The joys of driving unreliable cars [edit2: ready to roll, my dad rocks]

by "Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction" (rustholes-are-weight-reduction)
Published 06/22/2017 at 13:25

Tags: MEGANE RS
STARS: 6

Participation to the Oppositelock Alpine drive is compromised.

3 weeks ago, I sold my little Pug to my neighbors son. While financially it was a smart move, I now had to replace it for the Europpomeet 2017.2 .
Luckily, I quickly stumbled upon an ad for a 2012 Renault Megane RS while refreshing my “RENAULT+PEUGEOT+FROM 2007+FROM 200 HP+TO 125000KM+TO 100KM AWAY” search for the umpteenth time. The price was really low, it looked quite nice, I called immediately, and went to check it out on the very next morning. Since I had taken the next week of anyway, I had plenty of time to take it home and start doing the paperwork.
I had to wait 1 1/2 weeks to have French paperwork, because French administration is terrible. But that left me time to go get the parts to replace the lower ball joint which showed some excessive play on the right side. Or so I thought.

The parts weren’t in stock and had to be ordered, which meant I had to wait a few days. No problem, they would arrive on time.
Parts arrived last friday, perfect, I can install them during the weekend... except I got the wrong parts. Quick drive back to Renault, spending about an our with the parts guy trying to figure out the part number for the part I really need (the guy was competent, their system not). Turns out, you can’t buy the Ball joint alone, but only with the whole (expensive) assembly, and it was on order only.
Apparently, in the past, they were able to get the ball joints directly from Renault Sport in Dieppe, but they can’t anymore. So off to the internet. Found the part, bought it on Friday, thinking if they send it on Monday it will arrive Wednesday latest, leaving me enough time to install it.

They sent the part on Wednesday.

The play is not too bad, I thought yesterday, when I got the news, You don’t feel it while driving, I will be able to drive it. Or so I thought.

Yesterday, on my way home from work, the light knocking noise it did sometimes when accelerating from a stop and that Renault forums say “comes from the brake pads having play to compensate for thermal expansion during track driving - official answer from Renault” became worse, and systematic, and seems to come from the left drive shaft.

I took my parents’ Crossgolf (which, mysteriously, had absolutely no transmission problems this morning) to work this morning. The Mégane had an appointment for a service anyway, and I asked them to check for the noise.
If it’s uncritical or repairable on time, everything is fine. If not, I might not be able to got to the Oppodrive. Why can’t I have just a troublefree car?

[Edit]: My mom got the car back from Renault, they didn’t find anything, and suggested maybe the sound from the passenger side transfers to the drivers side. I’m skeptical, but don’t want to miss a drive around the Alps, and ruining a pair of tires in the mountains is still better than having overheating drum brakes in a steep descent and no seatbelts or dashboard padding.

[edit2]: came home to an empty parking space, and my parents in the shop repairing the lower ball joint on the Mégane. It has arrived today. We also torqued down all the bolts we could see, but the noise probably came from a cheap linkage I’ll change next week. Oh and the service at Renault costs almost half what I paid at Peugeot. They also gave away little wooden R5 turbos and free car washes, which my mom politely declined because I was it by hand. She knows her son.

Replies (21)

"BvdV - The Dutch Engineer" (dutchengineer)
06/22/2017 at 04:59, STARS: 0

Damn, so that leaves the V8 Belair as your only fully working car? Let’s hope they are able to fix it

"pip bip - choose Corrour" (hhgttg69)
06/22/2017 at 05:01, STARS: 0

“Why can’t I have just a troublefree car?”

it’s coz you drive a Euro car

:P

"Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction" (rustholes-are-weight-reduction)
06/22/2017 at 05:07, STARS: 0

Touché

Then again, my Pajero is shitting it’s transmission, as the RX-8 did before. Maybe I’m just a terrible driver (don’t answer).

My most reliable car so far has still been my old 505 GTD. Sure, it started drinking more oil than the Mazda, and the power steering broke, but this car is almost 30 years old, has more than 400.000km, and had been parked for 7 years before I revived it 10 years ago. It#’s definitely gonna be my daily driver again as soon as I get to fix it.

"Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction" (rustholes-are-weight-reduction)
06/22/2017 at 05:08, STARS: 0

Yep, though I wonder if I should try to do it with the Bel Air. The question is can I trust it to do a 1500km drive in 3 days?

"pip bip - choose Corrour" (hhgttg69)
06/22/2017 at 05:11, STARS: 0

just drive the 505, problem solved

"BvdV - The Dutch Engineer" (dutchengineer)
06/22/2017 at 05:13, STARS: 0

How terrible are the drumbrakes?

I don’t know how much on the Bel Air you’ve worked on already, which would be of influence to the reliability question. But it can’t be worse than the Senator, right?

"Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction" (rustholes-are-weight-reduction)
06/22/2017 at 05:15, STARS: 0

I would! But I took the engine out a few months ago, It is on rank 3 in my major repair list, right behind putting the engine back in the 6 cylinder Bel Air, and changing the suspensions and brakes on the 505 V6. I might daily the V6 for a while after that

"Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction" (rustholes-are-weight-reduction)
06/22/2017 at 05:17, STARS: 0

Forgot about the drum brake thing.
I didn’t do much to it besides the floor pan, carpeting and headliner. It seems to be doing it’s job just fine, but can I trust it on such a journey?

"BvdV - The Dutch Engineer" (dutchengineer)
06/22/2017 at 05:23, STARS: 0

It did fine for the previous 50+ years of its life, so it should be fine, right? ;)

"4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30" (4muddyfeet)
06/22/2017 at 06:08, STARS: 7

Absolutely not. Which is why you should take it.

"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/22/2017 at 07:27, STARS: 0

Go for it!

(Bring tools though!)

"awmaster10" (awmaster10)
06/22/2017 at 10:48, STARS: 0

What generation pajero?

"Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction" (rustholes-are-weight-reduction)
06/22/2017 at 10:50, STARS: 1

First gen, the one designed with a ruler

"Elumerere" (elumerere)
06/22/2017 at 10:54, STARS: 0

Cool car though!

I hope you can sort it all out.

"TheTurbochargedSquirrel" (thatsquirrel)
06/22/2017 at 13:43, STARS: 1

I now want one of those wooden R5s.

"BvdV - The Dutch Engineer" (dutchengineer)
06/22/2017 at 13:48, STARS: 0

How awesome of your parents to start fixing it! Sure, it does help you’ve got a shop at home, but still awesome of them to help you like this.

Also, I wish Renault gave away stuff like that over here. Only thing I ever got was a sled like this

but then in yellow with a Renault logo, after having a winter inspection done.

"Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction" (rustholes-are-weight-reduction)
06/22/2017 at 13:49, STARS: 0

Some people (in this case a Renault employee I guess) sell them on eBay:

http://m.ebay.fr/itm/181549895745?_mwBanner=1

"Noah - Now with more boost." (antriebverliebt)
06/22/2017 at 14:39, STARS: 0

re edit 2: NICE. This was a depressing read the first time around lol. I hope someone posts a photo dump of this epic little meet...

"You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much" (youcantellafinn)
06/22/2017 at 14:57, STARS: 2

Or if you prefer, the reverse angle:

"Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction" (rustholes-are-weight-reduction)
06/22/2017 at 15:15, STARS: 1

I’ll pack my camera, just in case :-)

"Noah - Now with more boost." (antriebverliebt)
06/22/2017 at 16:58, STARS: 0

Awesome! :)