Cutting out...

Well Liam, lets stick a pin in my balloon. Well ok, its French and its highly strung and it comes from an early fully electronic era but then I have found and corrected some serious design faults so who knows? This may be the one that keeps working!!!! Nurse, nurse, nurse! I think he's having delusions again.

http://www.renaultalpine.co.uk/images/Images%20T/Technical%20update%20SF.JPG

Now the other night you mentioned the constantly dimly lit engine bay fan warning light.As you've replaced nearly all the sensors ,are the fans operating as and when they should, if there is excessive heat then this will have an effect on the TDC/other sensors .Been surfing about Hall effect sensors and they seem to be heat sensitive ,I think the TDC sensor is such,but then a little knowledge is a dangerous thing

I read somewhere that the fan switch sensor can switch the fan on at 6v and at 12V when it gets hotter. If Geoff is right about the switches getting fitted the wrong way round could this explain the half lit warning light?
Or have I been drinking too much coffee....

As it costs nothing and is easy to do, I think everyone with even a hint of a problem should check those part numbers. Renault went to very elaborate lengths to keep the engine bay air temperature in the 80c to 90c region so it must be very important. Once over 110c my car would die in traffic athough the air temperature in some local engine areas must have been much higher. What gets upset is something that we need to find out but I am not sure how. I suspect the cold air blowing down from the lid is what prevents breakdown rather than excessive turbo heat. If my switches were not working perfectly I would have changed them both as they are not expensive in relation to the consequences of their failure. The seal they push into should also be checked and replaced if it has hardened up. Happy checking you guys!

...cold air blowing down from the lid....

For some reason, my turbo has never had a functioning cold air blower, and I think I have only seen the hot engine bay light come on once. The extractor had gone slow. Tempting fate, but have never had a problem despite the missing fan!

That is interesting! I suppose as long as the fan extracts the air from around the Turbo it will also hoover the hottest air out of the engine bay. It is all very techy though. I think it is time to learn more about this.! Geoff

Problem with ther A610 is you have the cat in the engine bay, and its not even insulated...the cat can end up getting as hot as the turbo, but its alot bigger!

I'm running the car without the engine lid at all .Spare tyre in front and the adjacent heat shield removed.Both turbo fan and the lid blower fans are working and it's fine if not cooler , the fans come on less.I think i've got better air movement this way as the blower stream hits the glass and is then sucked over the top of the engine and out the now gaping hole where the tyre was.The lid for all its ducting will still trap a lot of heat as the air is blowing thro not sucking out.

My enigne bay overheat light comes on quite frequently. I know I need a new fan, but in the interim would it be an idea to remove the engine cover?

If you've not got any fans working then I would say yes .All that heat is staying put .You should have turbo extraction and lid blower fans and its the later that will give the most airflow .

Agreed, im not running an engine cover either, I have also packed up the glass hatch from its hinges and catches by 15mm all round using round alloy spacers. This lets all the heat out of the engine bay and at speed, air is forced into the engine bay at the roof edge of the glass. Only downside is water can get it and the whole glass area is raised up a bit, but it looks fine...

Renault had a problem with all cars up to fab no 42110 the fan resistor was incorrectly connected this made the warning light illuminate faintly check your fan resistor Renault state failed resistor will increase temperature in the engine compartment excessively

God!, seems far easier to have the fans running permanently when the engine's running...

They would probably get frostbite !!!!

I think the fans are of a quality that only allows them to work when warmed up by the running motor. Like..... old-age, dodgy joints and knackered, but with great character.

When in traffic there is nothing worse than watching the coolant gauge creeping up. I'm considering fitting a switch to the dash connected to the 90 degree temp sensor so I can manually swtich the fans on.