Engine management light flashing - losing power

[gerrard_d]

Hi, I have been driving my 2005 1.6 megane privilege for about 8 months now without any problems. I did have a couple of issues where the car would not start first time in the morning, but after a couple of attempts it was ok, and this was intermittent.

Today I was driving along a started to lose power and the engine management light started flashing. Can anyone give me some advice on what this might be?

I've read around and found it could be the engine coils, are these expensive to replace?

I'm going to take it to the garage tomorrow but hope someone may be able to give me a heads up as to the problem!?

Many thanks in advance!
Dan

	Ignition Coils Ignition Coils An ignition coil (also called a spark coil) is an induction coil in an automobile's ignition system which transforms a storage battery's 12 volts to the thousands of volts needed to spark the spark plugs. This specific form of the autotransformer, together with the contact breaker, converts low voltage from a battery into the high voltage required by spark plugs in an internal combustion engine. In older vehicles a single (large) coil would serve all the spark plugs via the ignition distributor. In modern systems, the distributor is omitted and ignition is instead electronically controlled. Much smaller coils are used with one coil for each spark plug or one coil serving two spark plugs (so two coils in a four-cylinder car). These coils may be remote-mounted or they may be placed on top of the spark plug (coil-on-plug or Direct Ignition). Where one coil serves two spark plugs (in two cylinders), it is through the "wasted spark" system. In this arrangement the coil generates two sparks per cycle to both the cylinders. The fuel in the cylinder that is nearing the end of its compression stroke is ignited, whereas the spark in its companion that is nearing the end of its exhaust stroke has no effect. The wasted spark system is more reliable than a single coil system with a distributor and cheaper than coil-on-plug. Where the coils are remote mounted they may all be contained in a single moulded block with multiple high-tension terminals. This is commonly called a coil-pack.

[madnoel10]

The two most common causes of poor running on Renault engines seems to be either duff coils or TDC sensors so it may well be worth getting those checked out first.

Keep us posted

	Ignition Coils Ignition Coils An ignition coil (also called a spark coil) is an induction coil in an automobile's ignition system which transforms a storage battery's 12 volts to the thousands of volts needed to spark the spark plugs. This specific form of the autotransformer, together with the contact breaker, converts low voltage from a battery into the high voltage required by spark plugs in an internal combustion engine. In older vehicles a single (large) coil would serve all the spark plugs via the ignition distributor. In modern systems, the distributor is omitted and ignition is instead electronically controlled. Much smaller coils are used with one coil for each spark plug or one coil serving two spark plugs (so two coils in a four-cylinder car). These coils may be remote-mounted or they may be placed on top of the spark plug (coil-on-plug or Direct Ignition). Where one coil serves two spark plugs (in two cylinders), it is through the "wasted spark" system. In this arrangement the coil generates two sparks per cycle to both the cylinders. The fuel in the cylinder that is nearing the end of its compression stroke is ignited, whereas the spark in its companion that is nearing the end of its exhaust stroke has no effect. The wasted spark system is more reliable than a single coil system with a distributor and cheaper than coil-on-plug. Where the coils are remote mounted they may all be contained in a single moulded block with multiple high-tension terminals. This is commonly called a coil-pack.

	TDC TDC In a piston engine, top dead centre (TDC) is used to determine the position of a piston in which it is further from the crankshaft. This is used to determine when to generate a spark. Many Renault models appear to experience problems with the TDC sensor, but it is a simple and inexpensive part to replace.

[gerrard_d]

Originally Posted by madnoel10

The two most common causes of poor running on Renault engines seems to be either duff coils or TDC sensors so it may well be worth getting those checked out first.

Keep us posted

Thanks for the response, how much would I be looking at to replace either of these from somewhere like nationwide autocenters?

