Renault Clio 172
Discussion
Having recently sold my Yaris GRMN due to stupidly high used prices i was left with just my daily plodder to keep myself entertained. naturally i jumped straight on the usual suspects and began the search for something to fill the space on the drive and to keep me entertained.
in truth I've had very little to do with Clio sports. I wasn't looking for one just wanted something cheap to keep me busy which would be a bit of fun when out for a blast. seen the various readers ride threads on these and this popped up local for what i consider reasonable money
2003 Renault Clio 172
no mot for two years
123k miles
good amount of history
seems straight enough few scuffs on bolt on body panels, front wings cracked
i have no idea on the spec of these but it seems to have factory fit xenon's, cruise and climate control? 5th alloy spare
its not all great news though there is plenty of work to keep me busy
ram air induction kit
decat
lowering springs (yellow front apex maybe? red g max rears)
new coil pack, genuine leads and ngk plugs
i chucked it on the drive and left it until today.
bought it knowing it had a misfire, seller claimed it needed a injector. obviously viewing it i could see it had boiled up at some point so i was mindful the misfire could potentially be more involved.
first off checked injector resistance and cylinder 2 was open circuit so swapped in the new injector that came with the car and it ran on 4 cylinders albeit lumpy, the other 3 injectors weren't giving great ohms readings so again 4 brand new injectors will be fitted at some point
once it was running on 4 cylinders the fun and games began! ran it up to temp first time, pipe out of the thermostat was stone cold and it started to boil up. removed stat and refitted housing without as a temp measure
take 2 saw the car start to boil up again but no signs of the cooling fans coming on and cooling system boiling up
another temp measure was to bridge the fan same thing happened still boiled up under constant revs
at this point i did what i should of done first of all and did a compression test & combustion test
recorded 190,190,150,180 and the combustion test went from blue to green pretty much instantly indicating exhaust gases present
so before committing to the car i decided today to get it up on axle stands and get a good look around the car, I'm reasonably happy with what I've seen so far
as said above I'm very new to Renaults, there seems to be plenty on here where is the go to places for parts etc.......
in truth I've had very little to do with Clio sports. I wasn't looking for one just wanted something cheap to keep me busy which would be a bit of fun when out for a blast. seen the various readers ride threads on these and this popped up local for what i consider reasonable money
2003 Renault Clio 172
no mot for two years
123k miles
good amount of history
seems straight enough few scuffs on bolt on body panels, front wings cracked
i have no idea on the spec of these but it seems to have factory fit xenon's, cruise and climate control? 5th alloy spare
its not all great news though there is plenty of work to keep me busy
ram air induction kit
decat
lowering springs (yellow front apex maybe? red g max rears)
new coil pack, genuine leads and ngk plugs
i chucked it on the drive and left it until today.
bought it knowing it had a misfire, seller claimed it needed a injector. obviously viewing it i could see it had boiled up at some point so i was mindful the misfire could potentially be more involved.
first off checked injector resistance and cylinder 2 was open circuit so swapped in the new injector that came with the car and it ran on 4 cylinders albeit lumpy, the other 3 injectors weren't giving great ohms readings so again 4 brand new injectors will be fitted at some point
once it was running on 4 cylinders the fun and games began! ran it up to temp first time, pipe out of the thermostat was stone cold and it started to boil up. removed stat and refitted housing without as a temp measure
take 2 saw the car start to boil up again but no signs of the cooling fans coming on and cooling system boiling up
another temp measure was to bridge the fan same thing happened still boiled up under constant revs
at this point i did what i should of done first of all and did a compression test & combustion test
recorded 190,190,150,180 and the combustion test went from blue to green pretty much instantly indicating exhaust gases present
so before committing to the car i decided today to get it up on axle stands and get a good look around the car, I'm reasonably happy with what I've seen so far
as said above I'm very new to Renaults, there seems to be plenty on here where is the go to places for parts etc.......
Great cars, but Many abused ones out there.
Check the rear chassis legs both sides for rot, plus around the rear spring top mounting points, plus look in front of the springs, both sides, there is what looks like a bulkhead closing panel, they rot here as well.
They also rot their sills, so take off the side skirts ( drill out the pop rivets ) to check.
They also rot their rear quarters just above the leading edge of the rear bumper, plus the base of the rear valance edge.
Fit a set of Spax or Koni, replace the rear trailing arm bushes.
My one is on K-tec coil overs, @ the front, but il probably swap to Koni and Eibach springs.
A rear anti roll bar is icing on the cake.
The Oe 16s are heavy, my 182 has 15s, but I think it’s under geared on 15s
Plenty of F/B groups, K-tec and others for parts, plus Renault have a fair stock of parts still available.
Check the rear chassis legs both sides for rot, plus around the rear spring top mounting points, plus look in front of the springs, both sides, there is what looks like a bulkhead closing panel, they rot here as well.
