NEED ASSISTANCE AND ADVICE ON FUEL LEAK PROBLEM

[titcharoony]

Was driving back from midlands to home (epsom, surrey) when I saw my fuel gauge going down slightly quicker than normal. To cut a very long, tiring story short, my car has a fuel leak.
The AA guy who came to check says its leaking from the fuel feed that passes the crank/pulley and it squashed down inbetween the engine mount and engine side. (on drivers side). Because its difficult to get to, he gave up n advised i get twoed home. Obviously car dangerous to start up and drive, but im completely new to the area and dont know where if anywhere to take it, and ill equipped to attempt to fix it on my own. Can anyone help or provide advice? Maybe its a fairly common problem? As I write this, Im at the end of a 7hour journey - totally 110miles, and feeling very, very down. please help people...

[Allan]

its quite a common problem for the fuel pipes to go, squashed cut and rubbed through... :(

lot of poeple get new ones and route them over the top of the mount instead of down the side between the engine and mount.

The pipes connect down just at the bottom of the drivers side so not to hard to get at and you could do the job yourself.

sorry dont know epsom at all but if you see a blue valver about with oz titans wave as it could be my old one ;)

[Lunner]

I know a bloke, works from his garage, dad of a very good mate, can't remember off the top of my head axactly where is is, but damn sure hes pretty damn close to epson.

The pipes if you wanna route them in the orignal location will cost you alot of money from Renault, as they are formed pipes, if you go witht eh cheap option, as above you'll ahve to route them over the engine mount, but make sure you stay well clear of the manifold

[titcharoony]

hm the cheap option sounds best. plus if I go with the original option, surely theres a possibility that the same thing can happen again? Right, so those are my two options. Id much prefer for someone else to do the work as im in final year of uni, and pretty deep in work currently.
So, ill need to pay for towing by the looks of things, to whereever. Then I need to pay for fuel pipes (part no. or title anyone? so I know what to order and get quotes), and labour. Lunner mate, do u have your mates dad's number by any chance? I might have to give him a bell. Does anyone know how much this will set me back in total excl. towing? Oh, and other than sending the pipes over the engine mount (which, if kept away from manifold - seems safest option in future) - is there anything else I can do to prevent this happening again? I imagine Ill have to tie wrap the pipes nice and tight away from anything hot....so guys, so many questions.

[Lunner]

TBH with you mate its a common problem, you have to remember these cars are 10-15 years old, rubber only lasts so long

http://www.mo-tech.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Card.JPG

[titcharoony]

used to have an r5 turbo, so believe me, I know of pipe issues lol. More often than not though it was a water pipe. In the end I decided to just send the entire day tie wrapping every single pipe in the engine bay. In the end it looked pretty tidy, and I never had a problem again. Clio is a bit different though, and theyve obviously tried their best to keep pipes tidy. Just a bit annoying that its so difficult to get to everything. Even more difficult than r5 Id say.
Has anyone's car ever gone up in flames due to this common problem? Cheers for link Lunner, Ill try and get on the blower to him today and see if I can get out to him. What set of pipes am I looking to order in for him if he is okay to fix it for me?

[Lunner]

Yeah Bayliss' lol, sure pictures will appear :lol:

[titcharoony]

if i find sumone local I know for a fact that id be tempted to just drive it there. ooohhhh its oly a couple of miles Ill say. But really. It isnt worth the risk is it.

[Lunner]

Not really, get a tow rope and get someone to tow you, this guy is a mobile mechanic, so he might come out to you, best to give him a bell, its been ****ing years since i've seen him

[titcharoony]

yeah Ill give him a bell. Reason I cant get towed there by a mate or whatever is becuase Im new to the area and none of my house mates drive. So ill see maybe if hes ok to tow perhaps. Ill see if he'll pop out n get me a quote for parts included as Im not sure exactly what parts Ill need. Cheers for all ur help Lunner mate, Ill keep u informed.

[titcharoony]

having to take it to a renault servicing place in epsom. I KNOW theyre gona charge me an arm and a leg. Is there any way of ensuring that they dont try and rip me off over the above problem? I know they'll prob keep it for hours teling me they were 'investigating' but I can always throw the AA report at them n say its already been checked over and I just wanted a quote for parts and labour.
But what of the work? The fuel lines that go to the engine, are they expensive? Do they come in sections? (dont want them charging to replace the whole lot if its just a section that neds replacing). Can anyone suggest an amount that, if they quote over, I should tell them to go do one? Advice please..... :)

[Lunner]

Couldn't find them on dialogies butoff the top of my head they are best part of £100 for the lines, shoudl take 30 mins tops to swap em over, so 1 hours labour, and parts

[titcharoony]

530 quid they want

[MAXIBOY]

stan would swap an engine for less

thats daylight robbery.

[Lunner]

That is nothing more than robbery.....PMed you :)

[stan]

:shock:

[titcharoony]

madness isnt it. and they were arsey about me refusing to pay for 1hrs labour when all they did was confirm there was a fuel leak. retards.
Big cheers to lunner though, who came over next day and sorted my car straight out for me. top bloke.

[Purple]

530 quid they want

That sound very familiar, even the mechanic supervisor was very embarrassed to quote me the price that his parts dept gave to him.

These parts are suppose to be replace both the return hoses and plastic pipes that goes from the engine block to the back of the car.

Part no. 7700853145 - about 215 GBP
Part no. 7700853144 - about 295 GBP
Before labour charges.

Looks like Renault France has gone cuckoo over the part prices.

[Lunner]

madness isnt it. and they were arsey about me refusing to pay for 1hrs labour when all they did was confirm there was a fuel leak. retards.
Big cheers to lunner though, who came over next day and sorted my car straight out for me. top bloke.

I want a piccy like Mat's :lol:

:matbrown: