Koleos Hints, Tips, Problems

I've had my 2013 Bose edition 2.5l Petrol Koleos for almost a decade and clocked up 220km of almost hassle free driving including a couple of 800km+ trips towing a small boat or a camping trailer. A few years ago, the AC compressor failed and was duly replaced and she's had a couple of CV boot changes but other than that it's been plain sailing. A couiple of weeks ago, I started to notice a faint fuel smell in the cabin. Turns out the top of the fuel module has developed a small crack near one of the outlets. I'm currently waiting on a replacement module to swap in. In the meantime I have used some marine epoxy putty as a temp repair, and am using the car sparingly so as to hopefully avoid becoming a fireball. Youtube shows me that swapping the fuel module is relatively straightforward but has anyone here done it, and are there caveats I need to know?
 
Your Koleos should be fine with the small amount of towing as my Scenic has done at least 12-15,000 km towing the 4CV, all up trailer weight about 950 kg. I reckon most 'moderns' are good for at least 250,000 km if serviced properly. The issue is not age and km but parts and service. One of the local dealers, all sort of OK in their way, will no longer work on anything older than ten years...
Nullarbor Plain road sign sml.jpg
 
Your Koleos should be fine with the small amount of towing as my Scenic has done at least 12-15,000 km towing the 4CV, all up trailer weight about 950 kg. I reckon most 'moderns' are good for at least 250,000 km if serviced properly. The issue is not age and km but parts and service. One of the local dealers, all sort of OK in their way, will no longer work on anything older than ten years...View attachment 239821
Thanks John, I have no doubt about the reliability of the Koleos. As I said, it's been mostly trouble free motoring. I turned my back on dealer servicing after the first couple of years and have a brilliant local Bosch mob that have looked after the car since. As I'm approaching the 250k mark, I sense that I may be coming to the end of a good thing as it were. Hopefully I can easily sort out this fuel issue and keep "the baguette" as she's become known on the road for another few years. Of late, I think there's also a glimmer of slow shifting in the transmission which worries me a little. No whining or clunking, just "feels" a tiny bit slower to change gears sometimes. It's almost impercetible and I could be imagining it. I hope so.
 
One of the local dealers, all sort of OK in their way, will no longer work on anything older than ten years...
Because if it's older than ten years then original parts are not guaranteed to be available. (AKA too hard.)
 
Thanks John, I have no doubt about the reliability of the Koleos. As I said, it's been mostly trouble free motoring. I turned my back on dealer servicing after the first couple of years and have a brilliant local Bosch mob that have looked after the car since. As I'm approaching the 250k mark, I sense that I may be coming to the end of a good thing as it were. Hopefully I can easily sort out this fuel issue and keep "the baguette" as she's become known on the road for another few years. Of late, I think there's also a glimmer of slow shifting in the transmission which worries me a little. No whining or clunking, just "feels" a tiny bit slower to change gears sometimes. It's almost impercetible and I could be imagining it. I hope so.
Yes, they are pretty good.
 
My 26 year old Peugeot 306 has most parts sort of available but not original which is why most mechanics refuse to look at it. ☹️
 
My 26 year old Peugeot 306 has most parts sort of available but not original which is why most mechanics refuse to look at it. ☹️
Oddly, these excellent cars of the 90s are struggles for parts - our excellent Xantia was sold at 20 years partly for that reason, as was the 306. It is easier to get parts for the older cars, like the CX, than the Xantia, or it was. My Renault R8 is dead easy for the few parts it ever needs.
 
Oddly, these excellent cars of the 90s are struggles for parts - our excellent Xantia was sold at 20 years partly for that reason, as was the 306. It is easier to get parts for the older cars, like the CX, than the Xantia, or it was. My Renault R8 is dead easy for the few parts it ever needs.
Ayah! You make me want a Renault!!!!
(My first frenchie, when I was very tiny, was dad's R16TS) 😁
 
Thanks John, I have no doubt about the reliability of the Koleos. As I said, it's been mostly trouble free motoring. I turned my back on dealer servicing after the first couple of years and have a brilliant local Bosch mob that have looked after the car since. As I'm approaching the 250k mark, I sense that I may be coming to the end of a good thing as it were. Hopefully I can easily sort out this fuel issue and keep "the baguette" as she's become known on the road for another few years. Of late, I think there's also a glimmer of slow shifting in the transmission which worries me a little. No whining or clunking, just "feels" a tiny bit slower to change gears sometimes. It's almost impercetible and I could be imagining it. I hope so.
UPDATE: Fuel module replacement was an easy fix. Got a tool to remove the fuel pump retainer ring and a drop in replacement fuel module from China. Ran the tank close to empty then flipped the back seat, put a bunch of rags down and swapped the module taking care to not damage the float and making sure to properly plug in the various connectors. Inspected and reused the gasket seal as the new module didn't come with a new one. Took about 20 minutes from start to finish and is now working as good as gold. All up about $180.
 
