Renault Scenic (1999 - 2003) - 03 1.9 Vibration

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
View Threaded
Wed 30 Sep 2009 22:03
03 1.9 Vibration - Timosmob
Hi,
I live in Norwich and have just bought a renault scenic rx4 DCi from Scotland. I was 100 miles towards home (only had the car about 2 hours) and the turbo blew up. Called the AA and got towed 300 miles home. Since putting it in my local garage have now had new turbo, new clutch, new ?? valve which feeds the turbo, front brakes and discs. Now the car is actually running there is a very bad vibrating through out the car between 2 and 3 thousand revs. The car has only meant to have done 48,000 miles. It is not the engine mounts any advise please before I put a hammer to it.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 15 Oct 2009 18:05
03 1.9 Vibration - Dogshack
Hi Timosmob
Only registered today, so sorry for not responding sooner. My wife purchased a Scenic DCi (not the RX4) in June. The engine vibrated at low revs, and the car dealer told us it was common in all Scenics because of the amount of plastic covers under the bonnet.

My wife was eager to get the car, so took the dealers word for it and parted with the cash.

To cut a long story short, it turned out to be a faulty alternator pulley, which causes the auxillary belt to "wander" off line. If not rectified, the belt can tear and cause wear to the cambelt cover, eventually breaking through the cover and ripping the cambelt. The alternator pulley itself has a built-in clutch, which relieves friction when the car comes to a sudden stop. When this clutch wears out, the pulley slides freely along the alternator shaft, causing mis-alignment and eventual failure of the auxillary belt.

An easy check is to look under bonnet, and inspect the belt and pulley on the end of the alternator. This is the most visible part of the belt, and nothing need be removed. If you can see any wear to the belt, or if it appears the pulley might have moved on the alternator shaft, you will need to change it. It is possible that a worn tensioner bearing can contribute to the vibrition.

The belt and pulley kit comes with a new tensioner and costs around £110 inc vat. The easiest way to replace the kit is to cut the belt, then remove the offside front wheel and remove the plastic mudshield under the car. The tensioner is pre-loaded and once released cannot be adjusted in-situ, so it is important to get it right first time.

If you are not confident in doing the work, it only took me about 30 minutes to complete, so labour wouldn't be too expensive at a garage. We were lucky enough to get to the problem before shredding the cambelt; many others haven't been so lucky.

Hope this helps and good luck - let me know if you want any more info.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link

10 warranty myths exposed

Here’s how to sort the fact from the fiction when it comes to car warranties.

Cheap Car Warranties

Looking for a garage you can trust? Honest John's Good Garage Guide has thousands of reader recommended garages, plus how-to guides and tips on servicing.

The Good Garage Guide