# Renault Master - 'Check emissions'



## number14 (Nov 16, 2021)

Firstly, I have to say that SWMBO and I are delighted with our Renault Master Wildax conversion. It runs like a train and we love the auto transmission but it does have a recurring issue of the 'check emissions' fault flagging up and so far the Renault dealers have not yet traced the problem.

Here is the story so far:
1.  August 2020: Purchase '18 plate Renault Master Quickshift Euro 6 Wildax Europa. 13k miles
2. October 2020: 'Check emissions' - Local Renault dealer clears diagnostics memory
3. January 2021:  'Check emissions' - Local Renault dealer clears diagnostics memory
4. March 2021: I top up the adblue and within 60 miles all sorts of dire warnings pop up saying, essentially, there is no adblue and the van will soon come to a halt. Within another 10 miles these warnings disappear and we are back to 'check emissions'
5. Late March 2021:  'Check emissions' - Local Renault dealer clears diagnostics memory and tells me to go to the big city dealer because they can't fix it.
6. April 2021: Passed 1st MOT flying colours.
7. Late April 2021: Big city main dealer clears all legacy errors from 'all the computers' so we can start from a clean sheet - as he puts it. Also road tests the van twice.
8. Good all summer 2021
9. November 2021: (You guessed it)  'Check emissions'

You may have noticed that the problem only occurs in colder weather, so I wonder if there is a temperature related function in the emissions system that is faulty.
Fortunately the van has a 4 year warranty so it's booked in with the big city dealer again. I intend to push them hard to solve this but I would welcome any thoughts from you guys and gals which may be useful. Knowledge is power, as they say.


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## TJBi (Nov 16, 2021)

number14 said:


> Firstly, I have to say that SWMBO and I are delighted with our Renault Master Wildax conversion. It runs like a train and we love the auto transmission but it does have a recurring issue of the 'check emissions' fault flagging up and so far the Renault dealers have not yet traced the problem.
> 
> Here is the story so far:
> 1.  August 2020: Purchase '18 plate Renault Master Quickshift Euro 6 Wildax Europa. 13k miles
> ...


Some years ago, I purchased a used Renault car from Renault UK. Once winter came, I had nothing but problems with cold starting. I repeatedly took the car in to Renault, who changed the plugs, tuned the engine... In the end, I left it with them over a weekend, so that they could have it from cold on the Monday morning. That was when they discovered that there really was a problem and told me that they had fixed it. The cure sounded a bit unlikely to me, but I'm no expert. I was away on business at the time, so called in to collect it early one morning on the way to work. They said that they had left it in a secure area and would bring it round for me. They left me sitting in reception for an extremely long time and eventually admitted, rather embarrassed, that it wouldn't start! That was when they referred the matter to their UK Technical Department down in/near London. "Cold starting problems on a Renault 14? Well-known issue." They had a fix for it which eliminated the problem for as many years as I kept the car. Might be worth asking the dealer whether they have referred your issue to Renault UK Technical Dept.


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## number14 (Nov 16, 2021)

TJBi said:


> They had a fix for it which eliminated the problem for as many years as I kept the car. Might be worth asking the dealer whether they have referred your issue to Renault UK Technical Dept.


Thanks for that tip - useful to know. The van starts and runs perfectly so I suspect that the fix is really simple. I believe that the 1st local dealer I used were just out of their depth.
TBF to the big main dealer, I think their approach of clearing absolutely everything from memory and starting again was the right way. It's a PITA but I just need to keep the issue live before the warranty runs out next April.


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## Millie Master (Nov 16, 2021)

As a passionate Master owner (builder), I feel fairly certain your problem will be the lack of pedal to the metal driving which of course isn't easy with a slush box.

My own Master almost always lets me know when (at times), I have been driving too economically for too long.


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## trevskoda (Nov 16, 2021)

Sounds like pussyfooting to me, give it the welly.


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## maingate (Nov 17, 2021)

I agree with Trev and others, give it some welly.

My last van (4.5 ton MAM) had a Nissan 3 litre diesel engine and it was an excellent engine. The same engine used to be fitted in Nissan 4 x 4 cars and was a bit of a flop because it never did any real work with it being in such a small vehicle. If you are driving to get more mpg then you are doing it no favours and it is costing you money and problems.


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## trevskoda (Nov 17, 2021)

This is the millage you get when you drive like its been nicked.


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## number14 (Nov 17, 2021)

Thanks for the further replies. I am aware of the reasons behind the need for an Italian tune-up and I did try this a couple of times last winter without success but I'll try again with a good long run in manual mode at high revs.

It does strike me though that the need for this is at odds with the software controlling the auto shift which always strives to keep the engine at lowest possible revs. I am also not sure whether the Master has a forced DPF regen system.

Again, thanks for your help. I'll report back after the visit to the main stealer at end of this month.

Edit: Just dug into the darkest reaches of the vehicle's handbook. It says a force regen system is fitted and, elsewhere, to always drive in the highest gear possible!


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## Cathy (Nov 17, 2021)

number14 said:


> Firstly, I have to say that SWMBO and I are delighted with our Renault Master Wildax conversion. It runs like a train and we love the auto transmission but it does have a recurring issue of the 'check emissions' fault flagging up and so far the Renault dealers have not yet traced the problem.
> 
> Here is the story so far:
> 1.  August 2020: Purchase '18 plate Renault Master Quickshift Euro 6 Wildax Europa. 13k miles
> ...


We have a Renault Trafic which had the same problem. Took I think 4 trips to the mechanic to get it right. We had all the filters changed -with no effect - and then had TWO sensors replaced! Have had no problems in the last 6m/3000 miles. Not cheap though so good job you’ve got a warranty. We were advised to give it some wellie, but made no difference.


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## trevskoda (Nov 17, 2021)

number14 said:


> Thanks for the further replies. I am aware of the reasons behind the need for an Italian tune-up and I did try this a couple of times last winter without success but I'll try again with a good long run in manual mode at high revs.
> 
> It does strike me though that the need for this is at odds with the software controlling the auto shift which always strives to keep the engine at lowest possible revs. I am also not sure whether the Master has a forced DPF regen system.
> 
> ...


Many of the drop parcel vans, esp merks suffer from slow running and bu--er up the regen sys as it requires a long hot run to do the biz.


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## number14 (Dec 2, 2021)

Just an update in case you've all being having sleepless nights waiting to know what's happened!

The dealer found, or rather the diagnostic computer found, an internal fault with the urea reduction catalytic converter and exhaust gas temperature sensor. This required a new exhaust and sensor. At least the diagnosis is consistent with the error messages that were flagging up on the dash so I am hopeful all will be good now.

This emission control stuff is so complex these days.


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