was slightly worn on one or two of them. The black box had already been removed.

Any ideas what to try next please? Taking it to a garage will be my last resort as I've heard of people having numerous parts replaced and still not fixing the problem, and at this stage I'm still hoping it's just a blockage or something sticky that can be fixed easily. We just don't know where to look!

Any advice would be much appreciated. Many thanks.

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Sat 3 Sep 2011 10:49
Renault Clio II Expression - Renault Clio 2001 1.2 16v - Electrical Fault Light - Clio_Owner

For anyone who's having the same problem, here is what seemed to fix it for me...so far.

It seems the fuel system/injectors were dirty and when the petrol was getting low it was sucking up all the gunk in the bottom of the tank and blocking the injectors and everything else on the way. I put half a bottle of Redex in half a tank of petrol, the car was worse for a couple of days (presumably more debris had been dislodged by the Redex) but after a good run at 70mph it seemed to clear it and now...touch wood....the car drives smoothly with no stalling/juddering/fault lights.

It will take a couple of weeks for me to trust it again, especially when pulling away at junctions where I'm still really nervous it might cut out, although it doesn't feel like it will anymore, but it's been a week now and everything seems fine.

I'll also be getting the fuel filter changed for good measure.

Hope this helps someone.

Edited by Clio_Owner on 03/09/2011 at 10:51

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Fri 8 Jun 2012 10:15
Renault Clio II Expression - Renault Clio 2001 1.2 16v - Electrical Fault Light - dan0xii

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Edited by dan0xii on 06/04/2024 at 07:26

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