MatraSport Forum

Our beloved Grand Espace 24v passed the 250,000 km mark today. It's 11 years old and still running like new. I can't imagine a better car for our family!

It's well done, but I can see that you will soon fill up with petrol, but nice if you have not filled up since you got the car ..... ;D

Haha, I'm afraid I'm not that lucky... The car has probably been filled up about 500 times now! :-)

Just 500 times!!! go on admit it these cars suck the lifeblood out of us with fuel. I'm currently looking at (gpl) lpg or hho to help keep some money in my pocket!
Yes I dare say mine will do the same kms with us now the autobox is done, just as long as the dash & body controller are repairable I guess we will be good to keep motoring.

Just seen this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1jZQ7hSIZQ&feature=related 500k

My 24v too is on 165,000 miles (265000km). Over the last two years it has been basically unused except for a month in the summer for our annual holidays and it still fires up with only minor things for it’s MOT. I’m very loath to sell it though because it swallows enough kit for three weeks camping, six people, tows a trailer and carries a roof box all in comfort.
“I too can’t imagine a better car for our family.”

My 1994 RXE (that's a J636) has just passed 1/4 million km, too. Last fill-up was at 155 471 miles, or 250 206 km.

It's been no trouble at all, apart from systematically eating front wheel bearings, suspension joints, steering linkages, a drive shaft, engine mounts, and clutch cables. The annual ritual of dismantling, cleaning, greasing and re-fitting at least one door's central locking mechanism is also getting a bit tedious. That said, it's a very practical and comfortable car, and I'm hoping it will get to half a million kilometres before it's finished.

Our previous 1992 Espace J637 had 630.000km and still running just fine when we decided to replace it with a bigger and more safety-equipped Grand JE 24v about 6 years ago.

I found it still running and for sale on a market place about a year ago  ::)

Mine 2.2 DCI Grand JE has passed 285.000 km.
It has been quite problematic those days. within the last 2 months I have had 3 breakdowns.  First the lower "servicebelt wheel". 2 weeks later the generator gave up (Both issues understandable considering the mileage). Latest on a trip to EuroDisney Paris, one glowplug unscrewed itself close to our destination at Paris. This issue was a quite schoking experience due to heavy noise and smoke when it happend. We were towed to a Renault Garage in Roye who sorted out the problem within 10 minutes. A very nice service. The repair was done during their lunch break and they did not want payment for the fix.

I may start to consider changing maintenance strategy from "run to failure" and into a more preventive maintenance mode :-)

Sounds like a nice French experience you had there, Bo :) We're some 500 km from passing the 260 kkm mark now...

However, driving home from Provence, I have realised that the radiator is leaking a bit. The leak is small and from the top so it only drains water out to the minimum mark on the reservoir. Further, the weather is cold up here in Alsace where I'm at a hotel for 2 nights, so considering it's Sunday today and garages are closed, I plan to drive it home carefully tomorrow... it did 800 km yesterday needing only one topup and the engine is obviously far from overheating.

It annoys me, however, that I paid 8000 DKK for this radiator only 4.5 years ago. A new one, fortunately, will be cheap... http://www.ebay.de/itm/150929700015

I cant compete on mileage, however my v6 has been leaking coolant for the past two years! It also leaks to the bottom of the expansion bottle. Two summers ago we traveled from the UK to the south of France then to north Germany before returning home, all with the filler cap off!! One day I will find the leak :)

275.000 km, and still going strong :-)

She just had the timing belt done. The engine remained in the car this time, but it took more than 10 hours of labour and some cutting in the tools to fix the cams. This is the first belt change on this particular engine. The original engine failed five years ago after the belt ran off due to threads failing on the bolts on the belt tensioner. The gearbox is still the same, though. I just renew the oil on it every three years, and it still runs like new.

/Anders

Still some way to go to catch up with me then!  My Quadra has done almost 315,000 km now.  ;-)


Well done Anders, especially with that original gearbox.  Knowing the problems they often develop, that is really good.

Roy

Thanks Roy, but it seems it may have reached its limit now :-(

Yesterday, driving through the hills of Provence, she started jerking in the gear changes and making a scratching noise. The noise runs with the engine revs. It went away, but now it seems permanent. I've made an appointment with the local Renault garage to have it tested, and have been in touch with my insurance company to make sure we can get home.

I suspect the problem may be something stuck in the oil channels, distorting the oil pump, but it could also be the torque converter. We'll see tomorrow.

Too bad she decided to let us down here 2000 km from home.

But we'll get her fixed somehow!

/Anders

Oh dear, sorry hear about the box. Sounds like mine did when the torque converter / pump bearing had gone. The noise was because of the filter becoming blocked with metal swarf. It would drop to the bottom of the box if I switched it off & could drive a short distance before it did it again. Fingers crossed for you.

That's interesting. Did you just have the torque converter replaced, or was the entire box fixed? I've decided to have the box replaced for the cost of 5000€ at a Renault garage including labour costs etc. That will give us peace of mind for a lot more years of driving. We just need to extend our holiday here for 4-5 more days, and the car will be all right to take us home. Being under Danish taxation, I'm ready to invest quite a bit in my car.

Sorry we spoke too soon!

Since the oil in the torque converter and main gearbox is the same, any contamination of one affects the other, so it is never sensible to replace one without the other.  You don't want contamination from one getting to the other new part.  And you can never clean out a torque converter properly.

Roy

thanks for your input, Roy. I'm sure Renault will replace both, but I'll check tomorrow.

