Other Category problem
1998 Renault Clio 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Manual 59K miles
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Dear Bob and Ken
I have a 98 R- reg 1.2, 8 valve clio. The timming belt broke on it and it took out 5 valves, to which have been replaced, the head has been skimmed and pressure tested. Number 1 and 4 cylender is down, there is good compression in ALL 4 and fuel to ALL 4 as well. Its been plugged in and its not reading any problems at all. Also Im in the UK so I dont know if they make them slightly differant than the US, HELP me Obe One kenoobi your my only help..hahha OH PLEASE HELP Im at the end of my teather with it. Its running Rough. Your sincerly Babbs.

Hi there,

Thank you for your donation.

Time to get back to basics first. Check the valve timing is spot on. compressions are good, good fuel pressure, set ignition timing as per specs, check for any vacuum leaks, no hoses fitted on the wrong pipe or disconnected. Run on oscilloscope to check ignition patterns, voltages & resistances. Fuel & air filter ok. earth straps tight. spark plug gaps correct, valve clearances ? lash adjusters are ok go through these and see how you get on.

Mark (mhpautos)

All the above has been check thourghly, Auto sparky has been there, he himself is at a loss.
Good compression in all 4 cylenders, fuel all that is need to get it right is right but 1 and 4 cylinders are moving but they are not firing properly. Its only running on 2 and 3 cylinders.
No one seems to have any idea whats going on with it.

Try swapping the fuel injectors from 1-4 to 2-3 i am not sure if that is as easy as that, but it would prove injectors anyway, Check injection pulse at injectors first Please confirm it has been run on an oscilloscope to prove all ignition electrical. If ignition so sound, it must be fuel delivery or compression, comps ok, so fuel delivery must be suspect either injectors or pulse signal to injectors. Has the exhaust been checked with an analyzer? running to lean, in-op / faulty injectors??

Mark (mhpautos)

The injectors have been swapped over, the injection pulse has been checked, all ok, has definatly been run on a oscilloscope, to which no faults showed up,
Injectors good as they have been swapped already which it made no differance. Also took coil pack off another clio same make and model as ours, and it made no differance to the 1 and 4 cylinder. Auto sparky was there with us doing it. My husband is a mechanic so he was there with him.
The only thing that hasnt been done is the Exhaust, it hasnt been on a Analyizer. Also we really appriciate all your help on this.

Hi there,

Get the exhaust sniffer up the pipe, and check whats happening, i will sleep on it as it is 1-15 AM now (I'm in Australia) let me know what you get with the exhaust test.

Mark (mhpautos)

So cool thankyou, Im an ex Aussie myself, lol from Albury, sleep well
Look forward to talking to you again.

Hi there,

Back again, any headway yet?

The only thing i could think off was the silly basic things like, leads not crossed and vacuum leaks at cylinders. I will look at a manual today to see what shows up now here is a check list to work off , know we have already covered all this, but we are missing something here.

1 valve timing.
2 compressions.
3 fuel pressure
4 injection pulse.
5 injectors operating
6 Ignition system variable.
7 set fault codes.
8 valve clearances / lash adjusters.
9 Vacuum leaks
10 All sensors plugged in
11 Ignition timing
12 exhaust analyzer readings
13 Blocked exhaust
14 Internal obstructions in manifold.
15. cam lobe lift on affected cylinders
16. other damage caused by belt failure / valve strike.
It sound as if the injection pulse is out of timing or the duration is stuffed up, i don't think that this can happen on just 2 Cylinders, it is a bit frustrating some times doing this on line advise, as you really just want to have it in front of you to see whats going on first hand, we will just keep going until it is sorted.

I will re post with any other info i can think off.

Good luck,

Mark (mhpautos) Traralgon Latrobe Valley Victoria.

Hi Mark,
Thanks very much for all your help, we have found the problem as we did what you said and went back to basics. And found that the compression tester is faulty. And low and behold daaaada! one fixed car.
hahaha, so once again thankyou so very much.
Oh and my father used to live in Taralgon. Ive never been there myself tho.
Take care
Babbs