172 Headgasket gone

[Anonymous]

Long story short.

1: Mk2 172 FF needed a new gearbox, I sourced a low milage 182 box and a Renault 'Specialist' local to me offered to fit it for a free machine polish/detail.

2: said 'specialist' fits my gearbox for me but forgets to replace bottom radiator hose clip

3: Mrs dad (father in law) who is a 60+ year old guy was using the 172 while we had his Scooby down in Newquay.

4: He is driving along A14 when all of a sudden he see's smoke/steam pouring ur the back of the car, he stops as soon as he feels it is safe due to no hard shoulder and rush hour traffic

5: Car wont start, RAC called. Car has no coolant and compression - Head gasket fucked

6: I get home from the hols and take a look in the engine bay to see bottom radiator hose popped off and the pinch clamp wedged further up the hose!

6: Said 'Specialist is blaming a 60+ year old guy for not realising sooner what had happening and washed his hands of it.

Anyway, I am going to be doing the head gasket change myself this weekend (should of done it last weekend).

Does anyone have a cam locking tool I can borrow? anyone even got a picture of one? Dont have a clue what one looks like lol

Managed to get myself a Snap on digital torque wrench and Snap on torque to angle wrench to sort the new headbolts.

Anything else I need or should be aware of?

Fred (many thanks mate) did write me a guide while he was in Canada:cheers: , but if anyone has a pictoral guide that would be even better

Any other tips and advice will be much appreciated.

 

[TomTom]

Whereabouts are you detailer?? I've got a set of locking tools you can borrow if your not a million miles away.

Wouldn't say its a hard job atall, easy just takes time its not like a Morris 1000.

 

[The Hoff]

He's based in St.Ives according to this

 

[Anonymous]

Hoffs right Tom, I am just outside of Cambridge.

It would be much appreciated if you could let me borrow them for a few days.

 

[The Hoff]

I'd say you owed him a detail

 

[Fred@BTM]

no problems fella, as i said, give me a call if you need any help

don't forget to check if the head is still flat and not warped

 

[davebem]

Did you buy the Renault head gasket kit?? I think it comes with new headbolts.

 

[MarkM]

Unfortunate..

Who was the Renault 'specialist'?

I dont see any reason you should protect the identity of someone who fucked up your car.

 

[Lagerlout]

To be honest mark I think the clues are there.

Hope you get it sorted pal. Want me to come round and 'build' whilst you're working?

 

[MarkM]

To be honest mark I think the clues are there.

Hope you get it sorted pal. Want me to come round and 'build' whilst you're working?

I think I can work it out.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd say you owed him a detail

Oh without doubt.....while he is changing my headgasket

no problems fella, as i said, give me a call if you need any help

don't forget to check if the head is still flat and not warped

It was much appreciated Fred, especially while on your hols. If I had of known I wouldn't of contacted you till you got back.

Will get Ben on the case of the head, may get it fettled while its in his hands

Did you buy the Renault head gasket kit?? I think it comes with new headbolts.

Yes mate, well not a genuine renault item but a FIA headgasket set with all gaskets and replacement headbolts.
Have ordered the aux and cam belt kits too.............may as well do it properly.

Unfortunate..

Who was the Renault 'specialist'?

I dont see any reason you should protect the identity of someone who f**ked up your car.

Not my style..........you live and learn

Oh, and for the record it was not GDi......Sorry to dissappoint you Mark.
I emailed Andy, Ben and Fred to see if any of them could help me put it right, but decided to do it myself with Fred's/Ben's guidance........see above

To be honest mark I think the clues are there.

Hope you get it sorted pal. Want me to come round and 'build' whilst you're working?

Sure dude, Rizla and oily hands just dont go

I will have TomTom doing my headgasket and Lagerlout skinning up for me...............I'll go shave my nads and stay out of your ways boys.

To be honest mark I think the clues are there.

Hope you get it sorted pal. Want me to come round and 'build' whilst you're working?

I think I can work it out.

Bless, he think's he's a 'private dick'...........well he got the dick bit right

 

[MarkM]

Why not name the company?

You will leave it up to 'dicks' like me to work it out.

A Renault specialist near Cambridge.........

How far did you travel to get it fitted. Give us a clue it will be fun.

 

[Anonymous]

Why not name the company?

You will leave it up to 'dicks' like me to work it out.

A Renault specialist near Cambridge.........

How far did you travel to get it fitted. Give us a clue it will be fun.

It was an individual, not a company and I dont tell tales.......unlike some who are bitter

 

[MarkM]

It was an individual, not a company and I dont tell tales.......unlike some who are bitter

So the Renault 'specialist' is an individual? lol. Just some bloke you know.

Your original description of Renault 'specialist' confused me. Replacing the Renault 'specialist' with 'some bloke' would be a better explanation.

