26th May 2011, 04:14

It does sound like an electrical fault somewhere, but being intermittant, it'll be hard to trace. I would start at the pump and work from there.

I have a Renault Master myself (2001, T35, 2.8dti). Other than general wear and tear, it has only let me down once in 6 years (blown ECU and a knackered pump).

I took it to Reg Vardy Renault to get fixed, they put a recon pump, new ECU and coded it (this was after 2 weeks of, and I quote the mechanic... "a nightmare"). This cost just over £1300. £525+vat for the pump, £360 or so for the ECU and coding, + misc... The rest was labour.

Very happy with that. They get my custom again no problems.

10th Jun 2011, 03:53

There seems to be a weakness in Renault gearboxes. I am on my second Master van, and both had gearbox troubles in around 90.000 to 100.000 Kms. Is this a stock Renault fault?

30th Jul 2011, 15:43

I own a Movano 2.2 on a 53 plate. Seems possible to me you have a problem with the EGR valve? Lots of problems with EGR valves! Mainly diesel, worth trying, cutting out and losing power, usual symptoms... Dave.

13th Aug 2011, 16:30

Hi. I have a 2001 year model, exactly the same symptoms. It has cost me a fortune with so called specialist diagnostic garages unable to pin point the cause unless I leave them my cheque book. It has got worse recently, but sometimes is okay. I would be grateful/interested if you had yours fixed or the problem diagnosed. My tel 07988677878. Regards, Colin.

23rd Nov 2011, 05:18

I love reading all of these comments, as I have just bought a 2005 dCi 120 van, and the clutch has just started slipping slightly, and looking at the service history, it was only changed 35k ago!!

All these repeat problems are awful, and Renault really need to get on top of the issue, and consider a recall for these vans, especially the gearbox problems; they are clearly designed poorly.

Prior to my dCi 120, I had a Citroen Relay 2.2 HDI. This developed the driving up a hill and cutting out issue that seems to only happen on french vans; do they not have hills in France??

Anyway, it turned out to be tiny metal particles that had passed through the fuel system and got caught in the fuel pump; needed a new pump fitted and lift pump. The metal particles had originated from and sheared off the fuel filter screw thread, and all this happened shortly after I had the van serviced. I just thought this may be useful information to someone who has a similar problem, as I am sure Citroen / Renault are similar in design.

Matt.

12th Sep 2012, 14:37

Had the same problem. Could get no more than 65 on the motorway. Would not go up a slight hill, even in first gear. Airflow sensor was fitted, cost £125. Now does 90mph and goes up the hills in 5th gear.

11th Jan 2013, 12:24

I bought a 2006 Master 2.5 120 HP 6 speed, with 92k miles. Now the gearbox has started to rattle badly. The only option is to replace the bearings or buy a new box. Clearly a major fault by Renault.

Also, the wipers now won't work on intermittent setting. Seems to be another common problem. £150 for a new wiper motor.

21st May 2013, 07:29

I am in North Queensland Australia. I purchased a new Master in 2007. The gearbox failed in first gear at 125k, 2 months out of warranty, and I had a new gearbox installed at a cost of $4,250.00. It is only 20 months old and has done 35k, and the new gearbox has the same problem in first gear. I have been told that Renault only gives 12 months warranty on replacement parts, in spite of giving 36 months on the original box. Has anyone had similar problems?

9th Oct 2013, 16:13

Hi, you will find the wiper problem is the switch. It's a common fault.

17th Feb 2014, 14:02

I've had my Master van from new, 2004 plate. Had a problem for the last 4 years with the clutch pedal sticking, not lifting up when changing gear. About three years ago, a man driving another Renault master asked me if my clutch stuck. When I said it did, he said it was the gearbox, not the clutch, and he had replaced his twice.

3rd Jun 2014, 12:04

If the clutch pedal stays down, it is normally the concentric clutch slave cylinder (combined slave cylinder and thrust bearing). Cost is approx £45. The gearbox has to be removed to fit it.

22nd Jun 2014, 07:27

If your van cutting out while accelerating, check to see which injector is bad. You can do a leak back test easily with a clear plastic hose and a jar. See if one of them has too much back flow. It's most likely one of the injectors at fault.

I've had a Chrysler Voyager that did the same thing. A leak back test confirmed one of the injectors was faulty. After replacing it, the vehicle was as new.

8th Aug 2014, 18:40

Check the fuel filter housing. My bleed nipples were leaking and letting air into the system.

21st Aug 2014, 13:16

My 2001 2.8 DTI T35 has about 150,000 miles on her. I bought her from my Renault dealer with 120K on the clock. 5K later the gearbox went. They had given me a 3 month warranty, and after a wait of 3 weeks off the road, they finally sourced a secondhand gearbox and replaced it.

2K later the second gearbox went. I had to argue strongly with them to replace it a second time. Eventually, after a lot of hassle and a threat to go on the airwaves on a well known radio show, they did. I've clocked up 30K in the last 5 years and it has been nothing but trouble. A lot of electrical faults too; particularly in winter. Driving back from a gig late one night on dark country roads, the lights completely failed as I was turning a dangerous corner. They just blacked out entirely in an instant. Nearly killed myself.

About a month ago the ignition failed, the starter went too, and so I had to go to a scrapyard and replace them myself. These things happen so I wasn't that bothered by it. 2 weeks later (ago) the clutch stuck to the floor when I was reversing in a car park. If I turn off the engine I can change gear no problem; when running I can't unless I force it.

The only upside, is the engine itself, never gave me any problems. I've been approached indiscriminately by other Renault Master drivers over the years and almost all have had the same gearbox issues.

To be honest, out of frustration, I went out and bought a 2002 Mercedes E200 estate last night as I'm a musician and need reliability over everything else.

I'm pondering today, as whether I should get the van fixed and sell it on, or simply call a breakers to take it away for 2 or 3 hundred euro.

22nd Nov 2014, 17:21

Renault Master 2.5 dCi 120 2006. Probably one of the worst vans ever produced.

Engine switches off randomly when accelerating, a highly dangerous fault!

Renault CANNOT or won't tell you what causes this.

Many, many owners report this same problem, but Renault are not interested.

Other problems - weak gearbox, weak clutch, weak wheel bearings, weak electrics.

Many working men have been put into serious financial difficulty trying to keep these vans on the road.

These vans are not fit for purpose, and Renault should be held accountable!

Renault Traffics are no better, see Watchdog.

11th May 2015, 16:11

It's late to reply to this, but in the event someone else has this fuel fault, I found that my problem was as follows.

04 LM35 DCi 120

Engine just cut out, but would restart quite quickly. Did this many times a day, especially when calling for extra power, overtaking etc. Diagnostics showed low fuel pressure. Fitted a new high pressure pump. After the pump was replaced all was OK for a while, but it soon started cutting out again.

It was never the HP pump, all it was, was a faulty in-line fuel hand primer bottle. The one you squeeze to prime after running out. When replaced it, I took the old one apart and the inner baffle was hard and split. A simple £5 repair that cost me an £800 HP pump replacement.