limerick Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Just back from a month travelling in France and while there noticed a lot of vibration when pulling out in 1st gear.I went to my local Renault garage to be told that the Pressure plate would have to be replaced shortly at a cost of €1500 approx. There is only 26000 miles up on the van and didn't expect to have this kind of problem.Is it normal for this to happen after 26k miles ?.What causes the pressure plate to fail ?And finally is the cost reasonable ?.The van is a Pilote on a 2007 Renault Master 2.5 120bhp which I have from new and treated like a baby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Not quite sure how one would diagnose pressure plate failure without having the clutch out. Cost depends on vehicle, but AFAIK, the normal approach is to replace clutch plate, pressure plate, cover and thrust bearings all at the same time, due to the labour cost of replacing any component individually. 26,000 miles is a very short life for a commercial clutch, but if that plate has failed, I think it would make sense to do the whole job, unless dismantling reveals the friction plate and other items to be very little worn. It all adds to the cost, but the components often come as a kit, and their cost is not that great in the overall scheme of things. Is there another Renault commercial dealer you could go to for a second opinion? If two come up with the same diagnosis, at least you can be reasonably assured the first is not trying to blind you with science! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Den Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Clutch problems on Renault vans is al most unheard of. Masters are built like brick s..... H..... Virtually indestructible. Some judder is evident on my master and the last 3 vans. One of them covering 250,000 miles in 3 years. I have not replaced any clutches in any Renault master van. Pending on vibration, and is on only pulling away in first. What happens in second gear. All master gearboxes suffer the idle shaft rattle at slow speed. And that's it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Den - 2012-10-30 7:26 PM Clutch problems on Renault vans is al most unheard of. Masters are built like brick s..... H..... Virtually indestructible. Some judder is evident on my master and the last 3 vans. One of them covering 250,000 miles in 3 years. I have not replaced any clutches in any Renault master van. Pending on vibration, and is on only pulling away in first. What happens in second gear. All master gearboxes suffer the idle shaft rattle at slow speed. And that's it. Renault Masters have problems with clutch and gearbox, not extreme, but not unheard of, it's not uncommon to have judder in forward motion, sometimes from clutch or more worryingly a precursor of total gearbox failure. p.s. I know of three total gearbox failures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euroserv Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Gearbox failures are very common on Masters and are expensive to fix. Being a little more positive; and if the judder is a relatively recent development then it is quite possibly the pressure plate at fault. There have been problems with (particularly but not exclusively) Valeo manufactured clutches which have resulted in cracks appearing where the springs are located and either the springs become loose which makes a faint rattle to start with and then juddering is possible. If the problem worsens rapidly you can get pieces of spring breaking off and these become embedded in the friction material and can strip the material off one side or even jam the clutch completely. When this happens, driving is impossible and the symptoms are much like a major gearbox failure. I cannot imagine any reason why (away from a Renault dealer) you should have to pay anything like that much for a clutch replacement, but I suspect that will be the correct course of action to follow if you fear being let down by your vehicle at an inopportune time. At that time you should have the flywheel examined, and even if this is at fault (and you can't find out without removing the gearbox) you would be wise to have the clutch kit replaced while the box is off along with the clutch slave cylinder. Regards Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limerick Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 Den - 2012-10-30 7:26 PM Clutch problems on Renault vans is al most unheard of. Masters are built like brick s..... H..... Virtually indestructible. Some judder is evident on my master and the last 3 vans. One of them covering 250,000 miles in 3 years. I have not replaced any clutches in any Renault master van. Pending on vibration, and is on only pulling away in first. What happens in second gear. All master gearboxes suffer the idle shaft rattle at slow speed. And that's it. The judder only happens when pulling away in 1st and I only noticed it in the last week.and today when pulling out of my driveway I thought it was worse,so I think I will have to change it before I leave the country next year as I would have no peace of mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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