TRD's Phase 1 Clio 172

[TameRacingDriver]

BriC175 said:

It would be so easy to fit a new rad yourself... Why not use some of that £200+ bill, buy some tools, buy a haynes manual and have a go at it yourself? Do you not have any mechanically minded friends that could help?

I don't know if it is the radiator though. Most of the time when I DIY I make it worse. If I make it worse, more expense.

[JonLock]

i replaced my coolant hoses to silcone ones first thinking it would be one of them leaking but it wasnt! ended up with nice silcone hoses though! then i took radiator out and bootom corner was soaked. Its an easy job to do trust me just take a look around and see if there are any damp/wet/dark areas on the radiator. you can see through the bumper.

Just found these i took on the day i did the work



this pic shows the leaking area

Edited by JonLock on Tuesday 4th September 13:57

[StoatInACoat]

I understand wanting rid of something that has turned out to be an expensive turd and I sympathise but £500-£1000 bangers are not the answer. They WILL cause you as much grief as this has and have to be disposed of and replaced costing you just as much financially and hassle. Cars generally fall into banger budget because they have serious problems or loads of really irritating small faults in my experience. If you have to go down this road buy something as basic as possible.

The consensus on internet world is you can buy anything you like for 50p and it'll run and run and similar more expensive examples are "overpriced". This seems especially so with Clio Sports as everyone seems to think they should only cost £1000 for a good one.

A radiator is not a hard job. There will be a guide on cliosportwikkidbruv.net somewhere and I am sure there is someone locally who can help you out. Better the devil you know and all that. I understand you hate the car and I'm not defending it through any form of bias but if it were me I'd be on a serious damage limitation mission. Fix anything you can on the cheap and run it into the ground - forget resale value and assume it is nil. Sell anything you can or part ex for cheaper bits if you want to sell - eg wheels etc.

[TameRacingDriver]

^^ Noted.

I've been looking at alternatives, but deep down you are correct. I'll probably stick with it whatever.

I might still just get it seen to by the local Renault Specialist (they are supposed to be good and cheap so we'll see), as I really needed the car for the coming weekend, and I simply won't have time to do it by then.

All in all I'll probably stick with it, but ultimately, I doubt whether it'll be getting any further mods (although I still think I'd like to go back to black side strips and sell the silver ones on - free(ish) mod).

[TameRacingDriver]

Just been quoted £156 to supply and fit a new radiator. Not as bad as I thought it would be.

Would have done myself, but need the car and don't have time.

Just glad its nothing worse.

Dunno what to do now. Keep it or chop it in... was thinking of E36 M3... if I'm going to be royally buggered on maintenance it may as well be for something special?

[StoatInACoat]

For £156 I'd let someone else do it instead of getting covered in crap and shouting at it.

Sell to buy an M3? Do you have unlimited funds or something?

[TameRacingDriver]

StoatInACoat said:

For £156 I'd let someone else do it instead of getting covered in crap and shouting at it.

Sell to buy an M3? Do you have unlimited funds or something?

Thats what I thought.

And no, most definitely not, but if things are to carry on in this vain, I fail to see how an M3 could be more expensive?

This said, its another thing off the list of potential things to go wrong (although I am sure there is a huge list with these cars). For now, its got a stay of execution.

[TameRacingDriver]

Semi interesting fact. Since I had it, this car has cost me £650 a month to run (including fuel @ £250), or 79p a mile. Not exactly the cheap motoring I had in mind. So that's £400 a month in maintenance / repairs.

Even a brand new GT86 on Hire Purchase would have cost me less!

Edited by TameRacingDriver on Wednesday 5th September 12:11

[BriC175]

TameRacingDriver said:

Thats what I thought.

And no, most definitely not, but if things are to carry on in this vain, I fail to see how an M3 could be more expensive?

This said, its another thing off the list of potential things to go wrong (although I am sure there is a huge list with these cars). For now, its got a stay of execution.

