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Purple
28-09-2005, 12:31
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/Tywee/IgniLockRelay.jpg

If your Clio cranks but cannot start, here's one more thing to check. Mine did that, and was traced to the signal wire (green) on the ignition lock relay(238). Am told that's the relay that disables the engine when over-revved. The ECU was suppose to supply an earth signal on the green wire, but did not. So my mechanic tied it to earth permanently (the black wire). Seems OK now, but will monitor the car for the next few days.

QUESTION: Assuming that my ECU is working fine, what else can cause the earth signal to the relay be faulty? I am thinking faulty engine revs sensor, but won't that cause other parts of the engine to fail? Comments please.

northy
28-09-2005, 12:52
no idea mate, but when 2live had his car remapped it was reved over 8k and it was fine...still reving over 6500 to this day.

If you get chance have a look in the haynes manual - they will list a wiring diagram that u can trace the problem.

TBH ive never looked inside my relaybox.

VIPERONE
22-01-2006, 20:13
Thats my scenario.

BRUN
22-01-2006, 20:20
so.....is this a possible solution to a non/poor starting clio ?

sometimes mine starts first turn, other times it turns over but doesnt fire, sometimes taking a few goes to get running, usually only on cold mornings though

that black wire thats been attached to the green wire, is that just earthed at the other end, like to the battery negative or somethin ?

steveos_16valver
23-01-2006, 00:04
possible short in the circuit ! eg chaffing on some thing another wire ect

VIPERONE
23-01-2006, 00:21
it causes the relays in the in the black box in the engine bay the click rapidly.

i would earth the black wire to the neg terminal on the battery

in fact thats what im doing in the morning

Purple
23-01-2006, 02:13
The black wire earth was tapped from another relay's earth. But I suppose tying it directly to the battery negative terminal would also do the same thing. No rapid relay clicking in my case..

Actually, I suspect there's some floating earth issues on the car causing these niggling problems from time to time. Will have to convince my elec mech to refurb all the connectors and sand-down/re-tighten all the earth cables one of these days.

Purple
23-01-2006, 02:18
Thats my scenario.
A broken connector to the fuel pump can also cause the same symptoms. If that is the problem, you won't hear the usual start-up whir of the fuel pump.

Chris H
23-01-2006, 09:22
like I said months ago the whole thing about it disabling anything when the engines over revved is a load of shite.

ECU kills the spark when its over revvced, thats why it pops flames, if it was killed then the voltage surges would not only pop the ecu but every time it happened the rev counter would drop to 0 then bounce right back up when the relay closed.

VIPERONE
23-01-2006, 18:47
earth the relay......
however this was not really needed.... the fault was an earth which had come loose.. intermittently earthing.. lol.

BRUN
23-01-2006, 20:26
purplesun, what was your car actually doing for you to have this checked out ?

Purple
23-01-2006, 23:47
purplesun, what was your car actually doing for you to have this checked out ?

I didn't fix it, my regular renault mechanics did all the work. The starter was cranking but the engine won't catch. They took weeks checking just about everything that might cause it. This ignition relay was one of the last things to diagnose on their checklist.

But, like I said earlier, I suspect the earthing on my car is floating slightly and less than the full 13 volts are being supplied to some electrical bits. But it's been behaving very well since the fix, so am not too bothered.

Purple
23-01-2006, 23:48
earth the relay......
however this was not really needed.... the fault was an earth which had come loose.. intermittently earthing.. lol.
Which earth point was it?

BRUN
24-01-2006, 00:18
so basically it was turning over but wouldnt fire up

did this happen at any particular times ?.......or all the time ?

Purple
24-01-2006, 00:52
Once in a long, long while (say, about once a year or so), it would do that. At which point, I would let the old girl "rest and chill out " for a about a day :) After that, it would start up the next time.

She only decided not to "heal" herself in that last September episode, which was fixed with the relay thing.

VIPERONE
24-01-2006, 01:07
gearbox earth lol

Purple
24-01-2006, 01:17
gearbox earth lol
That's good news for me. I think I managed to get one of the mechs to sandpaper and tighten that one at the last service.