Thanks Fordman for the detailed reply. Turns out the relay named 'Starter Relay' has little to do with the starter motor, it's a general accessories circuit (and confirmed OK). Besides which, I've replaced this whole module with no improvement.
Interesting that when I got the car back from the dealer 3 of the relays were damaged like they'd been pried out with a sharp screwdriver and not the correct tool, and one was a different model like it had been replaced (manufacture date later than the car). There are another dozen relays soldered direct to the circuit board and hidden under the casing. Two of these work in tandem to feed 12V to the solenoid. I soldered leads onto the coil terminals so I could monitor these relays, but didn't read anything that made sense, even when the car started normally.
I traced the signal that drives one relay back to the UCH (passenger compartment computer, module 645 in the attached diagram) and got 7.6V when I expected 12V. I added a relay to turn that 7.6V into 12V but that didn't help. I'm operating on many assumptions and don't have a diagnostic checklist, nor diag computer. I'm looking to buy a wrecked UCH and get an auto-elec to code my keys to it. Sounds expensive but it's still 20% of what I was quoted by the dealer.
Just to close out this story for anyone following. I purchased a replacement module for $50 on ebay from Lithuania, and paid a local auto-elec $330 to transfer the codes from my current module to the newish one, and all is well. The donor was not identical but is working fine.
 

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Finally got around to doing some of the coolant in a 2014 manual h45 (just did the radiator).
Has the Type D had a colour change?
I was the confident the car hadn’t had a coolant change before (in it was blue stuff) and the stuff I put in today was green (Type D from Renault).

Anyone know? I thought I’d read bad things about mixing coolant….
 
Has anyone been able to track down a blower fan resistor? Ours has stopped blowing air but the fuses are fine. I've replaced the fan resistor in a Megane Sport and they ironically are cheap and easy to find but Koleos ones seem expensive and hard to find. Are the interchangeable with X-Trail ones? Thanks!
 
Hi everyone, our beloved 2016 H45 Koleos gearbox died on Monday. It has hardly done 132000K and no towing. Mostly school runs and an occasional freeway trip. Been very solid for last 6 years of ownership. We had no previous plan to sell it however looking at the transmission rebuild costs it seems only option is to send it for scrap yard.

Cost to Rebuild the Transmission $6000 - $8000 ( 2 Quotes) 12mths or 20,000Km warranty
Cost to Procure 2nd Hand Transmission : $2750 -$4000 (3 months warranty) + $1500 Installation cost (4 quotes)
Cost of Trade-In if it was working okay : $5300 - $7500K ( Red-book)

Has anyone else been in same situation, if so what was your decision and why?

Thanks.
 
Hi everyone, our beloved 2016 H45 Koleos gearbox died on Monday. It has hardly done 132000K and no towing. Mostly school runs and an occasional freeway trip. Been very solid for last 6 years of ownership. We had no previous plan to sell it however looking at the transmission rebuild costs it seems only option is to send it for scrap yard.

Cost to Rebuild the Transmission $6000 - $8000 ( 2 Quotes) 12mths or 20,000Km warranty
Cost to Procure 2nd Hand Transmission : $2750 -$4000 (3 months warranty) + $1500 Installation cost (4 quotes)
Cost of Trade-In if it was working okay : $5300 - $7500K ( Red-book)

Has anyone else been in same situation, if so what was your decision and why?

Thanks.
Secondhand CVT has no appeal to me! If the car is otherwise in really good condition and suits you, you'd maybe get another 5-10 years out of it for the $6-8000 repair cost. You'd not do better than that buying a$10K secondhand car (with its used transmission)... On pure value $$$ it's scrap, but its not scrap if you were to keep it for a fair while and get the new transmission serviced regularly so you get the value out of the repair. Always a vexed question... Bad luck. :(
 
Has anyone else been in same situation, if so what was your decision and why?

Thanks.
similar.., my diff went.
doesn’t matter what it was… didn’t want to spend another cent on her, as she was getting clunky and noisy, so gave her away as a trade in, bought a new forester and am happy as Larry.
 
similar.., my diff went.
doesn’t matter what it was… didn’t want to spend another cent on her, as she was getting clunky and noisy, so gave her away as a trade in, bought a new forester and am happy as Larry.
I'm with you about the Forester! Sold one Scenic approaching 200,000 km in good running order and bought a secondhand Forester. It's excellent and the same size externally, albeit rather less well designed internally than the Scenic. So much depends on the condition of the dead vehicle, your "getting clunky and noisy" comment making disposal clear in your case...
 
Has anyone had a faulty wheel bearing? I'm hearing a growling from my one (it's done nearly 300,000 km and not missed a beat) and raising each wheel off the ground, there's no play in the wheel to indicate there's an issue but I can't get any of them spinning properly (even in 2WD and neutral) - is there something else I need to do? Thanks a lot!
 
Has anyone had a faulty wheel bearing? I'm hearing a growling from my one (it's done nearly 300,000 km and not missed a beat) and raising each wheel off the ground, there's no play in the wheel to indicate there's an issue but I can't get any of them spinning properly (even in 2WD and neutral) - is there something else I need to do? Thanks a lot!
Our daughter's Scenic II has had both rear wheel bearings replaced. Probably 200,000 km approx.
 
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