	Ignition Coils Ignition Coils An ignition coil (also called a spark coil) is an induction coil in an automobile's ignition system which transforms a storage battery's 12 volts to the thousands of volts needed to spark the spark plugs. This specific form of the autotransformer, together with the contact breaker, converts low voltage from a battery into the high voltage required by spark plugs in an internal combustion engine. In older vehicles a single (large) coil would serve all the spark plugs via the ignition distributor. In modern systems, the distributor is omitted and ignition is instead electronically controlled. Much smaller coils are used with one coil for each spark plug or one coil serving two spark plugs (so two coils in a four-cylinder car). These coils may be remote-mounted or they may be placed on top of the spark plug (coil-on-plug or Direct Ignition). Where one coil serves two spark plugs (in two cylinders), it is through the "wasted spark" system. In this arrangement the coil generates two sparks per cycle to both the cylinders. The fuel in the cylinder that is nearing the end of its compression stroke is ignited, whereas the spark in its companion that is nearing the end of its exhaust stroke has no effect. The wasted spark system is more reliable than a single coil system with a distributor and cheaper than coil-on-plug. Where the coils are remote mounted they may all be contained in a single moulded block with multiple high-tension terminals. This is commonly called a coil-pack.

	TDC TDC In a piston engine, top dead centre (TDC) is used to determine the position of a piston in which it is further from the crankshaft. This is used to determine when to generate a spark. Many Renault models appear to experience problems with the TDC sensor, but it is a simple and inexpensive part to replace.

[madnoel10]

Depending on the quality each coil could start at around £15 plus each plus labour. If you find out its a coil problem try to identify which ones are duff and replace only them. Generally it only takes around 10 minutes or so for each coil and if you have the tools you could attempt it yourself. But find out the exact problem first

	Ignition Coils Ignition Coils An ignition coil (also called a spark coil) is an induction coil in an automobile's ignition system which transforms a storage battery's 12 volts to the thousands of volts needed to spark the spark plugs. This specific form of the autotransformer, together with the contact breaker, converts low voltage from a battery into the high voltage required by spark plugs in an internal combustion engine. In older vehicles a single (large) coil would serve all the spark plugs via the ignition distributor. In modern systems, the distributor is omitted and ignition is instead electronically controlled. Much smaller coils are used with one coil for each spark plug or one coil serving two spark plugs (so two coils in a four-cylinder car). These coils may be remote-mounted or they may be placed on top of the spark plug (coil-on-plug or Direct Ignition). Where one coil serves two spark plugs (in two cylinders), it is through the "wasted spark" system. In this arrangement the coil generates two sparks per cycle to both the cylinders. The fuel in the cylinder that is nearing the end of its compression stroke is ignited, whereas the spark in its companion that is nearing the end of its exhaust stroke has no effect. The wasted spark system is more reliable than a single coil system with a distributor and cheaper than coil-on-plug. Where the coils are remote mounted they may all be contained in a single moulded block with multiple high-tension terminals. This is commonly called a coil-pack.

[gerrard_d]

Originally Posted by madnoel10

Depending on the quality each coil could start at around £25 each plus labour. If you find out its a coil problem try to identify which ones are duff and replace only them. Generally it only takes around 10 minutes or so for each coil and if you have the tools you could attempt it yourself. But find out the exact problem first

Absolutely no chance of me doing it myself!! I'd end up doing more damage!!!

I've been told its best to change them all, it this true, if so i'd be looking at £150ish??

Do these affect fuel consumption as well?

	Ignition Coils Ignition Coils An ignition coil (also called a spark coil) is an induction coil in an automobile's ignition system which transforms a storage battery's 12 volts to the thousands of volts needed to spark the spark plugs. This specific form of the autotransformer, together with the contact breaker, converts low voltage from a battery into the high voltage required by spark plugs in an internal combustion engine. In older vehicles a single (large) coil would serve all the spark plugs via the ignition distributor. In modern systems, the distributor is omitted and ignition is instead electronically controlled. Much smaller coils are used with one coil for each spark plug or one coil serving two spark plugs (so two coils in a four-cylinder car). These coils may be remote-mounted or they may be placed on top of the spark plug (coil-on-plug or Direct Ignition). Where one coil serves two spark plugs (in two cylinders), it is through the "wasted spark" system. In this arrangement the coil generates two sparks per cycle to both the cylinders. The fuel in the cylinder that is nearing the end of its compression stroke is ignited, whereas the spark in its companion that is nearing the end of its exhaust stroke has no effect. The wasted spark system is more reliable than a single coil system with a distributor and cheaper than coil-on-plug. Where the coils are remote mounted they may all be contained in a single moulded block with multiple high-tension terminals. This is commonly called a coil-pack.