Also I love the blue font. What is the code for pink? I can start PM'ing my gay fantasies to you in pink it will be more of a turn on for you.

lol at 'tell tales'. Your not at school now mate.

 

[Anonymous]

It was an individual, not a company and I dont tell tales.......unlike some who are bitter

So the Renault 'specialist' is an individual? lol. Just some bloke you know.

Eh? I never said anything other then Specialist, you presumed, read as hoped, it was a company.

Your original description of Renault 'specialist' confused me. Replacing the Renault 'specialist' with 'some bloke' would be a better explanation.

Why would I put 'some bloke' when he works specifically on Renaults?

Also I love the blue font. What is the code for pink? I can start PM'ing my gay fantasies to you in pink it will be more of a turn on for you.

PM me how s**t your car is running, that'll get me going for sure.........I'm tenting already

lol at 'tell tales'. Your not at school now mate.

 

[MarkM]

So the Renault 'specialist' is an individual? lol. Just some bloke you know.

Eh? I never said anything other then Specialist, you presumed, read as hoped, it was a company.

Your original description of Renault 'specialist' confused me. Replacing the Renault 'specialist' with 'some bloke' would be a better explanation.

Why would I put 'some bloke' when he works specifically on Renaults?

Also I love the blue font. What is the code for pink? I can start PM'ing my gay fantasies to you in pink it will be more of a turn on for you.

PM me how s**t your car is running, that'll get me going for sure.........I'm tenting already

lol at 'tell tales'. Your not at school now mate.

:boring: Who was it and who are they associated with?

 

[Anonymous]

:boring: Who was it and who are they associated with?

Malcom from Wests Renault......happy

 

[MarkM]

:boring: Who was it and who are they associated with?

Malcom from Wests Renault......happy

There you go that wasnt to hard was it?

All this bad feeling for nothing.

So do you want me to call him and give him a piece of my mind.

I will get the number off Yell.com and give him a ring.

 

[Anonymous]

Malcom from Wests Renault......happy

There you go that wasnt to hard was it?

All this bad feeling for nothing.

So do you want me to call him and give him a piece of my mind.

No need mate, I can fight my own battles

I will get the number off Yell.com and give him a ring.

'All this bad feeling':S Your the only one with bad feelings dude!

His number is under Matt Blacks Renault Dealers phone number thread, I updated a cpl of weeks ago for him as he had the wrong number down.
Make sure you call the Swan road branch and not Newmarket road branch

So what do you or anyone else gain by knowing that?

 

[mattjk]

Just giving a heads up i guess for anyone else that goes there perhaps?

 

[Anonymous]

Just giving a heads up i guess for anyone else that goes there perhaps?

Nope, he was hoping for some more ammo to throw at Andy@GDi

 

[MarkM]

Just giving a heads up i guess for anyone else that goes there perhaps?

f**k me people with more then half a brain do frequent this forum.

So anyone considering using this guy be pre warned that he screwed up TheDetailer's (I love that name) car.

We are all now better informed which will allow us to make better choices in the future based on the experience of others. Its what the forum is all about.

All this cloak and dagger bullshit does my head in.

 

[Matbrown]

You don't have much luck with cars do you Smokey.
Anything come of the respray?


Mat.

 

[Anonymous]

Tell me about it Matt, they have cost us a fortune this year, the Vito has just cost me £1500 for 4 new injectors so its not just French crap lol

Re-spray saga is still ongoing, it has now been trasferred to our local court.
All I can say is that Whitestar did not reply to the summons issued to them and still have not to this date.

I now have a Williams 1 which I bought with cambelt failure and transferred my hybrid engine into that.

Hybrid is now stripped, engine out awaiting head rebuild, and is going to be a track weapon once complete.

 

[Lagerlout]

I love it when you say weapon.

How many cars have you got these days?!

 

[TheJesus]

Malcom from Wests Renault......happy

There you go that wasnt to hard was it?

All this bad feeling for nothing.

So do you want me to call him and give him a piece of my mind.

I will get the number off Yell.com and give him a ring.

Dont give him too big a piece, I doubt there would be much change

Smokey, s**t news mate, make sure you have a mate on standby that knows how to build up ... I may need to come down to help otherwise... not that this is a problem! lol

Love the way you played them like a fiddle

 

[AndyT23]

Wests managed to sell my mate a brand new clio, top spec, air con etc...

Just one small problem.... The aircon system was in but didn't have any hoses and therefore no refridgerant! Just fresh air connecting everything up. Says a lot I think, especially about their pre-delivery checks!!!

Hope you get your car back on the road soon.

 

[seb]

was this wests of newmarket or cambridge?

 

[AndyT23]

Wests of cambridge I think, my mate was living near there at the time. Was a couple of years back so maybe things have improved since then.

 

[franx]

doubt it , seems they're still getting away with the same formula