R9UKE's French Car Blog...

[Citroenmad]

Excellent work Luke

I guess that tractor thing behind the C5 was used to get it out of the barn? Your lucky that it went on as it really is sat on the floor. I don't much like the idea of that rear strap though!

The bumper should clip into place hopefully, they seem to be fairly rebust things. Very strange that the computer is in German! You will need a pretty decent battery on it, they have a very high grade anyway due to the suspension being electric. If its in economy mode it wont do anything other than tell you that Until it starts ...

First things on my list would be to get it running obviously. Then do an oil and filter change, cambelt change and so on. No doubt the brakes are too badly rusted if they were that stuck, so they might need replacing. Tyres will be ancient.

A very nice find though and certainly an interesting project!

Ah, I see your daily driver Neon

[bxzx16v]

I love your C5 Luke , a great colour combination and with that V6 under the bonnet

Mark

[KP]

Looks good Luke

Did you try jacking it up and using some wood to hold it up?

Are you rebuilding the calipers or buying some used ones to replace them?

[CitroJim]

That's quite a collection you're building up now Luke

I'd be surprised if the engine is seized. The old ES9 is a pretty robust old job but if it's been resting that long you are wise to take care...

Starter motors are a known trouble-spot though...

Do you know why it was abandoned all those years ago? Must have been something serious?

[KP]

The guy gave up his licence iirc jim.

If your taking all the plugs out and going to give it a service anyway I'd be tempted to put a bit of 2stroke down each pot to avoid any damage from sticky rings from being st that long Luke
I'd drain all that old fuel off as well as it won't run on it. Would be useful to anyone running bio or veggie as a mixing fuel though!

For batteries Ecp are doing good deals at the minute with free delivery. Enter code mbclub25 at checkout for a good discount

[CitroJim]

The guy gave up his licence iirc jim.

Ahh, that makes good sense... So not for mechanical reasons then. Even better

[R9UKE]

Thanks for the comments guys! KP - I'll probably just grab a set of second hand callipers, I'm pretty "in" with a local scrappy who has a steady flow of French stuff.

I've had a pretty mad week, and two more to come so the C5 isn't getting any of my time unfortunately. It's waited 7 years, a few more weeks won't hurt. Thanks for the tips. If I stick on a good battery and it's still shouting about economy mode and refusing to play then I'm really not sure what I'll do.

Yes, Jim, the collection is growing rather beautifully, I'm very pleased with progress through my checklist! My Chrysler Neon which I was using daily is moving to it's new home tomorrow. What a brilliant, brilliant car but with the two other new arrivals (and new daily) this week, it just couldn't be justified to keep.

The first was my Motorhog Mégane Cabriolet. What a car!! The bodywork is rough, but thankfully the interior and mechanicals are pretty much spot on. The electric roof is excellent, but requires the handbrake to be on to work - a bit frustrating with it being an auto. The gearbox itself is holding on slightly longer than it should before changing, and puts the fault light on when going up steep hills at speed. A fluid change should clear both issues which are pretty common. Other than that, it's one 70k miles and came with plenty of history and all old MOTs. The leather bucket seats are awesome and there's NO damp carpets anywhere in the car

My new daily is another 2.0 Mégane. I've had my eye on this one since I was 14. This particular car made me fall in love with the Mégane. It was owned by a woman (from new) who lived a few streets up. Lovely black 3 door with the rare 2.0 engine and plenty of options (Comfort, Climate and Handling Packs). Topped off by her private plate, it was always an eye catcher. Couldn't believe my luck when it turned up at the auction as a dealer trade in, she's only gone and bought a new Mégane! 45000 miles on it.





It's lovely being back in a Meg 3 door. And the satisfaction of driving the car that started the obsession is priceless. Somewhat soured however by this piece of mindless vandalism over the weekend. Quite a few cars on my street and the next were targeted. I'm gutted

[KP]

Aww man sorry to see that Luke a smart repair should see it right though

Pity about the meg if it had stayed over here you could have had Vince have a go over it

[Citroenmad]

I do like your new Magane Luke Does this spell the end for your blue one? What will its future hold now?

