[ambvol]

Is there a correct procedure to follow if your car does not crank when attempting to start. Older DIY motors will do some basic checks starting with the battery. Then they will have to call out a garage.

If the car is still on warranty then calling the DAC assist will provide a convenient solution or will it.

My car is 6 months old and had with no problems for the last 3 months. but before that I had to call out the RAC (via DACIA ) on three occasions . On each occasions they were able to start the car by disconnecting and reconnecting the cars battery but on each occasion the car had to be driven back to the garage for checks and reprogramming..

On the first occasion the RAC man said that although the car had started and ran ok his scan tool would not be able to show what caused the fault because it needed the specialist Renault equipment.

On the 3rd occasion when the RAC was called out they went a little further with their scan tool and declared that the problem was caused by a loss of connection with the BCM body control module. The final return to the garage with a reprogram and possible extra pressure on the garage solved the problem.

From my scant rudimentary out of date knowledge of how the engine is controlled I am wondering now whether RAC did their check correctly and possibly inadvertently caused a red herring with their summary of the possible cause of the fault.

Why has this thought suddenly occurred . Well on each of the three occasion that the RAC attended a breakdown and the car was restarted by temporary battery disconnection they did not do the usual step to protect the computer program which you would use if say were changing a battery.

Yes after interrupting the computer power supply it might be normal for the computer to reset to a mode that disconnects the body control module and just keeps the engine controls.

Shouldn't the RAC have scanned for the problem before getting the car to start by interrupting the power supply to the computer. ?

I have written to the Garage manager asking what caused the problem but he has stalled asking for the car to be returned so that another software patch can be added. He has agreed to postpone this until the car has its first service.

I have a niggling concern about the long term reliability of the computer management and the RAC ability to scan for the problem correctly but am however mollified by the 3 year warranty.

Ambvol

 

[JLB]

Lots of patches being installed on your computer, but I don't read about anyone else having such updates done. How are they managing, I wonder?

 

[ambvol]

Lots of patches being installed on your computer, but I don't read about anyone else having such updates done. How are they managing, I wonder?

So do I.

but

I am also wonder whether it was a user IE me problem ( it doesn't seem to have happened to anyone else).
My method of starting the car was to press the clutch fully in whist turning the ignition key. ( correct method used for my last car )

On the last time I collected the car from the garage the technician said do not touch the clutch whilst starting. The car has started perfectly since then.

The car is the Access model with the addition of central locking and also fully adjustable steering column. but I am sure that the basic spec did not include the fully adjustable column nor was it an extra that could be added. Perhaps in my adjustment of the steering column up and down which I did several times in the first few weeks disturbed the harness The alert showing on the dash when the starting difficulties occurred was ESP. Yes another wild speculation.

How ever I have had no problems since my last workshop visit and BCM was programed plus a patch . The top garage technician and the Salesman for some reason took my picture collecting the car and said they were very confident that they would not see me again until the first service very curious.

Ambvol

 

[JLB]

I have always depressed the clutch on my 'modern' cars, but never on my old MG. Have you tried starting the car in gear with the clutch up, will it let you? I suppose starting the MG is a bit of a ritual, whereas I just get in the Stepway, check the handbrake, depress the clutch and start. I always park in gear, but knock it into neutral first. Old habits die hard!

My Stepway II will be three years old on January 7, and the only time it's been in a garage is to have a towing bracket fitted, and the only reason I didn't do it myself was because I'd just come out of hospital, after being under the surgeon's knife.