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Bought My First Renault! What Should I Do First?


Herbi3221

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Hi all!
Within the past month I bought my first Renault Megane Sport 225 2006. I was always a bit sceptical about it as I've always driven VWs and BMWs.

 

The result is that while it is a very different car to drive, I am absolutely loving it!

It came with a full service history and only has 107 000km on the clock but it is not without it's faults.

 

After the getting it home it has since developed a intermittent check injection fault. I had the code read by my mechanic and it unfortunately came up with the turbocharging solenoid (N75) as having an issue. I've been trying to source myself a new on or oem part but am having trouble finding a suitable replacement. If someone could help point me in the right direction that would be fantastic.

Other things are minor like squeaky brakes which I hear can be common as well as loose interior trim pieces.

One thing I did want to know is, What are some things I should do to get the car reliable aside from a service, any mounts or bushings I should do as a preventative measure? 

 

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Hi all!

Within the past month I bought my first Renault Megane Sport 225 2006. I was always a bit sceptical about it as I've always driven VWs and BMWs.

 

The result is that while it is a very different car to drive, I am absolutely loving it!

It came with a full service history and only has 107 000km on the clock but it is not without it's faults.

 

After the getting it home it has since developed a intermittent check injection fault. I had the code read by my mechanic and it unfortunately came up with the turbocharging solenoid (N75) as having an issue. I've been trying to source myself a new on or oem part but am having trouble finding a suitable replacement. If someone could help point me in the right direction that would be fantastic.

 

Other things are minor like squeaky brakes which I hear can be common as well as loose interior trim pieces.

 

One thing I did want to know is, What are some things I should do to get the car reliable aside from a service, any mounts or bushings I should do as a preventative measure? 

Suggest you contact the guys at Renotech and discuss with them

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Hi Herbi, welcome to the forum. I've had my R26 for years and have had much less trouble than some, so I'm not going to be of great help here but anyway...

 

I think most of us get most of our parts from the UK because of the contemptuously stupid prices that Aus Renault dealers try to charge. I have bought from several sources none of which I can remember or find ATM other than Ktec, which I and others use frequently. They mainly do performance parts but have supplied OEM parts for me when I've asked. Other members have recommended cheaper sources which you might find in this forum if you look hard enough.

 

For smallish things like your solenoid I'll sometimes just suck it up and pay local dealer prices.

 

Other than standard maintenance, make sure your belts and tensioners are up to date. Engine mounts are a week point. Keep and eye on the rear bush of the front control arm which can split. Don't dump the clutch or allow the car to axle tramp of you might be replacing the dual mass flywheel sooner than you'd like

Edited by Bingle
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Ive found that braking really really hard occasionally fixes the squeaky brakes in my clio rs3.. Maybe once a month?

 

I quite enjoy braking really hard (when safe to do so) cause the Brembo's stop well. This can lead disc wear as a result tho.

You may have some artifacts on the pads or discs causing them to squeal.

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Mine is actually still for sale so thankfully for the OP it's not it, it was sold on Gumtree earlier and then back for sale again on a different but the same add.

Someone must have had a pre purchase inspection done....

Edited by jbj4701
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Sorry for the late reply, have been extremely busy with work.

 

As some of you have mentioned the parts are almost criminal compared to the UK.

 

Since time is a factor I had to suck it up and pay double ($295) for a replacement solenoid from a Renault dealer.

As for the brakes turns out the discs have warped so I'm in the process of replacing the fronts for now and the rears at a later stage.

 

I plan to build this car up over time and make it handle and run better than it already does so I can take it to the track every now and again.

 

Would the best thing to do now that it will have a clean bill of health be to work on stiffening the body and getting a decent set of coilovers in there?

 

Many thanks for the warm replies.

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My opinion, for what it's worth . . .

Definitely best to just get your car into the best standard mechanical shape you can first. Get the most you can out of the car and yourself before modding.

 

Throwing a heap of money at your car won't make you any faster to begin with, might even make you slower. Mods don't always improve a car and aftermarket isn't always better than factory. Better to understand what you're trying to achieve first and then the effectiveness of any mods you do make can be properly assessed.

 

One thing that's worth getting early is a set of track capable tyres, maybe on an extra set of rims. This is mainly to avoid rapidly destroying your road tyres on track days.

 

Wrt suspension, opinions differ but I wouldn't fit coilovers on a car mainly used on the road unless they're something like Ohlins (sadly not available for the meg2). Different story if it's all about the track.

 

I've not driven a phase 1 but according to contemporary road tests the suspension was vastly improved by the time the phase 2 cups came along. I maintain that R26 suspension (very similar to cup afaik) is just just about perfect for the fast road and track day use as it is. Conversion to later suspension components would definitely be worth considering if you decided not to go for coilovers.

 

Body stiffening? I doubt that front strut braces do anything. Top strut mounts are already very close to a structural bulkhead on fwd cars. A front strut brace just duplicates structure that's already there IMO. On the other hand, the rear of a meg2 is an open ended box and could do with some stiffening, especially with stiffer suspension, if you can work out how to do it. Again, it wouldn't be an early priority for me.

Edited by Bingle
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