1998 Renault Megane RT from UK and Ireland - Comments

Amazing, your example of possible problems is exactly what happened. My first indication of a problem when the temperature needle shot up. The head gasket had blown at about 50.000 miles on a very damp morning, on a motorway, in the rush hour.

The head gasket was replaced. I drove the car for a couple of weeks and then put it in for an MOT. It failed the emissions test. The oil and water had mixed.

It seemed the head gasket had failed again. It was replaced again.

Three weeks later the water and oil had mixed again.

I bit the bullet and bought a replacement second hand engine.

I live in hopes.

I like the car and enjoy driving it. I would like to be able to keep it. My fear is that the same problem will recur.

It does not help that I have had to call out the AA so often for this car that I will be billed by them if I call them out again.

I sympathise with the problems regarding the head gasket as mine has gone twice in the three years I have owned the car. It seems to be a problem with the 1.6 8valve engines on the meganes. Other problems with the exhaust rattling and countless other jobs not covered under normal servicing and repairs would make the decision to buy the next car point away from Renault. There are too many reviews that give poor results for the Megane.

I too have had similar problems. The head gasket went spectacularly in Dec-04 and the engine cracked requiring replacement (160k km). In Feb-05 the replacement engine had the head gasket replaced. I've also got what seems to be a popular problem with an unsolvable fluctuating temperature gauge and am disillusioned with Renault main dealer service. I won't be rushing to buy a Renault again in a hurry I'm afraid.

Bought my '88 Megane 1.6e RT a year ago, impressed by its handling, responsiveness, and features. It still runs fine, but started losing water, then oil, the water is foamy, so it's looking like I too have succumbed to head gasket failure. It's got 69k on the clock so maybe that's not so bad... I just hope the replacement lasts that long!

I have a 1999 16v Megane and it too has the strange problem with fluctuating temperatures. It seems to be losing coolant somewhere, but I can't see a leak. I replaced the thermostat, but that didn't seem to solve the problem as it still overheats. Any ideas? Head gasket?

Hi, I've just got a Renault Megane 1600 Sports Coupe 1998, and just wondered how much a new head gasket costs if it goes?

Thanks, Graham.