Help! Damsal in distress

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Wed 18 Dec 2002 06:12
Help! Damsal in distress - sparr
I have a 1999 Laguna that has in intermittant starting problem that only occours in the winter and cooler months of the year. It wants to start but just doesn't quite get there. Sometimes it starts first time, others it starts and then after about 30 seconds just cuts out. There are times when driving along that suddenly you loose power and it feels as though only half of the engine is working and it sounds really rough, this i can cure by turning off the engine and restarting.
Any ideas as to what be responsible for this intermittant problem. I would be grateful for any suggestions as to what may be causing this.
Many thanks
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Wed 18 Dec 2002 09:38
Help! Damsal in distress - Adam Going (Tune-Up)
Hi Sparr,

Need more information on the car to be accurate - engine capacity, engine code if possible, is it petrol or diesel ?

If it is petrol I would suspect the engine management Coolant Temperature Sensor (CTS) - these are a common problem on Renaults due to poor quality anti-freeze allowing corrosion. Again, if petrol, your car may have the plugs connected directly to two small coils, mounted side by side - these can be troublesome, but are a bit expensive to start replacing without testing first. If Your car has the earlier ignition system with a distributor cap and rotor arm these are again a common source of problems and not too expensive to replace.

If it is diesel, glow plug failure will cause difficult starting, but not the subsequent cutting out. This suggest a possible fuel supply problem.

HTH, Adam
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Thu 19 Dec 2002 16:28
Help! Damsal in distress - sparr
Many thanks
Its a 1999 (V) 1.8 RXE petrol version if that helps!
Where will i find the engine code? Sorry to sound so daft.
You mentioned about repalcing the plugs/coils and this being expensive. Any ideas as to how much roughly we are talking about?

Will this model have the distributor cap and rotor arm you also metioned?

All of this has made me think twice about buying a French car again! All i want is a car i can get into and know that whatever the weather it will start and keep running!>> Hi Sparr,
Need more information on the car to be accurate - engine
capacity, engine code if possible, is it petrol or diesel ?
If it is petrol I would suspect the engine management Coolant
Temperature Sensor (CTS) - these are a common problem on Renaults
due to poor quality anti-freeze allowing corrosion. Again, if petrol, your
car may have the plugs connected directly to two small coils,
mounted side by side - these can be troublesome, but are
a bit expensive to start replacing without testing first. If Your
car has the earlier ignition system with a distributor cap and
rotor arm these are again a common source of problems and
not too expensive to replace.
If it is diesel, glow plug failure will cause difficult starting,
but not the subsequent cutting out. This suggest a possible fuel
supply problem.
HTH, Adam
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Sat 21 Dec 2002 11:48
Help! Damsal in distress - David Lacey
I would expect it to have direct coil ignition? But, still, we see troubles with these types, too.

MG-Rover Questions? forums.mg-rover.org/
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