[adg_andy]

Hi Folks,

This is Andy here. I have a Renault Duster RXS 85ps bought in 2016. hve been too lazy to post an ownership thread for Hagrid till now. In short recap,
I had bought this car for the sheer aplomb with which it eats up bad roads and cushions you in comfort. I have made trips to Vizag and later drove it down to Bangalore with all luggage in tow , when we shifted cities in late 2017.

2 years and 32000 kms later, it was last friday, when I was travelling back to my home in Electronic City from Manyata tech park (yes, I do this excruciating journey daily ), my car gave up on me.

I had just dropped a co-rider in HSR layout at 9:40 pm, when my car wouldn't budge.
Car starts- Check
Car slots into gear- Check
Car moves ahead when you release the clutch - Not happening

Thankfully, the car had stopped right in front of a second hand car dealer, who were just about to close down. Their people also checked the car and found nothing wrong with the clutch.

I call up fellow tbhpian dip27in (I hope I am quoting the correct handle). He comes on to a video call and guides me through. We check all fluids, and also try to find any telltale signs of any failure. The car slots into gear and then there is a faint tik-tik sound as soon as I slot it into any gear, and the car does not move.

Incidentally, I had done my 30K service from Renault Silk Board Service center just a week ago. I had complained of a hard clutch and even without checking the linkages , the "Test Drive" guy , as well as the Service center manager , Mr Suresh declared that the clutch needs to be changed.

Cut back to the present. I call up Mr Suresh at 10 pm and he immediately texts me back the Renault secure helpline- all the while mentioning that the clutch might have gone as he had declared a week ago.

The support mechanic turns up at midnight and diagnoses the case to be a busted driveshaft. He too had told clutch first, but after I told him that the car was slotting into gear nicely and coerced him into other checks, he found out that there was oil spray near the left driveshaft and it is a case of a broken driveshaft.

[adg_andy]

The mechanic then informs customer care helpline that the driveshaft is gone and it indeed needs towing. After multiple " We will call you in 5 minutes" , the tow truck ultimately arrives at 1:30. The car is loaded into a flatbed and towed to Renault Silk board about a km away. I go with the towing van, see y car unloaded into Renault ASC and then call it a day (or night) at 2:30 am.

Cut to the next day. I call Mr Suresh at about 10 am, and he promptly says- I have seen the car: The clutch is gone. I replied saying that the mechanic had told me last night that the problem was with driveshaft and not Clutch. To this he sneered and told that those mechanics are only competent for small repairs like puncture etc and his word is not the last word. I told him not to touch anything and reached Renault silk board at about noon on Saturday, 15th Dec.

Mr Suresh meets me there and again says that " We had told you last week during the 30K service to change the clutch and you didn't- hence this mishap has happened"

We go together to the ramp where my car was raised and find that the driveshaft was indeed busted. SO much for the confidence of Mr Suresh !!!

He then started telling me that the driveshaft is gone , as well as the clutch. He started quoting me astronomical figures for driveshaft replacement. I said " Hold on- did I not buy renault secure a few months ago? Should it be not covered in extended warranty" ( It is another story how I was forced to buy Renault Secure and not 2 years extended warranty)because my Service Adviser m/s Faria forgot to tell the Service Center, in spite of my repeated reminders over call- and I had no proof of my call, but I digress)

Mr Suresh again proclaims that there is external damage and he was sure that the TVS Surveyor (who provide the Renault Secure for Renault) will not allow a warranty claim. I put my foot down and asked him to file a warranty caim. The external damages which he was talking about were stone chip marks on engine guard:that too on the opposite side of the broken driveshaft ( to me it looked that a CVT joint had come out). I have attached the pics for you to determine of there was any external damage. The orange circle represents the area where the stone chip damage is and the purple circle represents the area beneath which stands the broken driveshaft.

I also asked him to let me know when the surveyor comes on Monday - which he denied , telling that he has no idea when the surveyor will come and the surveyor usually just "Pops in" without informing.

I firmly told him to let me know when the surveyor comes and not to change the clutch.

Now my question is: I did not have any accident, or did not drive over any big rock( Although a few Bangalore roads can give you a semblance of that).
How can a Service head make such outlandish claims? To me it is a straightforward quality issue and should be replaced within warrant.

Thanks to bhpian dip27in , Papabravo ( to get in touch with bhpian Soumobakshi) and refer Renault Mysore road SC to me.

[GTO]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[dip27in]

I saw the photographs closely, however failed to see any external damage factor. However, I do understand that external factors have least to contribute for a drive shaft failure. However, it intrigues me to see the credential of the workshop manager who links drive shaft failure with clutch!



