NumboJumbo wrote in message
1166889911.288023.53340@f1g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

If it had been a car with a carburettor and an automatic choke, I'd have
said that the slow-running control on the choke was out of adjustment. This
happened with a 1988 VW Golf that I once owned: very embarrassing to have
the engine racing away when you're stuck in a traffic on the London Orbital
Carpark (I mean "M25"!) - and very difficult to edge forward at low speed,
as well.

However with a modern fuel-injected car, I wonder whether could be the
accelerator cable that's fraying and sticking in its sheath. If you can
locate the throttle lever on the fuel injection unit (it will have the cable
attached to it) you could try manually closing it to see if it's sticking
open. Probably safest to do this with the engine turned off to avoid getting
your hands caught up in fan-belt pulleys. Maybe also open it right up
(definitely with the engine off!) to pull cable through the sheath, and see
if it shows any tendency to stick instead of closing when you release it.

If it is the throttle cable, I suggest you don't drive it in case it sticks
wide open while you are driving. I had a very scary experience when I was
learning to drive - coincidentally also in a  Renault, though this was one
of those ancient Renault 6s with the gear-lever like a hockey-stick coming
out of the dashboard. I was going up a steep hill so I was in low gear with
the engine running fast. When I got to the top and levelled out, I thought
the engine was racing a bit as I changed up, but thought I'd just muffed-up
the accelerator/clutch coordination. But when I got into 4th, the car shot
forward as you'd expect if you engage it with the engine running at 4000
rpm! Fortunately I realised very quickly what had happened (the accelerator
pedal didn't spring back when I took my foot after it) and I switched the
engine off *without turning the key so far as to lock the steering) and let
the car come to rest. The worst thing I could have done would have been to
press the clutch: deprived of any mechanical load the engine could have
revved so fast that it suffered mechanical damage, given that it wasn't a
modern car with a rev-limiter.

However I wonder if the poorer starting could be linked in any way to the
problem - suggests a mixture that is too lean or too rich, assuming that the
battery is OK and the engine is not so cold that it's struggling to turn
over against viscous oil.

HHHHHHHHmmmmmmmmm........  I highly doubt the battery is a primary cause
for the over-revving symptom, since it still had enough "juice" to start
or at least turn the engine starter over?

If you had a true dead battery, mayhaps.  That might cause memory
failure in any computer controls, but they would normally re-set after
power was applied and available again.

I'd still look at all the mechanical linkages and cables first.  Blast
everything you can see with either/and/or a spray carb cleaner or spray
lube, and work the cables/linkages by hand to loosen them up.  Engine
off, of course.