My 'new' Grand Espace V6 24V 'the race'

[Anders Dinsen]

I drove my new Grand Espace V6 24V home from Frankfurt this Tuesday. It's a great car. As soon as I have the old one sold, I'm registering it. Went 9 km/l on the part from Frankfurt to almost Hamburg. Now it's sitting just outside my house. It just had the big timing belt & spark plug service made by an authorized Renault dealer, so there's 100 tkm or four years to the next.

Here's a picture:



Cheers,
Anders

[Will Falconer]

Welcome to the World of 24v Espaces.

Mine is coming up to its timing belt change in a few months.

This will sound odd, but I always drive with the snow button pressed in on the transmission. It cuts out 1st gear which I find too low and jerky.
I find I only need 1st on very steep hills and otherwise enjoy a very smooth drive.

Enjoy

[Anders Dinsen]

Welcome to the World of 24v Espaces.

Mine is coming up to its timing belt change in a few months.

This will sound odd, but I always drive with the snow button pressed in on the transmission. It cuts out 1st gear which I find too low and jerky.
I find I only need 1st on very steep hills and otherwise enjoy a very smooth drive.

Enjoy

Good luck with the timing belt change, there's a lot of wheels to align. Are you doing it yourself or leaving it to another pro?

Spark plugs shouldn't be so difficult to change once the inlet manifold has been removed, I have been told.

My electronic oil level sensor doesn't work. Tried disconnecting and connecting it, have you had any problems with that?

I'm going to have the transmission oil and internal filter changed. It's not that expensive. My local automatic transmission specialist workshop suggests that particles from the internal clutches collect in the oil. The oil is lifetime filled, and can probably last a long time. What's your opinion?

On Espace-Freunde, people generally find the 24v auto gearbox quite roboust and problems have never been reported with it.

It's a great drive, very smooth. Until you kick it!  

[Anders Dinsen]

Mr. Transmission, Bjørn, in Bagsværd told me today that the gearbox is the ZF 4HP20. It is a very reliable gearbox, can go 400.000 km  

[Will Falconer]

Mr. Transmission, Bjørn, in Bagsværd told me today that the gearbox is the ZF 4HP20. It is a very reliable gearbox, can go 400.000 km  

That's excellent.  I'll take your tip on cleaning out the filter to give it the best chance.

[Will Falconer]

I'll leave the timing belt to a specialist, it's something like 6 hours work.

The plugs have already been changed after it had an incident with an over zealous pressure washer!

My oil level gauge is OK but I overfilled it with oil recently. It blew up into the cam boxes and then dripped on to an ignition wire causing a bad misfire. We were about to strip the top of the engine before I discovered that it was OK once the level was back to normal.


Good luck with the timing belt change, there's a lot of wheels to align. Are you doing it yourself or leaving it to another pro?

Spark plugs shouldn't be so difficult to change once the inlet manifold has been removed, I have been told.

My electronic oil level sensor doesn't work. Tried disconnecting and connecting it, have you had any problems with that?

I'm going to have the transmission oil and internal filter changed. It's not that expensive. My local automatic transmission specialist workshop suggests that particles from the internal clutches collect in the oil. The oil is lifetime filled, and can probably last a long time. What's your opinion?

On Espace-Freunde, people generally find the 24v auto gearbox quite roboust and problems have never been reported with it.

It's a great drive, very smooth. Until you kick it!  

[Anders Dinsen]

I'll leave the timing belt to a specialist, it's something like 6 hours work.

The instruction says to remove the engine first. On my car, the timing belt change is listed on the invoice copy I have as a fixed fee of 630 EUR plus spares. Don't know the hourly cost in Germany, but if it's 60 EUR, then that's 10 hours of work, i.e. two mechanics a whole day. I don't know if they can remove and reinstall the engine in one day?

People think I'm crazy to want to own such a car, but I've chosen to put it in my budget. At least it will not need transmission repair.

It drives like a dream, I took it over some small roads yesterday, it was fun! The large 225/50-R16 wheels that are standard on mine keeps it to the asphalt even in the narrowest turns.

One funny thing happened though, before a turn I hit the brakes hard, ABS kicked in slightly, then all light in the display went out.

I think the engine was still running, but I was quite confused! The indicators for headlights on were still on, I remember. I turned the key off and started the car again, and everything was back to normal. Loose connection somewhere?

Must see if I can find it, but it's difficult with all the CAN bus stuff going on in it. I've got a copy of the wirering diagram, but don't know if that helps.

Cheers,
Anders

[Will Falconer]

I think the engine has to be lowered rather than coming right out, but that means taking the whole front off anyway!

Mine originally had 15" tyres but I've now got 205/55 16" and they make a big difference to the handling. I tried out an Avantime on 235 or 245 17" and that clung to the road noticeably better than the Espace.

I might yet put 17" on mine if I can find something suitable.

My guess is that your ABS problem is a connector come loose. You can take the whole of the top off the dashboardquite easily  by taking the speaker grilles off first. That exposes the instrument pod.

[Anders Dinsen]

I think I have the explanation for the cut out... I wondered what this switch is for (it's sitting under the mega box):



After a moment of browsing the diagrams, I now know it cuts out fuse F26 and F28: Radio and all interior light, including backlight in instrument panel etc. So maybe there's a loose connection around the switch.

But why this switch

Handling on the 225 R16's is good enough for me, family still needs to be comfortable in the back  

Lowering the engine probably means dismantling the driveshafts at least... still a big operation. But better safe than sorry with a timing belt, I guess. With a drive line weight of more than 200 kgs perhaps, I it's not a job for the home mechanic... With a friend I replaced the timing belt on my 1987 J117 a couple of weeks ago, that was easy although it did require the front to be removed, but then everything is directly accessible.

http://tmp.dinsen.net/tandremskiftj117.jpg

- Anders

[Will Falconer]

I wonder if that is an inertia switch designed to switch off the fuel pump in the event of an accident.

Go easy on the ABS or you'll set off an airbag next

[Anders Dinsen]

I wonder if that is an inertia switch designed to switch off the fuel pump in the event of an accident.

Go easy on the ABS or you'll set off an airbag next

Haha! I will

The switch is not connected to the fuel pump, only the radio and interior lights. It's manually operated... In the diagram it has number 2000, but no designation.

[Will Falconer]

I guess it could be to isolate the power supply when the car is hooked up to a dignostic computer or airbag setting-up equipment, where changes in power caused by door lights going on or off might confuse sensitive equipment.

[Anders Dinsen]

License plates are on now  
Danish registration tax paid

[musketierz]

Hello,

Talking about gearboxes...

Does anyone have any experience on changing the filter and oil of the Automatic gearbox on a V6 24v. I'm not sure if it has been changed before.

P.s. Mine has done 109000 Km's (so far no leaks or problems)

THANKS.