19 Renault 19 1.4 (E6J) Ignition Module Problem?

[Venerable19]

The Venerable 19 cut out the other day driving home from Fleet, one minute perfect, next minute total engine failure.
Engine turned over fine, petrol coming through but no spark. Had to leave the car. Came back next day with a spare disti cap, HT lead.
HT lead made no difference, but after swapping the disti cap it fired up! Great, fixed I thought. Drove it home. Next day put the air pipes back on, tightened the disti and voila it wouldn't start again.
Weird. Replaced the rotor and also the transformer part of the ignition module (yeah I had an old one), and it started again. I really wasn't trusting this. Checked the voltages into the ignition unit.
It was all good, 12v going to the transformer, good earth etc.
Read up some more and started suspecting the position sensor, checked the impedance - 250ohm - all good. Took it off and cleaned it up, looked ok, still magnetised, but, again, I had the old (working) one I'd taken off a couple of years back so I put that on (incl lead). Car fired up first time, great, must have been the sensor. Drove it a couple of miles to my local factor to order up a new sensor, on the way back stopped at Sainsburys.
Came out, wouldn't start - aarrggh..!
So to be clear the following have all been replaced:-
Disti cap
Disti rotor
HT lead
Transformer part of Ignition unit
Engine/position sensor (incl lead)
So that leaves the Ignition unit itself as the only bit that has not been replaced. Could the ignition unit fail in such a flakey way? I assume it takes the sensor input and uses it to switch the 12v input off and on to
generate the HT spark voltage, it just feels like it should either fail completely or else work - not work intermittently like this. Its a Bendix RE252 which I can't find on ebay, so I'll have to trawl the breakers. I've seen
ones that look very similar used on Volvos (different RE number) - would those work?
Any input much appreciated as ever.
(1991 Hatch 1390cc (E6J) , Manual, petrol)

 

[Venerable19]

 

[Big Steve - Raider]

Might be worth changing the coil part of that Bendix (Or renix units as us GTT guys call them) you’ll see a couple of screws and it’s off, believe you can replace that with any one from a similar unit in a Scrappy?

 

[Venerable19]

Working late there, Big Steve - thanks for reading - I have actually replaced the coil part - its basically the transformer bit in the photo, as you say, its an easy swap out but no joy - guess it must be the ignition unit itself, must be a circuit board that's popped in it or something

 

[Big Steve - Raider]

Working late there, Big Steve - thanks for reading - I have actually replaced the coil part - its basically the transformer bit in the photo, as you say, its an easy swap out but no joy - guess it must be the ignition unit itself, must be a circuit board that's popped in it or something

What other cars was that engine fitted in? I’d have a lash at trying one from another model?

 

[Venerable19]

Some of the early Clio's maybe - I'll have a look

 

[Venerable19]

Breaker came up with an RE282 (need a RE252) - what do you reckon..?
Car is sitting on the driveway running sweet as a nut - all the same bits are in it when it broke down - let it run for over 30mins , no drop outs. Wish I could make it fail..! Any ideas..?

 

[Big Steve - Raider]

Can’t help but try??

 

[DaveL485]

Could it be heat related? Does it cut out when the engine bay is very hot?

 

[Venerable19]

Hi DaveL,
I let it run for about 30mins on the driveway, till the fan kicked in and no hint of a dropout. I've had the ignition unit out and cleaned up the connector terminals and the coil terminals - still running fine, I really need it to fail..! I might just drive it up and down the local road for a while and see if it stops.
If (when) it does, I will do the following:-
Turn engine over and watch tacho to see if it moves indicating good feed from TDC sensor
Confirm no spark at HT lead by sticking a spark plug in it and holding it against engine
Remove coil and confirm good 12v and earth feed to low voltage coil terminals
If all the above check out then it MUST be the ignition unit acting in some flakey way (maybe it is heat-related inside the unit) - unfortunately I can't find another one!
Let me know if I'm missing something, thanks

 

[LH16v]

I might be wrong but I think I read once that the ignition modules on the 19 were pretty much compatible between models i.e a module from a 1.4 would also fit a 1.8 and vice versa.

 

[Venerable19]

Thanks, LH, I found one on ebay which is RE254 - that's very close to what I need - RE252 - might try that if I can get the price down from silly money (£140)

 

[LH16v]

Maybe worth trying something like this?

1X IGNITION MODULE COIL RENAULT R-11 1.7 -18 2.2 -19 MK 1 89-92 2 92-96 1.4+1.8 | eBay

 

[Venerable19]

Thanks, and I wish it was that simple - its the actual ignition module itself that the coil plugs into - its that grey bit in the pic above...I have two coils and both are good...

 

[Big Steve - Raider]

Did you run through this Renault Technical Manual from the TR Resources? Classic - AEi testing part 1

 

[Venerable19]

Nope, but I’ll have a look, thanks

 

[DaveL485]

Did you run through this Renault Technical Manual from the TR Resources? Classic - AEi testing part 1

I never even knew that was there, top banana

 

[Big Steve - Raider]

I never even knew that was there, top banana

Neither did I until I was having a look thru the extensive archive of fantastic FREE information on the Web’s number 1 Turboed and non turboed Renault Website!

(Too much?)

 

[andybond]

Neither did I until I was having a look thru the extensive archive of fantastic FREE information on the Web’s number 1 Turboed and non turboed Renault Website!

(Too much?)

Never.

TurboRenault.co.uk is a free club for all cars, irresepctive if its a Renault, or with a turbo. We however do specialise in Renault cars from the classics such as Renault 5 GT Turbos to modern MeganeSport hatches. We also include the ClioSport range and the EDC200 and EDC220. I must add though TurboRenault.co.uk is in no way affiliated with Groupe Renault or any of their respective trademarks. The posted views of our members are in no way the views of TurboRenault.co.uk or its owners.

 

[Venerable19]

I've gone through Big Steve's Renault manual and it's definitely the ignition module gone faulty - its not taking the TDC input from the flywheel - proved by the tacho not moving on crank-over. I'm having real trouble sourcing a replacemnet (RE 252), from the guide the RE 254 I saw on the bay has different retard settings for spark etc. so looks like a non-starter (heh. Is it worth sounding out club members ?