Renault Clio idle valve

[Bluebird_1927]

Hi all,

I have a 2001/2002 Renault Clio and for the past year have experienced problems with the ECU. Initially when slowing the car down for traffice lights, roundabouts etc the ecu light will come on and the engine would stall. I took it a local auto electrician who put it on the diagnostic test and revealed it was the idle control valve. They suggested they they clean it up and reset the ecu as 9 times out of 10 this cures the problem.
One day in the garage and £120 later i drive my car out and within 2 days I experience a similar problem. This time the car stalls and will not restart for a least 5 minutes of turning the engine over (ECU light does not come on). This is particularly annoying when it happens during rush hour in single lane traffic.
I'm not sure whether to grin and bear the cost of a new idle control valve which will set me back in excess of £400 of my student income (not knowing if this will cure the problem) or try and replace the part myself with a genuine used part.
I'm pretty good at repairing cars but need to know how do I gain access to the idle control valve ( i'm guessing it's in the air flow meter) and is it an easy job.

Just for the record since I purchased the car 4 years ago it has always idles at around 500 rpm which I think is pretty low and remains to do so. Can anyone advise??

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this thread.



My question

[Sussex Patrol]

Can you post the engine size and is it 16 valve? Also cankshaft postion sensors are known to fail when hot and cause cutting out and wont restart for 5 to 10 minutes. I would check what is missing when the vehicle wont start - do you have spark/fuel pump run/injector pulse? I can't see an idle control valve causing the engine not to start-stalling yes but not a complete non start?

[Bluebird_1927]

Thanks for your response.
The engine size is a 1.2 16 Valve. Regarding the crankshaft sensor, I had this replaced about 18 months ago as I was having a problem whereby the ecu light would come on and the engine would stall.
My concern about taking the car back to the Auto electrician is because they did not connect the petrol pipe back up correctly causing it to drain £25 worth of petrol when the car was idling in traffic and they havent tightened up the earth lead on the battery correctly and looks as though they lost the nut.

Thank again

A quick note. As I mentioned before the car idles low but has never idled erratically which is why I am unsure whether the problem lies with the idle control valve.

[Sussex Patrol]

As I posted above if the engine cuts out and wont restart-then you are 'losing' something ie spark or fuel you need to identify which it is? I cannot see an idle speed control valve causing a non start-as for the idle speed being low-yes 500 rpm is on the low side but this could be a separate issue. The trouble being that modern management systems need somebody who can understand and interpret the live data on a diagnostic machine rather than just guessing and throwing expensive parts at the problem in the hope of fixing it.

[olipee]

does the coils light come one when you have this problem?

I have a 51 clio, my tick overs about 500rpm too sometimes slightly lower, but this is to my advantage as it costs 50p a hour in petrol to sit with the car ticking over.

You can run a diagnotics check yourself by holding down the button at the end of the wiper toggle whilst turning on the ignition.

I had the exact same problem, when slowing down the coil light would come on and the engine would die, I then read in the car manual when you turn on the ignition you need to allow the coil lights to turn off before starting the starter. When the coils are allowed to heat the engine is prepared for use meaning that it won't cut out. Once i started waiting for the coil lights to go off on ignition i did not have another problem with my clio.

I've fitted a induction kit to it now that cost £50 and this has increased the tick over and overall torque of the engine

I hope this was of some use
cheeeers

[swordfish]

hi please can anyone help ?? my car has covered 46k miles had it since october last year great car untill now it has developed a rough idling problem theres no warning or fuel light on but when car is ticking over it shakes inside /misfire geartstick shake etc . goes away when throttle is pressed slightly car runs great apart from this great performance and mpg . i have changes fuel filter still no change have also put in fuel treatment .. can this be egr valve or idle control valve if so where are they located in engine bay?? thanks in advance
scott wilson