Renault Duster

[PhireSide]

Good evening all. Does anybody know the best place to mount switches in a Duster for spots, etc.?

I was thinking about next the 4wd switch where there is 2 blanks next to the traction switch but not sure of the size of switch that would fit... Maybe like a 40x20mm?

I would maybe find a local scrapyard taking a Duster/Sandero apart and get those switches and make them work. It would look standard and you would be almost guaranteed to have them fit

[Gamble_90]

I would maybe find a local scrapyard taking a Duster/Sandero apart and get those switches and make them work. It would look standard and you would be almost guaranteed to have them fit

Now that is great advise... Just to find a Duster being stripped in East London and I'm good to go

[Spectaitor]

The search function sucks on this site, or I don't know how to use it.
Recommended oil for 2017 Duster please? Mid shelf, if that makes sense.

[PhireSide]

The search function sucks on this site, or I don't know how to use it.
Recommended oil for 2017 Duster please? Mid shelf, if that makes sense.

you could try a Google search on this site. Type the following into google (with quotes):

“Duster recommended oil” site:4x4community.co.za

I have always ran Shell Helix HX8 in my vehicles as it’s not unaffordable and I have never had any issues, however just check that it meets the recommended spec for the DPF as these oils need to be low ash content to not mess it up.

another thread on here spoke very highly of the Midas house brand oils, but I have no horse in that race

[Imvubu]

Somewhere in my garage I have half a 5l container of oil from Renault. I can find it now, but the brand is definately Elf.

[Butch Dassie]

The search function sucks on this site, or I don't know how to use it.
Recommended oil for 2017 Duster please? Mid shelf, if that makes sense.

If you still have your cat / DPF in a 1.5 DCi motor, then stick with any manufacturer that says "RN0720 ACEA C4 5W30 4.5 litres" with the "ACEA C4 5W30" being the important part.

If you no longer have a cat / DPF, you can use the higher Sulphated Ash, Phosphorus, Sulphur ACEA C3, which is usually a bit cheaper.

[PhireSide]

Just thought I’d chime in here with an odd fix for a noise I was chasing near the front of the car.

it manifested as a metallic ‘clank’ but not really deep, but not as ‘light’ as say a rattling brake caliper.

I checked and regreased the caliper pins and put copper compound on the backs of the brake pads and the pad oortjies, then reassembled. Replaced the front sway bar links as they were looking tired. Worked through the whole undercarriage, and looked over the engine and gearbox mounts, inner and outer CV’s, the bevel box, propeller shaft, control arms, shock mounts, wheel bearings, tie-rod ends, steering box, bash plate, whee hubs, clutch assembly and found sweet bugger-all to be wrong. But that damned sound continued to elude me.

On a whim I decided to squeeze a thin line of Reinzosil into the throttle body intake pipe where the wire clips from the boost pipe sit. Left it for a day to cure, and lo and behold - no more noise. It seems like as the engine was alternating between vacuum and boost, it was causing this pipe to move aft and forward and the wire clips hitting against the throttle body was causing the metallic sound I was hearing. Odd how a sound like that could manifest as a drivetrain sound, but I am glad I found and fixed it all the same.

I also found that, with our recent floods, I had water ingress into the cabin right above the handbrake. The nut keeping the antenna in place (and so also the o-ring pressed taut against the bodywork) was loose, so letting the car air for a day to dry the headliner and tightening the nut back up seems to have remedied this as well.

[Butch Dassie]

Quite the sleuth and I'm glad for it. Well done.

Did you replace the links with polyurethane bushings?

So, the intake pipe was actually leaking. Good fix

Did you remove the headliner to get to the antennae nut?

[PhireSide]

Quite the sleuth and I'm glad for it. Well done.

Did you replace the links with polyurethane bushings?

So, the intake pipe was actually leaking. Good fix

Did you remove the headliner to get to the antennae nut?

Thank you.

No, I just got a pair of drop links from Maxiquip. The swaybar bushings were still in excellent condition.

Luckily, I could get to the nut by taking out the front interior light housing and getting an 8mm spanner in like so. Found the cuplrit on a YT channel of another guy who had the same issue. BTW, I learnt that there exists a sort of 'canopy' storage area that sits against the roofliner in certain versions, but was removed due to it having a negative effect on the car safety ratings. It would have been nice to have, since storage space inside the Dusters are a bit limited.

[Butch Dassie]

Interesting: canopy storage area. Potential storage for sunglasses, which would be worn when driving and thus, not a safety hazard?

