My cheap(ish) 172 Cup

Not sure it’s an exact copy of the Renault one but looks very close to me.

ex-Chinese Dave said:

Thanks for that. I’ll order it now.

I had been looking for part number

8200136186​

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Yeah, i've just checked a few photos and they are almost exactly the same. It's a pity I didn't know this before as I've just had my carbon canister delivered from EuroFrance. eBay it is!

CS to the rescue, again! Thanks

Today was carbon canister day… yay!
I got the car jacked up and removed the front arch liner. Note on the photos the extra screws that were put in by someone in the past even though the two bungs would hold it in position really well. Also, you can see the wear on that rubber grommet in the arch…that’s what 23 years does to a car!
The canister itself came out relatively easy and the return pipe from the fuel tank unclipped without any hassle. Side-by-side, you can see how the design of the canister has changed over the years. I’m tempted to put the original one on eBay just to get a little money back, and going off some of the old parts I’ve sold in the past I wouldn’t be surprised if someone buys it. So, with the new one fitted and all the connections refitted I started the car and let it run for a few minutes. It ran fine and upon switching it off there wasn’t that loud clicking from the fuel tank. I know that these canisters tend to click from the front when they are done but when I refitted the loose solenoid to the original canister a few weeks ago, the clicking I heard was coming from the fuel tank.
I couldn’t find a guide on CS for doing the canister so I’ll put a few photos here just in case anyone decides to fit their own and has any issues. The only problem I would see if somebody was fitting one would be that the front bolt of the three that holds the canister to the car may be a little tight to get off. Mine was tight but it was not really any hassle. The biggest hassle is fitting the little screws underneath the bumper that hold the arch liner in place. I’ve also got a manual for the car so I’ll put a picture of what the instructions are for changing the canister.

What in the pikey f**k has gone on here

TheBandit said:

View attachment 1800836

What in the pikey f**k has gone on here

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Exactly! The arch liner on the other side also has a screw in a strange position. I have a feeling that whoever refitted the arch liners had worn out bungs and they weren’t confident they were going to hold the liner in place.
I’m convinced that in the past this car was used for something and then had almost everything re-fitted. I’ve no idea whether it went on track but everything I found with this car since owning it suggests that someone was tinkering with it and they didn’t really care about doing things right.

Another job crossed off my ever evolving list…

I fitted the fuse box that I bought from a member on here. I had the original fuse box off in the past and repaired it but it was noted that a piece was actually missing. Upon closer inspection the piece hadn’t broken off but had been removed with a hacksaw. More evidence of a numpty working on this car in the past!
I had to remove the battery to get the old fuse box out and I noticed that one of the nuts was seized which holds the bar for the ECU holder. There was no chance that was coming off but luckily enough I could get the battery past it. There’s also another securing point for the air box which is missing some thread and the same for the actual fuse box itself. I’m not OCD but things like this really irritate me. The rounded nut will take a bit of effort to get out and the other two threads that have broken off will need to be replaced, one of them I’m sure we’ll have to be welded. There’s not a chance I’m stripping everything down to weld the nut on that I can do without.
Everything was put back together and I tried all the electrics in the car and then started it. Everything seems to be fine so I’m hoping that when I drive it next time nothing will go wrong. I’m not holding my breath as moving 20 plus years wiring is always a risky business!

There’s still a few jobs that I want to do on the car before I reach a point when I’m only repairing stuff that starts to break. One of them is a little bubbling over the rear wheel arches, exactly the same both sides. It’s not the usual rear quarter corrosion as I have inspected that and also protected it all. This seems to have been caused by the clip that holds the rear bumper to the arch itself. The clip seems to be part of the bumper are made of plastic, but I think over the years it’s rubbed some of the paint off the inside edge of the arch. I had a body shop look at it and they said that if you don’t want to repaint the whole panel the best thing to do is to just leave it but clean and treat the wing from the inside and protect it from the bumper clip rubbing against it. This seems to be the most sensible option because if I was going to have this tiny area repainted it starts to move into the territory of getting the whole car done. The outside of the rear wings, in front of the rear wheel, is peppered with tiny stone chips so it would be pointless painting a tiny area and leaving the rest. The paintwork on this car is original and unless it was having a nut and bolt restoration, which won’t be happening unless I win the lottery, I don’t see the point at this time.

Today’s job is to replace the driver’s door top piece of trim that shattered when I removed the door card to do the window regulator last year. At least I think it was last year because I’ve done so many little crappy jobs on this car that I’ve lost track. I’ve replaced one or two of the plastic clips for the trim with some OEM items and once fitted, everything is tight and in place. Even the vertical piece of trim that sits above the door card has gone on much better now. I checked it all with the passenger door and everything matches up.
I got lucky with the piece of trim because it’s difficult to find this part anywhere now. It has to have a lip on it to hold the door card properly, as you can see in the photos. The people who sent it sent it to the post office and not to my parents home, and because of this they said that they will refund the money and offer a discount on anything else in the future. It was only a few minutes from my parents home so my dad picked it up as he was walking past. A little bit of a bonus I think.
Anyway, everything is back on and it works and hopefully there is no rattle from inside the door. I did check everything and made sure that nothing, not even a plastic part, was loose. We all know there’s no chance that this door won’t rattle!

