Cut & Shove ECU Bracket

[Gordon]

Had the MoT done this morning and got the ECU bracket fixed under warranty. Mill Lane in Aldershot were much better this time round (I think). Allowed me to watch MoT no problem. Also consulted me and talked me though what they were going to have to do to get the ECU bracket to fit.

I don't know if this has happened to other people, but the bracket came from Renault as an L shape. The air intake pipes were therefore blocked from connecting to the filter box. The mechanic had to cut the part down to allow the pipes to pass. He chopped an entire side off the bracket, only keeping the back of the L, in effect now an I. He chopped off the part that would have created a solid metal partition. If kept it would have sat under (or been instead of) the existing straight bar that runs on the left side of the battery.

The part had all the correct holes for mounting and fits fine but it was rather odd it had to be cut down. The mechanic said that he looked on the parts system and there was no alternative given. This is the bracket for all Clio RenaultSports so he claimed. He thought that 550 brackets must have have been cut down for the Trophy at the factory. Therefore anyone that has had the ECU bracket fixed under warranty, in therory, has a cut down part that's been slightly bodged to fit while you waited.

Did anyone else know this about the bracket or were they told by Renault that it had to be done when the bracket was fixed? Or have Mill Lane really screwed up again and fitted the wrong part?

If Mill Lane have got it wrong does anyone have the correct part number?

 

[hoolio]

It's exactly the same engine as any other 182 so the 550 cut down for Trophy's is clearly b*llocks, it seems very unlikely that they would have to do this to all the brackets they fit to all the 182's they've made, but it's Renault you never know.

 

[Cue]

the engine compartment, body shell and engine are that of a 182 cup. no difference whatsoever. They were the last of the cup body shells that came off the production line - so there's no chance it's any different to another other 182, they were ramping production down ready for the 197, they'd not have gone to the expense of getting parts mft'd specifically, hense why we have the V6 spoiler etc. - parts bin was raided to make use of everything they could.

 

[hoolio]

Part no: 8200067223

 

[Gordon]

Right. Back to Renault Mill Lane it is then. The part number for the bracket fitted is 7701471821.

Described as 'Battery Shield KO'

I thought it was very fishy when they had to cut it down. I bet they cut it down because they ordered the wrong part the first time two weeks ago, and as the wrong part arrived the second time, they simply paniced and fitted it.

Something is very wrong with their parts ordering process and the ability to identify parts from an engineering diagram.

I'll keep you posted.

 

[hoolio]

Gordon i got that no. off CS, no reason to believe it's wrong but with the rest of the evidence they've probably fitted the wrong part.

 

[Gordon]

Cheers Hoolio, I'll call the parts dept first, get them to describe the 8200067223 part and then tackle the service dept if the part number you provided sounds right. Basically one is an L, the other a single straight piece.

Whatever they fitted was wrong and 'made' right. :roll:

 

[Gordon]

Hoolio, turns out your part number (8200067223) is spot on. Thanks for that.

I got the very helpful Alex in parts at Mill Lane to bring up the engineering diagram with the part on it and fax the diagram to me. You can easily see it's the right one - there is no huge pannel on the side of it.

The other part (7701471821) is definately a battery bracket and not the correct part. So sadly Mill Lane ordered the wrong part twice (or recycled the same part on the second visit) and tried to bodge the second job.

On the upside, I spoke to the service manager Keith Homer, he was really apologetic that the issue still hadn't been resolved and has offered to send a Mill Lane mechanic from them to me, to fit the part on Saturday morning. Part arrives on Wed, hopely the T will be back to "all genuine parts" by Saturday lunchtime - and I'll not have had to lift a finger.

That's the kind of service you want first time around...but all is not lost and I'm sure they will redeem themselves this time. Third time lucky.

 

[Gordon]

Finally good news. Went to Mill Lane this morning (again) and everything is sorted. The mechanic that did the work, Phil I think, was totally on the ball and knew what he was doing and knew all about the part fiasco. He stripped the old cut down one out, offered it to me to keep, and fitted the new one in about 30-35mins. Proper job.

We also had a chat before hand and to save me doing it he popped on a couple of large galvanised washers as per the 'fix' and how to stop it breaking. No complaints at all from me this time.

Although they said they would get someone to come to me, this was becoming too difficult, so as I drove to them, Keith the service manager did me a deal on some bits and bob's saving me a fair bit of wedge. Very nice of him.

So all in all finally a good experience. A pity it was third time lucky. Certainly if I go back for any other warranty work I shall be asking to chat to Keith all the way and have Phil do the work.