They also rot their sills, so take off the side skirts ( drill out the pop rivets ) to check.
They also rot their rear quarters just above the leading edge of the rear bumper, plus the base of the rear valance edge.
Fit a set of Spax or Koni, replace the rear trailing arm bushes.
My one is on K-tec coil overs, @ the front, but il probably swap to Koni and Eibach springs.
A rear anti roll bar is icing on the cake.
The Oe 16s are heavy, my 182 has 15s, but I think it’s under geared on 15s
Plenty of F/B groups, K-tec and others for parts, plus Renault have a fair stock of parts still available.
Edited by neutral 3 on Sunday 10th October 15:33
fantastic source of info there. thanks a lot. gives me plenty of things to check next time im crawling around underneath it. i definitely know the front drivers side jack point has been folded slightly so ill look to address this issue fairly soon as well as pulling the side skirts off as well for a nosey
Ste372 said:
fantastic source of info there. thanks a lot. gives me plenty of things to check next time im crawling around underneath it. i definitely know the front drivers side jack point has been folded slightly so ill look to address this issue fairly soon as well as pulling the side skirts off as well for a nosey
I’ve just ordered the replacement rivets for the side skirts for my low ( 82,000 ) miles one. The original rivets were black, but only grey rivets are available now. Unfortunately It’s been jacked up on both front sills, but luckily not the rear ones ( my last 182 had been jacked up on all 4 points and I spent ages trying to straighten out the left sill. I’m in the process of detailing the under side as time and funds permit. Slowly replacing all of the corroded nuts and bolts and fasteners etc.
Gear boxes are weak and many havnt had an oil change for years, so make that priority as well.
FRAYZ on here is super knowledgeable about these great little cars, have a read up on his “ Banging an Old Flame Clio 182 “ post.
SS427 Camaro said:
I’ve just ordered the replacement rivets for the side skirts for my low ( 82,000 ) miles one. The original rivets were black, but only grey rivets are available now. Unfortunately It’s been jacked up on both front sills, but luckily not the rear ones ( my last 182 had been jacked up on all 4 points and I spent ages trying to straighten out the left sill.
I’m in the process of detailing the under side as time and funds permit. Slowly replacing all of the corroded nuts and bolts and fasteners etc.
Gear boxes are weak and many havnt had an oil change for years, so make that priority as well.
FRAYZ on here is super knowledgeable about these great little cars, have a read up on his “ Banging an Old Flame Clio 182 “ post.
Another great post. Any info on where the rivets were ordered from? Mines silver anyway so that's all good. I’m in the process of detailing the under side as time and funds permit. Slowly replacing all of the corroded nuts and bolts and fasteners etc.
Gear boxes are weak and many havnt had an oil change for years, so make that priority as well.
FRAYZ on here is super knowledgeable about these great little cars, have a read up on his “ Banging an Old Flame Clio 182 “ post.
There's no real need or rush for it to be ready. It's just there for my enjoyment to work on whilst I'm at a loose end.
Booked marked frayz and cambs Stuart's threads. Slowly making my way through them to get a feel of what's likely on the way out on mine. Mines similar age and mileage to cambs Stuart's example
Another 172 owner here, so welcome to the club.
Really interested to see how you get on with this one, it looks like it needs some TLC.
I've found the community over at https://cliosport.net/ really helpful, both for technical support and sources of parts.
Really interested to see how you get on with this one, it looks like it needs some TLC.
I've found the community over at https://cliosport.net/ really helpful, both for technical support and sources of parts.
Cambs_Stuart said:
Another 172 owner here, so welcome to the club.
Really interested to see how you get on with this one, it looks like it needs some TLC.
I've found the community over at https://cliosport.net/ really helpful, both for technical support and sources of parts.
Been working my way through yours and frayz threads. I think ours are similar mileage and age. Really interested to see how you get on with this one, it looks like it needs some TLC.
I've found the community over at https://cliosport.net/ really helpful, both for technical support and sources of parts.
I'll sign up to the Clio forum have a look around gather some info on them
Good luck to you! For OEM new parts RPD are my go to place:
https://renaultpartsdirect.co.uk/
If a part you need isn't listed then they can be helpful if you contact them directly.
Kam racing also can provide some bits that are getting hard to obtain now, like wishbones and driveshafts.
https://www.kamracing.co.uk/
https://renaultpartsdirect.co.uk/
If a part you need isn't listed then they can be helpful if you contact them directly.
Kam racing also can provide some bits that are getting hard to obtain now, like wishbones and driveshafts.
https://www.kamracing.co.uk/
Perfect I need to pull all the plastic arch liners off next time I get a hour. Gave everything a clean in the arches but didn't remove the arch liners yet. Hopefully find no rust. If the previous owners claims are true then it's been in his unit for the past couple of years.
The engine oil leak will have kept everything well lubricated anyway!
The engine oil leak will have kept everything well lubricated anyway!
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