I noticed last week a rattle had suddenly developed from the passenger door. I’d never touched anything on that door and all the screws were tight so I investigated it today. I was tapping the door and listening for the sound dreading that I had to take the door card off this side as well. But I noticed it was actually the matt finish trim, the door strip, on the outside of the door. I think that to remove this you have to slide the trim backwards with a little bit of force but I really didn’t feel up to breaking anything, so a tiny piece of insulation tape forced underneath has actually stopped the rattle. Sometimes there are some things that are easy fixes, but this is gonna bug me forever. I’ll have to have a look on the site and find out how to remove it without damaging it. There is also a rattle under the dash where the UC H is located. I’ve pushed and pulled and wobbled everything underneath and I cannot find where it’s coming from. It will probably turn out to be some dash board clip that has worked loose and although I’ve read it it’s an easy job to take the dashboard off. It’s also a bit of a pain to refit it. I think this one is going to wait a while.
Next week I will jack the car up and attempt to do some the gear linkage which has been the ongoing noise for a long time. I’ll also have a look for what is causing the very annoying squeak when I come on and off the throttle. I really don’t think it’s a suspension part because it seems to be coming from underneath the car. It may gear linkage related, but I suspect it may be something to do with the flexible joints on the exhaust or the dog bone.

Ref dash / uch area rattle, check the torx bolt that secures the plastic lower dash to the metal frame is tight (under the plastic cover on the bottom corner of dash)

Mine was loose on drivers side and rattled like mad.

Brigsy said:

Ref dash / uch area rattle, check the torx bolt that secures the plastic lower dash to the metal frame is tight (under the plastic cover on the bottom corner of dash)

Mine was loose on drivers side and rattled like mad.

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I saw that. The UCH is attached to it and it's all tight. I ran out of time to keep looking but I think the centre console may need a look at, too. I may unbolt the UCH and check what behind that/next to the glove box. It's probably a 10mm spanner someone has left there

This one below. The plastic on metal rattle on drivers side one was bad until nipped tight.

Ahh, not noticed that but i'll check it. Drivers side seems ok but no harm in looking.

I’ve discovered the new noise and posted it in the suspension section. However, I think I have a bit of a win today. I found these on eBay the other day and they’ve arrived today. Highly delighted I took the gamble that they are the same size. Strangely, I was watching Bowz’s video on YouTube and commented on these that are intact in his car and then five minutes later I found them on eBay. Anyway, it’s a win

ex-Chinese Dave said:

I’ve discovered the new noise and posted it in the suspension section. However, I think I have a bit of a win today. I found these on eBay the other day and they’ve arrived today. Highly delighted I took the gamble that they are the same size. Strangely, I was watching Bowz’s video on YouTube and commented on these that are intact in his car and then five minutes later I found them on eBay. Anyway, it’s a winView attachment 1802419

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Nice find.

You are best off removing the seat from the car to change them over.

Here are the two tabs you need to squeeze to get those seatbelt clips out and replaced. The zip can be a bit troublesome so take some time with it.

Nice one, Matt

These need a little bit of a cleanup, but I think they’ll be fine for my car.

A few small jobs done today.

First up was to fit the rear seat release buttons that I got from eBay this week. Thankfully I had used some copper grease on the bolts that hold the ISO fix bar in position when I removed the rear seats and panels to check the inside of the rear wings last year. These came out easily and the rear seat simply lifted out of the car. The zips were a little tight but they came undone and it was easy to release the old damaged buttons from their position. On with the new ones and it probably took me about 30 minutes to complete. It was by no means a major repair, but it was something that bugged me since I’ve owned the car.

View attachment 1802496

Now, there are another couple of issues that I’ve had recently that I’m trying to resolve. First is a noise from the back of the car which I was sure was a rear shock absorber. I’ve posted in the suspension section about this, but it looks like both of the rear shockers are leaking. They are only about 2 1/2 years old so I’m really disappointed in their performance. I think I’ve only ever had my dad in the back of the car once, and a set of golf clubs every other week. These must be really weak items for them to fail in about 24,000 miles and I’m sure they are genuine items that I had fitted.

I also have a rattle that is coming from the front passenger seat. I’ve had a really good look at it today and it just seems that the plastic looking bearings that are part of the seats ability to slide forward are worn. I’ve greased everything up, but if you move the seat back-and-forth gently, it makes a clunking noise. I don’t know if there’s anything that can be done with this, but I will post a video up in the interior section just to see if anyone has an idea of a fix.

