Buying acvice- Laguna II 1.9dci Dynamique

johnh · Unread post by **johnh** » 26 May 2009, 19:47

Hello all. I have been drawn to a rather tempting ad for an 04 plate Dynamique 1.9DCi. 69K on the clock- I'm mildly questioning the price (trade) as it seems very reasonable (below Parkers) and not sure whether that itself is telling me something.

Anyway- wanted to ask you experts out there what are the laguna specific things I should be looking out for / listening out for on my test drive to help me make a decision. Is it getting to that things start to go wrong age?? etc. cheers in advance

Ross_K · Unread post by **Ross_K** » 27 May 2009, 12:42

The stuck EGR valve scenario is the main thing to watch out for I suppose.

Personally I wouldn't touch a 1.9dci with a barge pole unless I saw a recent receipt for an EGR valve replacement.

Keycards are expensive to replace, unless you're handy with a soldering iron.

Climate control backlight can go. Another expensive job.

If clocks read in kph you need to replace them to get mph as they can't be re-programmed. Expensive? Of course it is - £500.

I'll probably think of another dozen things before the day is out. A world of pain awaits...

uncle buck · Unread post by **uncle buck** » 27 May 2009, 16:06

Ross_K wrote:The stuck EGR valve scenario is the main thing to watch out for I suppose.

Personally I wouldn't touch a 1.9dci with a barge pole unless I saw a recent receipt for an EGR valve replacement.

The EGR valve can & does cause problems on this engine, it's not that difficult to remove the EGR valve & clean it every now & then & this will stop it from sticking. EGR valves always cause problems on diesel engines...it's not just Renault....just google it & you will see problems reported for all makes of car.

Keycards are expensive to replace, unless you're handy with a soldering iron.

This place will repair them for you for £30. http://www.keyrepair.co.uk/index.html

Climate control backlight can go. Another expensive job.

The backlight failure is just a dry / poor solder joint on the circuit board of the climate control unit...a soldering iron & 15 minutes are all you need for this one.

If clocks read in kph you need to replace them to get mph as they can't be re-programmed. Expensive? Of course it is - £500.

No...if that happens you can have it fixed for under £200 with a 2 year guarantee.
http://www.clusterrepairsuk.co.uk/

Everthing you need to know... http://www.renaultforums.co.uk/index.php

Cheers.

Ross_K · Unread post by **Ross_K** » 27 May 2009, 17:16

uncle buck wrote:The EGR valve can & does cause problems on this engine, it's not that difficult to remove the EGR valve & clean it every now & then & this will stop it from sticking. EGR valves always cause problems on diesel engines...it's not just Renault....just google it & you will see problems reported for all makes of car.

To play devil's advocate - I'd say that there did seem to be an inordinate amount of 1.9dci's blowing turbos and going runaway on their own engine oil, as opposed to (for example) PSA HDI engines of the same age.

I believe Renault will make a contribution to the repair costs providing certain criteria are met - yellow OTS scheme (???). That would say to me that they acknowledge there's a problem, rather than it being a case of "all diesels do that"...

I know what you're saying about cleaning EGR valves, but the reality is that your average punter isn't going to be whipping out his EGR valve on a regular basis to give it a once over. 99% of people will take their car to the local dealer or whatever and trust him to look after the servicing (where EGR valve cleaning isn't going to happen).

Xaccers · Unread post by **Xaccers** » 27 May 2009, 18:19

I had a 51 plate 1.9DCi 92HP Privilege and it was lovely, probably the nicest car I've ever driven, compared with the 90HP HDI it was like driving a rocket.
Unfortunately it used to suffer from "Fuel injection system faulty" messages that required rebooting the car (did they get MS to write the ECU?), normally on the motorway, which often meant a flat tyre - but at least it told you one was flat!
The turbo did go on mine within the first year, although I was a tad lax on servicing intervals (not good when it should be done every 20,000 miles), and I did clock up 76K in 2 years, mostly motorway doing around 100mph.
Renault replaced the turbo free of charge, although I did wonder if they fitted the wrong one (most garages thought it was the 101HP engine) as it seemed to have more grunt but did sound a bit rougher.

When Xantia 1.9TD's are no more, the only car I can think of going for is the first shape Laguna II's

Having said that, a friend does have a similar age petrol one, which he found trying to start itself one night...

uncle buck · Unread post by **uncle buck** » 27 May 2009, 19:57

Ross_K wrote: To play devil's advocate - I'd say that there did seem to be an inordinate amount of 1.9dci's blowing turbos and going runaway on their own engine oil, as opposed to (for example) PSA HDI engines of the same age.

I believe Renault will make a contribution to the repair costs providing certain criteria are met - yellow OTS scheme (???). That would say to me that they acknowledge there's a problem, rather than it being a case of "all diesels do that"...

I know what you're saying about cleaning EGR valves, but the reality is that your average punter isn't going to be whipping out his EGR valve on a regular basis to give it a once over. 99% of people will take their car to the local dealer or whatever and trust him to look after the servicing (where EGR valve cleaning isn't going to happen).

Yeah I see your point however I really don't think the Laguna's /1.9 dci engine is as bad as the reports on the Internet would suggest.
Renault did have quite a few turbo's let go on them but I believe a lot of these could have had something to do with the long service interval of the engine...it was 18k with semi synthetic oil specified, this has now been changed, I believe it is now 12k with fully synthetic oil being used, so it does make you wonder if they had just pushed it a little to far!
Maybe this is why they offer the OTS scheme on some.

I appreciate your point about the EGR valve etc...but this seems to be the way things are going with modern electronically controlled diesel engines....so you either have to learn how to DIY or pay the garage...sticking / problematic EGR valves are a very common problem on modern Turbo Diesel engines including the PSA HDI engines.

Sadly modern electronically controlled diesel engines have now been emission controlled to death....EGR & Particulate filters have killed what was a good reliable engine, so if you want to run a diesel you have to take the chance & be prepared to get your hands dirty once in a while to save on hefty bills.....Or alternatively get a mechanical old school diesel that go on for years without problems.

Cheers.