Parts will be quite a lot more expensive for any ///M car than they will for a Clio. Although I can see some logic in it - buy a car you're truly happy with, and if you need to spend money on it, then so be it, as it's a car you're very happy with, and plan to keep for a long time!

I refuse to spend much money on my current car (Clio 1.8 16v), as I'm thinking of buying something more suited to my tastes in a few months (funnily enough, I'm also thinking E36 M3). I'll do the odd bits and bobs to tidy it up, and any maintenance, although I'll do all the maintenance myself to keep costs down.

[TameRacingDriver]

BriC175 said:

Parts will be quite a lot more expensive for any ///M car than they will for a Clio. Although I can see some logic in it - buy a car you're truly happy with, and if you need to spend money on it, then so be it, as it's a car you're very happy with, and plan to keep for a long time!

I refuse to spend much money on my current car (Clio 1.8 16v), as I'm thinking of buying something more suited to my tastes in a few months (funnily enough, I'm also thinking E36 M3). I'll do the odd bits and bobs to tidy it up, and any maintenance, although I'll do all the maintenance myself to keep costs down.

Thats what I was thinking.

I don't begrudge any car some maintenance, but I bought the Clio because I believed it would be relatively cheap and fun motoring. I would not have begrudged spending £2k to maintain an M3, but on a Clio, it seems [very] excessive.

Its really a case of what do I do now though... I have a car with a brand new exhaust, 4 new tyres, new brake pads, new shock absorbers, a fresh cambelt, dephaser and radiator, so really, unless the gearbox or clutch gives up, I can't see many more expensive things popping up (other than maybe the rear arches). OK, I've said it now, watch the damn gearbox give up

Thing is I've got people telling me that my car is worth less than I paid for it. OK, I paid a little over the odds, but in no way was it "expensive", and I find it hard to believe it will be worth less after all of this. If this is the case, I think pride will not let me sell it just so I can at least get *some* moneys worth out of it. However, all mods are now shelved. I am still interested in putting the original black side strips on, and, if I don't lose any money in the deal, I'd be interested maybe in the original 15" alloys, IF I decide to keep it, that is.

ETA one thing I am paranoid about is the fact the engine overheated when the problem occurred, and although I've checked and there doesn't seem to be any evidence of head gasket failure, could that be the next thing to go?

Edited by TameRacingDriver on Wednesday 5th September 12:20

[StoatInACoat]

TameRacingDriver said:

ETA one thing I am paranoid about is the fact the engine overheated when the problem occurred, and although I've checked and there doesn't seem to be any evidence of head gasket failure, could that be the next thing to go?

Edited by TameRacingDriver on Wednesday 5th September 12:20

Did the stop light come on? Did it dump all its water at once and boil up with steam and did the temp gauge do anything at all out of the ordinary?

It gets really dull listening to people tell you Cliosports are overpriced and a good one should only cost a grand. I hate to say it but you experience is exactly why I spent £3k (minus trade in) for mine a year ago which is "way more than it's worth" However, if it eats itself today (which of course it will now) it hasn't cost me anywhere near what a rough/cheap example would have. Mine was mint, stock and had a huge stack of history including a recent full belt change.

I've been a member of various model specific forums which play a huge part in driving the cost of their own cars down and pushing them into the hands of the feckless and the incompetent and then being sold onto genuine punters like yourself when a nasty bill rears its head. To be honest in your position I would have binned it when it all started going wrong but I'd never have bought it in the first place with the horrible "mods" it had on it. Warning signs to me.

All cars have the ability to go wrong and rape you but these Clio's are hugely desirable by the wikkid bruv brigade who really are not interested in maintenance and handling. They like noise, big wheels and going fast in a straight line and the cars suffer accordingly. If you do replace it with an M3 join their forums and learn as much as you can about them before you buy. Learn so much that your missus is sick to death of you going on and on and tells you to just go and buy one. You'll know exactly which cars to reject then.

