Vehicle

Renault Espace

The large MPV, and — as with the Laguna it shares its electronics with — its faults are dominated by the body computer and the keycard system rather than by anything mechanical. The Espace IV is the notorious one: the UCH controls almost everything, water reaches it through blocked scuttle and sunroof drains, and a wet UCH produces a set of codes across unrelated systems at once, which is the pattern to recognise. The 1.9 and 2.0 dCi engines behind it are conventional and well documented. On cars with the electronic parking brake and the pneumatic rear suspension of the Initiale trim, each system has its own module and its own fault set, neither of which touches the powertrain.

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Renault Espace, front view — Vauxford · CC BY-SA 4.0 (external)

Generations

Fourth generation (J81) 2002–2014

The UCH body computer runs almost everything, and water ingress into it sets codes across unrelated systems at once.
- dCi (badge, not an engine)
- Aisin TF-80SC 6-speed automatic
Body styles

MPV

Platform

Renault D
Engines
2.0 16v — petrol

2.0 T — petrol

3.5 V6 — petrol

1.9 dCi — diesel

2.0 dCi — diesel · 96–127 kW (129–170 hp)

2.2 dCi — diesel

2.0 turbo — petrol

3.0 V6 — diesel
Transmissions

6-speed manual · 5-speed automatic · 6-speed automatic

Drivetrain

Front-wheel drive
Fifth generation (RFC) 2015–present

A crossover-shaped car on CMF-C/D, with four-wheel steering and a much larger share of its functions on the CAN network.
Body styles

MPV

Platform

Renault-Nissan CMF-C/D
Engines
1.6 TCe — petrol · 147 kW (197 hp) · 260 Nm (192 lb-ft)

1.8 TCe — petrol · 165 kW (221 hp) · 300 Nm (221 lb-ft)

1.6 dCi — diesel · 96–118 kW (129–158 hp) · 320–380 Nm (236–280 lb-ft)

2.0 Blue dCi — diesel · 118–147 kW (158–197 hp) · 360–400 Nm (266–295 lb-ft)

1.2 E-Tech — hybrid
Transmissions

6-speed manual · 6-speed EDC dual-clutch · 7-speed EDC dual-clutch · dedicated hybrid transmission · 7-speed 7DCT300 automatic Getrag

Drivetrain

Front-wheel drive

Service information

Renault e-guide (external) — Owner documentation

Information, not instruction

CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.

Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.

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