renault megane head gasket?

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Thu 5 Jan 2006 00:13
renault megane head gasket? - stilletto
My other half has broken my car. Renault megane 1.9 rn diesel. It went cold in the cabin as he came off the slip road, he turned it off sharpish and rac brought him home. He says it could be the head gasket or the head could be trollied - how can I tell if it is worth fixing? He says scrap it, but I paid £2000 for it only a year ago and I need a car. The rest of it is pretty mint barring a few scratches, seems like a huge waste. Any advice out there for me?
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Thu 5 Jan 2006 08:02
renault megane head gasket? - kennybase
If it is the head gasket, then the cost of repair will be around £700, and even then, I'd be changing the car once I get it back.

Is the car really worth spending another £700 on it? If so, then pay it, but I suspect that the cost of repair makes it uneconomical.

Hope you manage to sort something out.
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Thu 5 Jan 2006 08:04
renault megane head gasket? - P 2501
Could be something less serious like an air lock in the heater core. But the HG is probably more likely.
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Thu 5 Jan 2006 08:27
renault megane head gasket? - sierraman
Heater going cold means it lost its coolant.Get a mobile mechanic to check it,I've often known recovery guys to be wrong.
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Thu 5 Jan 2006 11:48
renault megane head gasket? - Martin1981
'Could' be something far less serious than head gasket. If it's lost coolant, look at hoses, radiator etc for leaks, cracks etc and fix asap. If there are no leaks and the coolant has been lost through pressurisation....that's when HG has gone. Did the temperature guage shoot up to 100deg plus as heater went cold?

I'm only familiar with Peugeot/Citroen diesels with regard to HG failure, but if HG has gone, its worth asking round several places for quotes- you may well get it sorted for less than £700.

Martin
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Thu 5 Jan 2006 13:49
renault megane head gasket? - kennybase
The £700 price I was stating comes from when I had the same problems with my Clio engine.
I managed to get a friend to do it for £200 in the end, but he didn't thank me for bringing it his way!

The air lock is a good point - after changing the radiator on the same Clio (didn't have much luck with that car!) it suffered from loads of air in the system - no matter how much a tried to bleed it I always had an air lock crop up quickly!
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Thu 5 Jan 2006 15:43
renault megane head gasket? - Andrew Moorey (Tune-Up)
I have seen a few of these engines suffering from loss of coolant due to the lower radiator hose thing (looks like a rubber octopus) going soft and pappy due to diesel leaking out of the pump directly above it.
Just a thought...
Andrew
--
Simplicate and add lightness!!
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Thu 5 Jan 2006 16:06
renault megane head gasket? - Altea Ego
I would invest some money in finding the real cause., In my mind it dont sound like Head gasket, it could be a lot cheaper to fix.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Thu 5 Jan 2006 23:54
renault megane head gasket? - stilletto
Thanks boys for all your swift suggestions to my car problem. My other half knows bits and bobs about engines (he prefers ones that the spark plugs and oil can be changed without removing the engine though!) Why did cars get sooo complicated?

I Will put all your valued comments to him and see what he says - I just hate waste, although I do not want to throw £700 at it.
I usually drive it and as I recall there was no heating problem or strange noises as a warning, although it was becoming a bit of a pain to start. I thought new heater plugs would solve it but due to their position he (t.o.h.) only managed to change 2 of them. I assumed that perhaps that was why it was a bit reluctant. Have looked around on the net and it seems meganes are prone to HG problems,I won't hold my breath!
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Fri 6 Jan 2006 00:01
renault megane head gasket? - stilletto
Oh if life could be that simple for us! The ignition on our boiler has gone tonight and I am shaking here!
He (t.o.h.) did try to start it a couple of days later and it was having none of it. Looks like I will be using shanksies pony for a while! Thanks for responding though.
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