The primary load carried by a driveshaft is torsion. The scenario under which the drive shaft has failed is probably due to torsional buckling or pure material failure. presuming its a steel construction, rather than a complex, composite metal construction, instead of blaming the owner, the Workshop should silently forward the driveshaft to R & D team for further forensic test. In this particular case, the driveshaft did not make any noise, so the chance of oil seal giving up slowly and dried CV joint can safely be ruled out for the cause of failure.



It is appalling to see how Renault India is trying to blame their share of responsibility to an innocent customer. They will probably arrange an inspector with little or no experience of mechanical failure who will try to look for best options to bulldoze the claim by the owner.

[humyum]

What you have pointed out as external damages are just mere brushes which happens to the front of most cars while exiting buildings which have a deep ramp or in some cases, small stone chips hitting when they are flying around on the road, secondly these brushes are no where close to where the drive shaft is, so Mr Suresh's argument of that causing the driveshaft damage is illogical and quite franky super stupid.

This does look like a case of driveshaft failure, such a thing happening is quite remote but it does look like the case and you should get it replaced in warranty come what may, write to Renault and call their customer care to complain too.

Mr Suresh does look like a shady character, don't let him have his way without someone from Renault being there to examine, it might turn out he might damage stuff intentionally too to prove his point.

What is the cost of drive shaft they are quoting by the way?

[adg_andy]

Originally Posted by humyum

Mr Suresh does look like a shady character, don't let him have his way without someone from Renault being there to examine, it might turn out he might damage stuff intentionally too to prove his point.

What is the cost of drive shaft they are quoting by the way?

I have taken pictures to prove later, if required. They have not given exact quote, but have told a ballpark figure of 25-30K

[Thermodynamics]

Hard to believe at 30k service they ask Clutch replacement, usually it is suggested around 70k-80k. Hard clutch is quite common beyond 20k in European diesels like Duster, VW and Skoda. I have seen people living with it till 80k after which I guess it becomes unbearable.

Your case doesn't look like Clutch, it is surely something with the drive shaft quality.

FYI
Clutch replacements signs link

[SNayak]

Indeed I am also not very impressed with Renault Silk Board service centre. Have done three services and never had a very good experience with them. Recently I had gear getting stuck in 1st and some shuddering and they are insisting on clutch plate change which would come around 15k. Even though I have been insisting them to check the master slave cylinder and synchroniser, they are firm that it’s a clutch issue.

I would definitely plan to switch to some other service centre or outside in near future for sure

[adg_andy]

It seems that pushing the customer for a clutch change is a very lucrative business for them. I also have issues sometimes to shift from 1st to 2nd gear.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by adg_andy

It seems that pushing the customer for a clutch change is a very lucrative business for them. I also have issues sometimes to shift from 1st to 2nd gear.

Change your brake / clutch / gear fluids every 30-40k km or four years.
In fact if you haven't changed them yet, do so now and see.

[Repsol]

Originally Posted by SNayak

Recently I had gear getting stuck in 1st and some shuddering and they are insisting on clutch plate change which would come around 15k.

I am also facing this issue on my 2017 RXZ which has done 17K kms. Have posted about the same in the below thread.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post4514056 (Renault Duster : Official Review)

[dip27in]

Originally Posted by SNayak

Indeed I am also not very impressed with Renault Silk Board service centre. Have done three services and never had a very good experience with them. Recently I had gear getting stuck in 1st and some shuddering and they are insisting on clutch plate change which would come around 15k. Even though I have been insisting them to check the master slave cylinder and synchroniser, they are firm that it’s a clutch issue.

I would definitely plan to switch to some other service centre or outside in near future for sure

You are absolutely on right track, however, I would insist on this priority.


1. Gear lever linkage and bushes ( which should be easy task )



2. Slave cylinder, flush and change gear oil



3. Synchronizer ring



If the 3rd happens, it is definitely a design issue since on internet, plenty of people of complained of this issue, however Renault is ignoring it for some unknown reason. I cant think of clutch being the culprit since it cant go wrong with everyone.

[adg_andy]

Update: Mr Vinoth from Renault India HQ had called. The 3rd party vendor , TVS has rejected the claim citing external damage . However, they will be changing the driveshaft FOC under Goodwill

[adg_andy]

Hagrid is home !! There is some sort of play in the clutch pedal. Renault silk board is still pushing for clutch replacement. Walked away. Planning to show it to Bosch service centre in E City . Any suggestions?