My old Clio II 2 has a problem ..

[curtis]

Of course it's a different problem. Encore une facture

[curtis]

When you got it back, what was the cause of the problem and what did they do to correct it?

[suein56]

When you got it back, what was the cause of the problem and what did they do to correct it?

I refer you to my first post .. the same symptoms returned quite quickly and now they have diagnosed a 'câble pédalier' .. no idea what that is or what it does. Whatever the computer says goes .. they don't seem to have looked in depth at the car itself. But I am no expert and I could be wrong.
Will find out.. hopefully tomorrow.

[RobertArthur]

Suein56, sorry to hear that you're missing the two good technicians of once your super garage. Because this could be the beginning of a continuing story. We do know that looking at the screen of an OBDII reader is the first thing many technicians do. A visual inspection under the hood comes second, third place. Disconnecting connectors, cleaning them with a touch of contact spray, reseating them after a while in the case of electric/electronic problems has become a non-starter. I know, time consuming, therapy without diagnosis, nevertheless sometimes a problem solver for the DIY.

As a simple DIY guy my interpretation of a problem with câble pédalier: it has something to do with the clutch. Not with the ignition, not with the motor management system. There should be an OBD-II error code to underpin this clutch analysis.

Did they mention anything about their décodage des codes d'erreur de diagnostic OBD-II ? This is what uncle Haynes has to say about decoding trouble codes in plain English.

Good luck today!

[suein56]

Thanks for the helpful info RA .. will definitely be asking them how they have decoded the OBD codes.
I do miss the local garage .. they were my kind of realistic and would listen to what I had to say, open the bonnet and have a look before anything else.

[suein56]

I wouldn't mind buying an OBD reader myself .. discovering whether this repair is the one Clio needs to get her back to normal is beginning to frazzle me as the garage seems to be intent on replacing the parts of my car one by one at the moment.
OH is not a DIYer of cars but can manage simple things like charging the battery, so in your opinion RA, would we be able to manage tp plug in an OBD reader and obtain results ? I am not bad at IT.

[RobertArthur]

@ Suein56, not bad at IT: connecting the yellow OBD-II plug to the special socket somewhere in the neighbourhood of the steering column - check car manual for the exact whereabouts - is not more difficult than connecting the good old serial cable between computer and analogue modem or the centronics cable between pc and dot-matrix printer. D-shaped, do mind the orientation.

There are the cheaper motor management only devices and the more expensive lower-middle class scanners, for example my Launch 123x. Bought it three years ago, Amazon and the official dealer for Europe in Germany. Price: about € 210.

Why: I had problems with my ABS system in my Mitsubishi, error codes not within reach of the cheaper scanners going from € 50 to € 120. Prices have come down I noticed, an update of their 2021 article, see this March 2024 test in the German magazine Autobild.

What I do like about this Launch: it keeps updating (Wi-Fi), you name the car manufacturer and it is there. Including Maybach and Rolls Royce. Buying from others than the official dealers is not always a success: you don't get access to these updates.

What I also like: easy full size buttons, you don't get dirt and oil on your screen, impressive screen size, good readability. Operating system: an embedded version of Android. With the quite familiar Esc button you can always go back in the menu-system. No dedicated charger included, only a little cable to connect to an USB-port. Once connected to the OBD-II port in your car it charges from your board system. Battery autonomy: many, many hours. Nice little extra tool: check the condition of your battery (internal resistance), still okay or replace? Above 12 V, current demand of the starter motor sends the voltage down to around 10 V, car dynamo starts charging, contact off. Voltage dip lower than 8.5 V and you are in for a surprise on a cold winter morning.

What you see is what you get: you can easily decode the error codes using the internet.

Welcome to this club....

[suein56]

Welcome to this club....

[RobertArthur]

Scanners, how low can you go? OBD scanners compared 2024: the best fault code readers tested by Haynes. What about the Motopower OBD2 Scanner, around £22.00 ?

[RobertArthur]

@ Suein56, more dangerous than engine trouble. My (?) new BMW has a problem: 1.5 mln cars with brake problems. Something wrong with Antilock Braking System (ABS) and Electronic Stability Program (ESP). Many models, produced from June 2022. Department you keep me waiting: sales stop.

The brake problem affects numerous models. These include the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, 5 Series, 7 Series, X1, X5 and X6. The MINI Cooper and MINI Countryman are also affected, as is the Rolls-Royce Spectre.

The integrated braking system installed in the affected vehicles is a supplier component. According to a report in ‘Manager Magazin’ on 21 March 2024, it is said to be the MK-C2 system from Continental. Due to the potential defect, BMW is said to have currently excluded the supplier Continental from all new orders. According to the German newspapers "BILD" and "DER SPIEGEL".

Interesting problem, as a DIY I'm still happy to use old school soldering techniques. For many years not allowed anymore to produce consumer electronics. Lead-free soldering techniques, very green but rather difficult to manage in practice. Higher melting point (not all components like that), doesn't flow easily, very clean printed circuit boards a must. Not to forget skills and management on the shop floor.

In the German press: The problem was attributed to contaminated circuit boards from Continental's production facility in Hungary. Insiders saw this as a ‘mistake that should not happen’. At the same time, according to Continental, only a small percentage of brake systems are affected. The magazine wrote that there was a ‘huge row between the two companies over the miracle brake’.