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First Car Project - Clio 172 PH1

bvnditi said:
Seconded on this. Came into Clios with minimal mechanical background and my (very limited) car modification knowledge being on old Hondas.

These are easier to work on than '90s Civics, and '90s Civics are literally Lego.

Be reet lad
Click to expand...
from the little stuff i’ve done on this and a Clio 182 they are not that bad to work on at all.

I’ve done a few driveshafts now at college and at my old job so it can’t be that much harder. If i can do it on a Transit van, then surely i can do it on a Clio 172.
 
Jakeeaton127 said:
from the little stuff i’ve done on this and a Clio 182 they are not that bad to work on at all.

I’ve done a few driveshafts now at college and at my old job so it can’t be that much harder. If i can do it on a Transit van, then surely i can do it on a Clio 172.
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Exactly that dude, you tend to get into a nice flow state once you've got the fundamentals of the car learned.

Dealing with my completely shot steering rack gave me a decent feel for pretty much how the whole front suspension/steering setup comes apart, which in turn made later jobs way easier.

Sounds like you've got a good head on your shoulders and you'll smash it :)
 
even more issues seem to have appeared with the Clio now. Which is great.

i’ve got a feeling it’s leaking coolant, when i checked it today it was below the minimum and im pretty sure it was ok the last time i checked it. So i topped it up but i can’t see any external leaks at all apart from the bottle being a bit wet, but i spilled the coolant a bit so i need to check that tomorrow.

While looking for the coolant, i’ve noticed it also has an oil leak, seems to be coming from the sump so probably just needs a new gasket or sealant. I haven not looked into it yet. Everything i seem to look at, another issue appears. It’s something i can easily fix though, so atleast there’s that.
 
Jakeeaton127 said:
Everything i seem to look at, another issue appears.
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Welcome to Clio life. I just pretend I haven't seen most of it and focus on the thing I'm fixing at the time.

Sometimes I'll go as far as Googling the issue before deciding I really can't be bothered, for example I noticed my selector seal is leaking slightly while I was changing my dogbone mount. Read the words "remove gearbox" and decided I hadn't seen anything after all 🤣
 
Jakeeaton127 said:
even more issues seem to have appeared with the Clio now. Which is great.

i’ve got a feeling it’s leaking coolant, when i checked it today it was below the minimum and im pretty sure it was ok the last time i checked it. So i topped it up but i can’t see any external leaks at all apart from the bottle being a bit wet, but i spilled the coolant a bit so i need to check that tomorrow.

While looking for the coolant, i’ve noticed it also has an oil leak, seems to be coming from the sump so probably just needs a new gasket or sealant. I haven not looked into it yet. Everything i seem to look at, another issue appears. It’s something i can easily fix though, so atleast there’s that.
Click to expand...
If coolant level is dropping but you see no evidence under the bonnet or car. Check under the dash and see if the carpet is wet. May have a leaking heater matrix/box.
 
Jakeeaton127 said:
even more issues seem to have appeared with the Clio now. Which is great.

i’ve got a feeling it’s leaking coolant, when i checked it today it was below the minimum and im pretty sure it was ok the last time i checked it. So i topped it up but i can’t see any external leaks at all apart from the bottle being a bit wet, but i spilled the coolant a bit so i need to check that tomorrow.

While looking for the coolant, i’ve noticed it also has an oil leak, seems to be coming from the sump so probably just needs a new gasket or sealant. I haven not looked into it yet. Everything i seem to look at, another issue appears. It’s something i can easily fix though, so atleast there’s that.
Click to expand...

This is basically Clio ownership 101 from what I've discovered.

I did the absolute nightmare job of the steering rack, and was promptly rewarded with the window regulator leaving the chat and a wheel bearing f**king exploding, both within like 4 days lol. I then fixed both of those and it then ate a balljoint immediately

It's never enough to make you go "sod this" and completely throw the toys out the pram, but just enough to keep you in a perpetual pain state
 
Jakeeaton127 said:
even more issues seem to have appeared with the Clio now. Which is great.

i’ve got a feeling it’s leaking coolant, when i checked it today it was below the minimum and im pretty sure it was ok the last time i checked it. So i topped it up but i can’t see any external leaks at all apart from the bottle being a bit wet, but i spilled the coolant a bit so i need to check that tomorrow.

While looking for the coolant, i’ve noticed it also has an oil leak, seems to be coming from the sump so probably just needs a new gasket or sealant. I haven not looked into it yet. Everything i seem to look at, another issue appears. It’s something i can easily fix though, so atleast there’s that.
Click to expand...
When was the coolant changed? Are you sure there isn't air in the system?
 
My suspicions are correct with the coolant, i can’t find any external leaks but it had lost a little bit of coolant since i topped it up yesterday.

I took the bleed screw out again and there doesn’t seem to be any bubbles in the stream so hopefully it’s not something serious.
 
Louis said:
How did you bleed it? Was it run upto temp? Fan on, matrix allowed to fill up?
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I followed this bleed procedure exactly, found it on the forums from around 2015:

Undo 10mm nut at the top of the thermostat housing,
Fill coolant tank until a steady stream comes out of said 10mm nut and do it back up,
Leave coolant tank lid off and start car and idle at 2.5k for 4 minutes whilst keeping an eye on the coolant level and keep topping up to the max mark until it bubbles/decreases no more
Put coolant tank lid on,
Idle at 2.5k for 10 or 20 minutes until the fan kicks in,
Turn car off and leave to cool for an hour, recheck and top up if necessary

The heaters blow hot and the fan does work. I’m guessing it’s loosing tiny amounts, it hasn’t dropped a lot since yesterday and that might be why i didn’t notice it.
 
Thanks for posting the bleed process! i probably should do this with mine rather than just fill it up and hope for the best! tbh that method has always worked in the past.

Regarding the shafts - look up Peter Withers on Facebook, he's the guy that I used (also i think the person that posted the eBay add and did them for the TDC lads).
 
Louis said:
It'll drop naturally even after that.
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good to know thanks.

I’ve topped it back up so i’m just going to check it again tomorrow and let it get up to temp.
Struggler said:
Thanks for posting the bleed process! i probably should do this with mine rather than just fill it up and hope for the best! tbh that method has always worked in the past.

Regarding the shafts - look up Peter Withers on Facebook, he's the guy that I used (also i think the person that posted the eBay add and did them for the TDC lads).
Click to expand...
I’m going to shove some boots on them and see how it goes. That’s what the majority of people have told me to do rather than swapping the shafts. If that goes wrong, then i’ll send them to him rather then getting a used set.
 
I take it the car is still up in the air while you sort driveshafts? Sometimes you need a good run with load on the system to get it to settle.

Louis said:
It'll drop naturally even after that.
Click to expand...

I think it took mine a week as a bubble got caught in the heater matrix. It took a few good pulls to get it shifted and the AC would alternate from hot to cold each pull as the air worked it's way out.
 
TheBandit said:
I take it the car is still up in the air while you sort driveshafts? Sometimes you need a good run with load on the system to get it to settle.



I think it took mine a week as a bubble got caught in the heater matrix. It took a few good pulls to get it shifted and the AC would alternate from hot to cold each pull as the air worked it's way out.
Click to expand...
The cars on its wheels at the moment while i get some bits for it and find out whether im taking the shafts to someone or they are coming to me to change the boots.

However the most i can do with it legally is drive it around in circles on the private land the garage is on.
 
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