[TameRacingDriver]

Yep the lights did come on, but unfortunately, I was half way between slip roads on a busy main arterial dual carriageway with no hard shoulder and nowhere to pull over. I did slow right down, pulled over when I got the chance, and then let it cool, before limping to the next services.

Checked the oil cap - no sign of "mayo", although that was at the time...

Drove car to the place this morning - 15 mile trip - filled with water. It made it but quite an impressive amount of steam each time I hit the traffic lights (which was more than ever this morning, typical).

I agree with everything you say though. I cocked up buying it. Because it had a belt change and was local (didn't even have to drive), I was lazy. I thought to myself I'll take the mods off sell them but the originals back on. However, it needed more than that. You're right, avoid anything that isn't standard. I ruled out a very tidy one for the same price because (a) it wasn't local and (b) needed the belts. However, I've a feeling it'll end up costing me less than this one has.

I've got at least a month before I can sell it on anyway as need my work contract to be extended first. Will see how it goes. I'm actually quite relieved this bill was only 10% of the last one. Says it all really.

Thing is, even after this, the arches need tidying and the air-con regassed.

ETA: You're right about some of these owners clubs, the cliosport forum seems to be very negative with regards values (this is where I was told my car was barely worth more than 1k despite all this work). Also there has always been a fair few muppets on there. Don't know why I am surprised at this really. It'll teach me for choosing a chav chariot for a car I suppose.

Edited by TameRacingDriver on Wednesday 5th September 13:04

[StoatInACoat]

Sorry, re-read my post and sounds like I'm having a go which wasn't intentional. I find Cliosport useful for guides and info but there is an awful lot of rubbish on there and some very young owners who just pay someone else to fix their cars on the cheap and moan when it goes wrong.

I would have thought you've got away with it. If it had got hot enough to blow the head gasket or warp the head it wouldn't run right or it would mix its fluids. I'd still be inclined to get a compression test done though for the sake of (another!) few quid and peace of mind. From what I gather these engines are pretty strong so I wouldn't be overly worried.

[BriC175]

OK TRD... After having driven a mildly fettled ph.1 172 yesterday evening, I just want to say, man up and keep the damn thing!

The car I drove was awesome. Like I say, it's been modified a bit (coilovers, exhaust and decat, remap), but it's safe to say, I now want a ph.1 172.

2 months after I've bought a Clio 16v

[TameRacingDriver]

Ha, thanks for the encouragement, and even though I said I would spend no more on it, I've just forked out £30 to get the original black side strips back on it

[deadmau5]

I bought an R27 last November and toyed with selling it about 2 months later for a Z4 3.0i because I found it boring. They I went on a few hoons round North Wales and the lake district a few times and I fell in love. Admittedly it's wanted for nothing so far (kiss of death) which helps and I never go on the classifieds or even think about what I want next which means I must really like it.

Essentially, you need to go and wring its neck a few times and all will be good again

[TameRacingDriver]

deadmau5 said:

Essentially, you need to go and wring its neck a few times and all will be good again

It gets its neck wrung more often than not. To be fair, these are quite the weapon when driving in a determined fashion; just like a cheap we, it loves to be spanked.

I must like it a little bit because I'm looking forward to getting it back (although I feel slight trepidation as to what could be next, at the same time).

[Hoygo]

Nice that you have decided to keep it TRD,after all it would struggle to sell at a decent price i believe,these are quite old now (14 if its a 1998 as mine) and i occasionally drive mine since January,for 4 months was in garage since i drove it last week,never put any money on it for more than a year.

Will chuck some money into it next year probably,as its going to be used more often and for some trackdays.

[TameRacingDriver]

I may not be keeping it yet. Another puddle underneath this morning so I've took it back and now he's saying it could be head gasket. Losing the will to live with this car now.

[TameRacingDriver]

The garage has rang me back and said they think that this *could* be the problem but they have to take the head off and send it somewhere for a check?

Either way they reckon £££££££. So its bye bye clio.