Dephaser problem confirmed.



New cambelt time.

Gutted for you mate,bad luck.

But at the state the car was when you bought it was easily predicable that there was something wrong with it other than the exterior.

I have to check mine too,as the cambelt last time was done 35k and 3 years ago,not a problem yet though.

Tell us how it would go after you'll change the Dephaser,i say let the pads and discs for another time to avoid bigger bills.

Why did you need to change it.. Mine was like it for a couple of years, and not an issue at all, (bar the tractor noise)

That will be the leads or coil pack.

Well tonight when I drove it home, it behaved perfectly, until I decided to give it a short blast on an empty dual carriageway up to some traffic lights. After that the revs would not dip below 1,500 no matter what I did and they were going up and down. It was so bad it was virtually undrivable around the slower streets. So the car is now parked up until Monday when it'll be going to the specialist and telling them just to do what they need to do to make it good (within reason).

I dare say the idling problem is nothing *too* serious, and I take the point that perhaps the dephaser isn't needed, but TBH I'd rather just have the car fixed properly, it is a daily driver and my toy that will be doing 15,000 miles this year, so it needs to work properly.

That said, I don't have endless amounts of money either, so I really do hope this is the last of the problems for at least a few months. On the plus side, a 172 with tidy bodywork, desirable OEM+ wheels, an immaculate interior, 4 new tyres, new OEMish exhaust and cambelt service done at a reputable dealer should be worth considerably more than one without these, so its not totally dead money (although it won't add as much value as its costing), unless the gearbox lunches itself, but then again, its the one part of the car that still feels as sweet as a nut.

Got car back today.

£1,560

Got the following done:-

Cambelt, dephaser pulley, water pump, aux belt

Full service

Front and rear brake pads

New wiper mechanism

Original springs fitted (handling is now MUCH better, and whats this we have? Ride quality!?)

2 rear dampers (leaking)

A few other miscellaneous bits and pieces...

AND the throttle cable and sort throttle body... only it hasn't been. It is really stiff and sticks like hell so it's going to have to go back.

Definitely getting there though.

My wallet is severely bruised though.

Not my finest hour buying this car.

To be fair though, its virtually a new car in almost all respects now though, even 4x brand new tyres, 4x refurbished wheels, brand new stainless exhaust, on top of all the other stuff... once I get the niggles out the way it should be a fairly sorted little car.

I really wanted a Phase 1 so thats why I went for it, you'd be surprised how the values of these are firming up for look after ones. Mine was cheap(ish) but a 5 minute walk away from where I live. Hindsight I may have travelled further. Never mind done now, I'm probably saving a Phase 1 from a chavvy death!

Been looking at your Phase 2, looks a very nice car for the money that.

What the... At that price you could have got a ph1 with all these stuff done,seriously the previous owner cheated like fook.

Hopefully you now will not have any serious problem for years,may i say about 4 years probably.

Things that may go wrong during the time are maybe some electrical gremlins usual about these cars which all cost about 50 £ to fix.

Well looks like a good long time investment now,you might profit a bit from it,as its one of the first new true blood hot hatches made,good examples will be up in price.

Are these still the lovely French style cable and screw clamp throttle cables?

Mind my 306 one snapping on the motorway one day. In the outside lane. Try moving across 3 lanes of traffic with absolutely no go when everyone is in a daze and you are decelerating as they are accelerating. Scary stuff.