Also, I have the knocking noise from the top engine mount that is on the driver side. I’ve already mentioned this before, but I’ve double checked today and every nut and bolt is tight. I’ve moved the engine back-and-forth so it makes the noise and I’ve put my finger on all of the places that I can to feel anything that is loose. There is nothing at all that is loose that is accessible without removing the mount itself. So, I’m certain it is the bolt that is in the centre of the mount and there is a problem with it that is inaccessible and I’m guessing that this is going to require a new engine mount. Once again, this is a genuine item that was only fitted last year. I’m unsure if there’s anything that can be done to reset the position but I’ll post it here just so that people can give me their opinion. For the moment I have put some pieces of rubber trim in between the rubber buffers that make up part of the mount. With these in place, with some cable ties to make sure they don’t fall out, there is no sound from the mount. I’m guessing that the only solution to this is going to be a new engine mount but please let me know what you think.

Powerflex yellow insert?

I just checked what I had fitted and the engine mount is Febi part that was £37 and has lasted about 14 months and 12k. A genuine Renault part (6000073669) is £92 and can't be as sh1t, can it?

A new issue this week and that was the noise coming from the back. I’ve posted in the suspension section and put that there was a different sound from the rear which forced me to check the rear shock absorbers. They are not that old but they both appeared to have oil leaks. I managed to get a new shock absorber last night from @photo_ed and I fit it today. I did read several posts on how to do this and I followed the instructions. I had also read that the shock absorbers should be primed before you put them on. I did that and I noticed that there was a very little difference between the resistance on the new shock absorber and the one that I took off. With the shock absorber now being extended, I had to use my trolley Jack to gently raise it so I could put the 18 mm bolt in. Everything was put back together with copper grease applied to the large bolt and the road test gave the impression that everything was well again. I did check the other shock absorber and strangely there doesn’t appear to be any sign of the oil that was leaking down it. The car was dry underneath when I checked the other day so I highly doubt that this was any kind of moisture that a dripped down. It’s a little bit baffling but then again this is a Clio!

I made an insert out of some hard plastic to go between the rubber bushes on the top engine mount. These are now securely in place as the last effort had moved slightly. I’m pretty sure the engine mount is shagged so I will get a new one but I may leave it until the next service before it’s fitted. It all depends on how much this one starts to bug me. I do have another another engine mount here but it was fitted to the car previously and it made a silly squeaking noise. Yes, another noise that I eradicated that I don’t want to come back! If I’m desperate, I can fit this but I had to helicoil one of the bolts that go into the top of the engine as part of the mount and I’m really not in the mood at the moment to start doing that and faffing around. I’ll let this one play out.

However, the big win today has been with the gear linkage. If you’ve read through this thread, you will know how much of a pain the clunking noise has been from under the car. You’ll see on a previous video that it was traced to the gear linkage rod and selector finger. So today I simply removed the under tray, unbolted the rod from the finger and use some washes and a nyloc nut to make sure the free play was eradicated. A new rubber boots was fitted and also this wasn’t exactly the same as the one that came off. I modified it slightly and it now does exactly the same job as the original one.I’ve been on a test drive and done all the things I did previously that were making the noise and today I can’t hear anything. I’ll have to keep an eye on it because it’s a repair I’ve done myself but I’m putting this down as a major success.

There’s still plenty of things to do on this car, but I feel that I’m almost there. If something breaks I’ve got no problem with it, it’s more the annoying things such as rattles and noises which annoy me. The car feels like it’s running better done before after I fitted the carbon canister and if the gear selector issue has been resolved, then I’m a happy bunny. And as I had the car jacked up today, I found a loose securing tab for one of the heat shields. I tightened it and was absolutely certain that this would stop that tiny squeaking noise that I always hear. Alas, it was not to be. I am wondering if the noise could actually be the pads squeaking because you obviously can’t make them move when the handbrake is on but driving down the road they are obviously no longer held tight. Everything looks like it’s in place, such as the retaining springs, but I know that if there’s not enough copper slip on them, they can just move slightly and make a squeak. The back brake setup looks identical to my old 2051.9 GTI brakes and this car had the same issue. Again, this will be something that I will do at the next service as I’ve had my head under the car pulling and pushing and kicking and shouting at every item and I cannot find anything that is loose or squeaking apart from that heat shield tab.

ex-Chinese Dave said:

Strangely, I was watching Bowz’s video on YouTube.

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That is strange!

Thank you for the view and comment mate, means alot.

If there's one thing I know about Clios, it's as soon as you stop one rattle another appears!

I'm going to do the other shocker as well seeing as I've just fitted a new one on the N/S....best to do them in pairs. I'm not 100% convinced that they have totally gone as I can't see any oil mist on the O/S one now. I'll store them (with the wind deflectors) and either sell them on or just keep them for a future problem!

I'll also get the engine mount, an original Renault one, as I remember that a second-hand mount I had on last year did make a strange noise and it could be the same with this Febi part I put on last year.

To stop the rattle from the runner on the passenger seat when no ones in it I had an idea. I cut a piece of old bonnet strip, the piece that sits at the front of the engine bay that keep water out, to fit just inside the track. It's attached to the runner so moves with the seat when it's moved back and forth. Both sides have been done the same and now there's no rattle. Easy fix rather than try to find a decent runner from somewhere.