A tale of two specialists.
18 November 2015, 07:25 PM
#1
A tale of two specialists.
Eldest's Clio 197 was blowing the exhaust manifold, apparently they split at the flexible joint on the standard Renault part.
After some deliberation, he bought a Toyosport manifold, which a Renault Sport "specialist", Doncaster Diagnostic Centre, (DDC), in Donny, fitted for him.
Afterwards, the car was running like a bag of nails, throttle wasn't working properly, sometimes it ran, sometimes it wouldn't pull, it would never hold engine speed etc etc.
So they had it back, twice, and mucked about with the map. They aren't mappers, so fitted a generic map........
Second time, I was back from France, so I went along, and specifically asked these specialists if, since they hadn't touched anything BUT the manifold, the fault could lie with the Lambda sensor...to be told no, no code showing. Eventually after another fruitless day wasted, they refunded what he paid for the map and we took the car home, still running awfully, virtually un-driveable and dangerous in traffic.
Even with the map money refunded, they had charged him over £300 to fit the manifold, and with three trips from Hull to Donny, being picked up/taken back, going on the train, and such, he's out of pocket a further £200, fuel money, to mates and train fares.
So.........today it went to RS Tuning in Leeds. Struggled to get there, with the car not wanting to run unless you allowed speed to drop to 50, revved up to 70, dropped it off again...all the way there. Fun on the M62/M1/M621.
First thing they find is that the connector for the Lambda sensor is broken and held together with tape
, and on taking the tape off, found it not connected properly, with bent pins and filth inside.
Connector cleaned up and repaired, car mapped, seemed OK, but still coughing a bit when being road tested, so a new Lambda sensor fitted, map tweaked...and it's perfect. Not gained much at the top end, but about 20bhp in the midrange and 20+ lb ft of torque across a wide range.
RS Tuning were great: knowledgeable, friendly, and above all professional.
Great bunch of guys.
DDC in Doncaster: to be avoided.
After some deliberation, he bought a Toyosport manifold, which a Renault Sport "specialist", Doncaster Diagnostic Centre, (DDC), in Donny, fitted for him.
Afterwards, the car was running like a bag of nails, throttle wasn't working properly, sometimes it ran, sometimes it wouldn't pull, it would never hold engine speed etc etc.
So they had it back, twice, and mucked about with the map. They aren't mappers, so fitted a generic map........
Second time, I was back from France, so I went along, and specifically asked these specialists if, since they hadn't touched anything BUT the manifold, the fault could lie with the Lambda sensor...to be told no, no code showing. Eventually after another fruitless day wasted, they refunded what he paid for the map and we took the car home, still running awfully, virtually un-driveable and dangerous in traffic.
Even with the map money refunded, they had charged him over £300 to fit the manifold, and with three trips from Hull to Donny, being picked up/taken back, going on the train, and such, he's out of pocket a further £200, fuel money, to mates and train fares.
So.........today it went to RS Tuning in Leeds. Struggled to get there, with the car not wanting to run unless you allowed speed to drop to 50, revved up to 70, dropped it off again...all the way there. Fun on the M62/M1/M621.
First thing they find is that the connector for the Lambda sensor is broken and held together with tape
, and on taking the tape off, found it not connected properly, with bent pins and filth inside.Connector cleaned up and repaired, car mapped, seemed OK, but still coughing a bit when being road tested, so a new Lambda sensor fitted, map tweaked...and it's perfect. Not gained much at the top end, but about 20bhp in the midrange and 20+ lb ft of torque across a wide range.
RS Tuning were great: knowledgeable, friendly, and above all professional.
Great bunch of guys.DDC in Doncaster: to be avoided.
Last edited by alcazar; 18 November 2015 at 07:29 PM.
19 November 2015, 07:35 AM
#4
General rule, if you can do it yourself it will be a better job.
My daughter's car had the check engine light come on, I diagnosed a faulty o2 sensor, but which one? A phone call to the dealership had them quote £65 to plug in their diagnostics and £250 for a o2 replacement. So I decided to buy a OBD reader, bought torque pro for android. This allowed me to see the signal outputs from the lambda sensors. The second sensor after the catalyst was very sluggish in operation. Ordered 2 from 'euro car parts' for £70. Fitted, cleared error codes, no more problems.
I spent nearly as much but now have obd scan tool and satisfaction I fixed it
My daughter's car had the check engine light come on, I diagnosed a faulty o2 sensor, but which one? A phone call to the dealership had them quote £65 to plug in their diagnostics and £250 for a o2 replacement. So I decided to buy a OBD reader, bought torque pro for android. This allowed me to see the signal outputs from the lambda sensors. The second sensor after the catalyst was very sluggish in operation. Ordered 2 from 'euro car parts' for £70. Fitted, cleared error codes, no more problems.
I spent nearly as much but now have obd scan tool and satisfaction I fixed it
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10 November 2015 07:29 PM