I guess if you sold on the blue one you could swap the leather over ... or was one of the seats too badly damaged?

Heated cloth is a very unusual extra to find though, I like it! Where are the switches for those, on the seats themselves? That must be a pretty early Megane if it started your obsession for them?

So the heated seats is the comfort pack? Does that bring anything else with it?
What is the handling pack about? Bigger wheels and it must be lower/stiffer suspenion?

Real shame about the scratch down the side

[R9UKE]

Tbh KP, the Convertible is more a case of waiting for a black Mégane to appear in a scrappys and nicking loads of panels - it'll be cheaper. There's no BIG damage but marks, dents and scratches on the bonnet, wings, front doors, front bumper. After that it'll be an epic and rare little car!

Yes Chris, the 3 door is an 03. It's actually 6 months older than my Convertible! The heated cloth seats are real nice. Very cosy and much quicker to heat up than leather... the switches are on the panel behind the handbrake between the seats:



Handling Pack: Tyre pressure sensors and ESP with ASR.
Comfort Pack: Hands Free Renault Card, electrically folding wing mirrors, 6 disc CD Changer and the panoramic double glass sunroof.
Climate Pack: Automatic Climate Control and heated seats.

Such a Mégane dork....

As for my blue car, I'll repair it..... someday. It's enjoying the hibernation.

[Citroenmad]

Very nice

[KP]

I think marks and such like are typical of cars that go through motorhog. They just stack them high and so on so quick in quick out and rough enough description to get them gone.

I've seen an area on their site where they stocked vehicles to be sold on 4 high in racks as its more space efficient and they were sometimes ones without side bodywork damage.

I guess as long as they dont rush putting them on or taking them off they are ok to do it as the cars dont suffer other than a bit of underseal but still its something to be aware of, although most of their partners don't do this as they are happy to let them sit in a corner. I heard of one that was on their yard for 2 years+, Range Rover Sport that still ran but was heavily battered, due to the claim dragging on for so long. The storage fee is by the by as i believe the rights they have on the salvage negate it, but as the car had some windows out i can guess that interior took a fair battering from the elements and wasnt worth as much come resale time...

[bxzx16v]

Cracking looking megane Luke .

Mark

[R9UKE]

Thanks Mark, now suitably dirty to hide the scar up the side

KP, I'd happily go down the Motorhog route again. There's something quite exciting about not knowing the full sotry until I'm driving it up the motorway on the other side of the irish sea. At the price their Renaults go for, there ain't much to lose if it all goes wrong. I'm happy to live with the bodywork issues on the Convertible, you forget it all when the roof's down! Not such a rare occurence what that RR Sport went through. There are cars at the auction that have sat for nearly 5 years. You wonder how people just "forget" about them.

Well the C5 is officially posing a problem. Today I put the battery from the 3.5 V6 Vel Satis on it. A premium, fully charged brute of a thing and it's still saying economy mode active and not even trying to start. We have been haulted before we began. Is this a Lexia issue?

[ashy90]

Well the C5 is officially posing a problem. Today I put the battery from the 3.5 V6 Vel Satis on it. A premium, fully charged brute of a thing and it's still saying economy mode active and not even trying to start. We have been haulted before we began. Is this a Lexia issue?

Isn't the economy mode on a C5 just a feature that kicks in if you have the electrics on for to long when the engine is switched off. For example if you are listening to the radio with the ignition off, after a while the radio will switch off and it'll go in to 'economy mode' - to prevent the battery from being flattened. I think it will then only stop/exit from economy mode once the engine has started.

In your case I would be checking all connections to the starter motor. Does the engine turn over by hand? Put a ratchet and socket on the crank pulley. If it does turn freely, then I would look at the starter motor itself.