[PhireSide]

Interesting: canopy storage area. Potential storage for sunglasses, which would be worn when driving and thus, not a safety hazard?

The video I saw it in, had the guy saw something about people potentially hitting their heads on it in a collision, which I suppose makes sense.

Snipped this from the video in question:

[Spectaitor]

If you still have your cat / DPF in a 1.5 DCi motor, then stick with any manufacturer that says "RN0720 ACEA C4 5W30 4.5 litres" with the "ACEA C4 5W30" being the important part.

If you no longer have a cat / DPF, you can use the higher Sulphated Ash, Phosphorus, Sulphur ACEA C3, which is usually a bit cheaper.

Thanks, sorry I assume we only talk about the 1.5dci because I discard the 1.6 so easily

Brake fluid recommendations too while we're at it please (I'm not looking to save every penny on getting the cheapest, or spend every penny on the most expensive, more looking for most trusted).

[Butch Dassie]

Brake Fluid: anything that says DOT 4 on it. The clutch shares the same reservoir.

[Sardine]

GREAT ROARING SUCCESS! I have the 2018 model Duster, updated the Media Nav using this procedure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86zMFaU2ZH4
Then after a lot of digging formatted a USB to fat32, loaded and empty text file and called it "mcmtest_activate.ini". Popped that into the usb, went to version under settings and pressed exactly as in the picture (I tried a few from youtube but this one worked). The entered 6835, pressed OK, cleared, entered 9377, ok. Then pressed the "micom test" button, enabled android auto (menu item: AA) and apple carplay (CP) and 4WD, then pressed "Hard reset", waited a few seconds and the system rebooted and voila android auto works! My eco screen now has the 4wd option with the compass and tilt indicators!

I did not mess with anything else as I read you can brick the system so follow this at your own risk!

This was a lifesaver. I tried about 20 other codes before I came across these.
Thank you!

[Tolman]

Hi Guys,

I know this has been discussed somewhere but I cant seem to find it anywhere.

I need to do a DECAT/DPF removal and remap on my 2014 duster when I am back in gauteng in 3 weeks time.

Can anyone recommend a place in Jozi or Pretoria?

Thanks Guys!!

Cheers
A

[Pjansen83]

Hi Guys,

I know this has been discussed somewhere but I cant seem to find it anywhere.

I need to do a DECAT/DPF removal and remap on my 2014 duster when I am back in gauteng in 3 weeks time.

Can anyone recommend a place in Jozi or Pretoria?

Thanks Guys!!

Cheers
A

Custom Tuning. Make contact with Benson on the forum

https://www.4x4community.co.za/forum...-Custom-Tuning

[BankRun]

Fitted General Tire Grabber AT3's just now (215/70/R16)
Got them from TyreMart in Allen's Nek (they had to order them but it only took a day to arrive)
Initial impressions: They look great and fill up the arches a little better than the stock tyres. What I noticed on the drive was that the ride felt a little softer, and the steering felt a little heavier. Slightly noticeable drop in power...or that could have just been the aircon since it's 33 degrees today. Stepping into the car for the first time, it felt as though the ride height was substantially increased (more than the 10mm height diff in tyres compared to the old ones), but that's probably my mind playing tricks on me.

So, it's almost 3 years later from when this pic was taken. I'm on my 2nd Duster now (2021 4WD), and I just fitted 215/70/R16 Grabber AT3's again. On my previous Duster, I had to trim some plastic as the tyres rubbed on full lock, but on the newer one, there's no rub at all. In fact, I could have put an even bigger tyre (225/70/R16).

[Butch Dassie]

The 215/70/16 are the same width as the OEM. So, you shouldn't have felt any heavier steering or a drop in fuel economy due to additional friction if you calculated that you were travelling 3% further per fill-up.

The 225/70/16 used to drag on the inner lip of the mudflap and brush the liner on full-lock in reverse. At nearly 10% wider, you would noticed heavier steering and a drop in fuel economy. However, ride height jumps by 17.75mm vs an increase of 10.75mm. You would be travelling 5% further per fill-up and need to calculate accordingly.

[BarnieH]

Good morning. I can live with the small irritations like the nav system placement, but what irks me is that only my right hand front speaker produces sound when communicating on my phone. How can one rectify this so that the entire sound system works with phone connectivity? (I am hard of hearing natuurlik.Wont call it deaf)

[Butch Dassie]

Check that the balance / fader is set in dead centre. It should play through all four speakers.