Engine revs and noise 1.2L Austral

Faults and Technical chat for the Renault Austral
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Mr rugby
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2023 9:36 pm

Post by Mr rugby »

I believe my engine noise is getting louder and the period by which the engine kicks in is becoming more frequent.
When I start the car, sometimes the engine kicks in immediately, while on other occasions I can drive100 Meters up the street before it kicks in.
My engine has what I would call 2 levels of engine speed noise,

1/ I would liken it to a high tickover, of maybe around 1, 500 to 2,000 revs
And
2/ A high rev state of around 3,000 revs while driving at higher speeds around 60mph, though it's harder to judge at higher speed.

The slower tickover is accompanied by a tapping noise, appearing to come from the engines right hand side as you sit in the drivers seat on a uk model.
Together with the popping engine note and exhaust condensation blowing out, it bares similar resemblance to the noise a canal barge makes blowing into the water.
I ain't a fan of this 3 cylinder engine, especially when passengers enquire about the noise as it kicks in, but it runs OK. The display shows when the engine is both driving the wheels and charging the battery and coincides with max noise.

Why they never went with the 1.3 DIG engine from the renault/nissan stable as fitted to the Qashqai is beyond me, it was a much more refined block which I believe is fitted to the lower horsepower Austral model on the continent.

Mr rugby

Mr rugby
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2023 9:36 pm

Post by Mr rugby »

Update on above story,
Today I opened the bonnet, started the engine and let it run untill fully hot which actually took around 10 to 15 minutes.
At first the tapping noise mentioned above was loud and clear and with the use of a stethoscope appeared to come from under the rocker cover which I assume was a tappet with a slightly over size clearance when cold. This came from the right side of the engine when viewed from the drivers seat on a uk model.
While the engine was running continually, I also observed the battery level filling it's boots to the point where for the first time for me it reached a full capacity condition with all LED segments full.
Also, when the engine was hot, the tappet noise diminished considerably.
Now assuming the rocker tappets are of the hydraulic type ( i'm not sure if they are yet ), which as you know self adjust, I am curious has to why they are noisy when cold and don't adjust themselves accordingly.
I appreciate that heat will close the tolerances but mine is quite noisy when cold , and if this was an older type car/engine that was not under warranty I would have had my feeler gauges out by now and adjusted the rockers ever so slightly.

Those were the days.

After the test I also checked my oil cap for sludge and found none. I have now done around 2,000 miles.
I guess that if I took it to the dealer, they would argue that as long as its quieter when at normal temp then all is hunky dory, the problem is, these engines kick in and out and normal operating temp takes longer to achieve, hence the oil sludge condensation scenario mentioned in other posts when the engine stays cooler than a normal engine which runs continually.

Anyhow, what's your views on this and are your engines on the uk austral the same as mine.
MickeyYNWA
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Aug 12, 2024 9:47 am
Location: UK

Post by MickeyYNWA »

Well you made me laugh with the canal barge comment for a start.

Regarding the noise, i have noticed it's louder than a 4cyl 1.2 for sure, I kind of like the noise these 3cyl make though otherwise I'd have no idea it was on.

I've not gone full doctor like your goodself yet so I'm not sure if it's just the usual 3cyl extra noise or something more specific.
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