Don't be sorry. It could have happened anytime, and it will be as good as new when they're done with it. For now, we're driving a hopeless Nissan, and after doing lots of Provence mountain roads in it, the family can't wait to get back in the Espace :)

/Anders

Being mechanically minded & skint I found a second hand replacement.
here is the post with pictures > http://www.matrasport.dk/forum/index.php/topic,2451.msg19088.html#msg19088

Thanks for linking to the old post. I should have reread it before going here :-)

Anyway... things are NOT going according to plans.

Tuesday, I saw the garage and they told me the gearbox had arrived from Paris and that they would start working on the car in the afternoon, work all day wednesday, and we could have it thursday and go back home Friday. Great!

I left them to do their work Wednesday, and called them Thursday morning. "Tomorrow" was the answer. What?! I went with my wife and two of the boys to see them just after siesta. This is what we found: A car with the old gearbox still fitted. The new one was in an unopened box on a pallet next to the car. Obviously they had NOT started working neither Tuesday or Wednesday, but hadn't rolled it in until Thursday morning. Duh!

They told me it would be ready the next day, though, so there was little we could do, and went back to our apartment. It wasn't fun for the family.

Friday morning, I went in to see it just before the siesta, and the new box was now fitted, but there was still a lot of work to do. The replenishment of airconditioning and a test drive for example... "C'est possible", the customer service guy said. The mechanic just looked at him.

Status is that the engine was running Friday afternoon half an hour before closing time, so we're still stuck. SOS couldn't get us a car big enough to fit us all... My oldest son felt really bad, so he went home by plane yesterday with the help of SOS. Tomorrow at 8 am I'm at the garage prepared to wait until the car is done.

So I'm still keeping my fingers crossed, but of course expecting it to be fine tomorrow. I'm really not worried about the car, the mechanic is competent and it will be perfect. It's my family I'm worried about :-/

/Anders

Sad to hear of your problems. I dont understand why they stripped the front of the car as the box can easily be dropped under the car!

That was a surprise to me too, but I think the manual might instruct them to do so to gain better access. I haven't checked it.

Anyway, it's well running now, and did the 2000 km home without any trouble at all. It was actually a nice experience to be caught in a stau near Hamburg for an hour or more, as the gearbox coped perfectly with the very slow driving. Coolant level was perfect all the way home, and still is. Next long drive is Le Mans in June (1500 km either way).

As a service they cleaned the car and the engine, leaving water in the front ignition. I've experienced that before, so I knew immediately what was wrong when the engine was only running on 3 or 4 cylinders, and went back to the garage. They looked quite surprised when I turned up, but fixed the problem immediately (removing the coil pack and cleaning out the water with compressed air is the way to do it).

Here's a photo of the car set and ready to go home :-)

/Anders

Brian, I just checked the instructions on removing and refitting the gearbox. It instructs the engine and gearbox to be removed to refit the gearbox. It doesn't give a reason, but at least my mechanic followed instructions.

http://www.matrasport.dk/Cars/Espace/vault/JE/2996A_L7X_LM0_SPECIAL_NOTES.pdf (page 151)

Glad to hear it turned out well in the end - one thing is getting stuck on your own but with the family stucked aswell is a whole other chapter.

When my gearbox packed up it was near to home and with the same whining noises. I shipped it to ZF for a rebuild and new converter, and 30k later its still shifting 100% perfect.

I replaced it outside our house with just basic tools and a couple of good jacks to lift the car up and help lowering and raising the box out/in, so its a bit overkill to take it all out. But its somehow a relief to hear when Renault mechanics actually reads and follows procedure. Perhaps a more common situ down in europe than home here.

I wish you many more years of purring 24v driving :) Mine is not going anywhere neither ! Only "problem" with mine is a noisy hydraulic lifter on warm engine that i need to sort out somehow. -sometime.

Hi All
My first post (on any forum anywhere ever)
I am the proud (I think!) owner of a 1994 Espace 2.1 turbodiesel. It has covered 275000 miles (440000km).
The last 50000 miles it has been running on veg oil and still runs perfectly.
I have owned it for 13yrs and it has completed many runs to the alps carrying 6 people and a large camping trailer. It is a fantastic old thing and I cannot imagine being without it.

Andy

Espace 2.1td 1994
Range Rover 1994
Lotus Excel 1987
 

Hi there Andy, congrats on your first ever post! & welcome to the forum. Yes, these cars do seem to keep on rolling. I don't do that many miles anymore so I guess I will not knock up the kind of miles you have any time soon. However these cars do go wrong & for as long as they do it will keep me in business :) Oh, if anyones thinking of running a dci on bio diesel then be aware that the acidity of it will weaken the seal in the hp pump on these bosch pumps, leading to filling your sump with it.
Regards
Brian

Getting very close to 290.000 km, the header tank has decided to give up. Cold-hot-cold-hot and some vibrations probably caused the failure. I've had a very hard time finding the leak, but today I finally spotted it: It turned out that the problem is around a supporting stud in the bottom of the tank. The photo shows the stud, its rubber thing that goes into a matching hole in the chassis has been removed for the photo.

A new tank is on the way!

Happy New Espace-year everybody :-)

/Anders

Pretty and brand new header tank installed :-)

(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8581/16320198805_5ba8aff8d5_c_d.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/qSahw2)

Congratulations, our 1990 2.0 has just covered 235200 km and running perfectly here in USA.