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Aussie Clio 172 phase 1 revival



  172 Ph1, Meg GT220
I bought this Iceberg Silver 172 Phase 1 about 18 months ago for $2000, probably about 800 quid in UK money. It is #60 of 85 brought into Australia in 2001, 215,000km. Its a pretty rare thing, quite a few have been lost but there are still a healthy number on ozrenaultsport forum kicking about.

Day I picked it up:
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General condition was OK, mostly intact but had a hard life as a track car 5 years ago with a previous owner. Few scratches outside and some minor dings but overall the paint was good. Interior was OK however steering wheel was falling apart and some warning lights on dash for airbag. You'll also notice in that engine bay that the battery positive terminal is extremely close to the ECU chassis...fire/short waiting to happen!

It rain quite rough, idle was all over the place and the accelerator was sticking. As I started to diagnose I realised that the throttle body was shot, the spring had slackened and was catching on the plastic cable runner. The ICV was also filthy.
There was an oil leak from the sump, the handbrake wasn't working on one side and the clutch was very heavy. I started to regret buying the car!

Luckily a sydney-based Renault specialist helped out and diagnosed the problems and gave me a list of things to fix. It was mostly trivial stuff. After fitting new handbrake cable, clutch cable, throttle cable,, new rear shocks, brake pads and Bridgestone Potenza tyres it started to drive really nice. The rough running was mostly resolved and I drove it for a year or so.

Recently I have been spending more time fixing her up as a few problems started to surface. restored the headlights, foglights and tail lights, fixed waterleak in boot, cheap ebay centre caps, a good detail inside and out and full fluids/filters change. I believe the cabin filter was the original one, almost 20 years old...you can imagine how gross it was with aussie sand and bugs haha

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More recently been having some issues, no power over 3000rpm, struggling to accelerate. Didn't feel safe driving the car as it would randomly lose all power randomly. Thats when I started pulling the engine apart to find issues...

I replaced the crank angle sensor with the uprated blue one as the original one looked well and truly gone. I pulled the 5000km old NGK plugs out and they were completely carboned up:
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I figured this is probably O2 sensor causing this to run rich and also likely the reason for the random power loss. I am currently waiting for a new Bosch O2 sensor from spareto. HT Leads are being replaced by MLR leads from UK and a new NGK coil pack has been fitted.

I also pulled the breather plate off and it was cooked. hardly any sealant left between the plate and the rocker cover. The breather hose that goes into the carbon canister was almost completely blocked as well. Oil/vapours had blown out and pooled under the inlet runners as well as the cam dephaser solenoid plug. New seals also have been ordered all round from spareto.
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Cleaned up the top of the rocker and also the whole breather plate and hoses, reapplied loctite sealant and put it back on

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I pulled the injector rail cover off and the noticed that the injector rail was barely attached. The two screws weren't tightened at all and the whole rail was left to wobble around! As I pulled the rail off, one of the injector plugs literally crumbled in my hand. Luckily I sourced a new injector rail with known working injectors.

Got the blowtorch out and cleaned up the plugs since I didn't want to waste them. They are practically new NGK iridium PFRE6-10 plugs and impossible to source in Australia.

The engine bay is still currently in bits. I am waiting on the new HT leads, various gaskets and seals, O2 sensor but hopefully these will arrive soon so I can get her back on the road!
 

Stu.

ClioSport Club Member
  lots of clios.
Looks like its cleaning up well! Seen a few ph1's from Aus popping up on a few facebook pages recently. When I was out there last month I only managed to see a ph2...lol
Where about are you? I've sent a box of ph1 bits to a bloke up Brisbane way and a box of bits going out to a guy in Melbourne this week. Good to see them getting some tlc! Not sure how many of you guys know each other...lol
 
  172 Ph1, Meg GT220
Looks like its cleaning up well! Seen a few ph1's from Aus popping up on a few facebook pages recently. When I was out there last month I only managed to see a ph2...lol
Where about are you? I've sent a box of ph1 bits to a bloke up Brisbane way and a box of bits going out to a guy in Melbourne this week. Good to see them getting some tlc! Not sure how many of you guys know each other...lol

Cheers, its getting there. Chances are they are on the ozrenaultsport forum, I think these cars are slowly appreciating and are getting more interest.

Are you selling bits through the classifieds section on cliosport?

Timing belt due this year too, I don't think there are any parts left that I haven't changed in the last 12 months.
 

Jekyll

ClioSport Club Member
Love seeing a ph1 being treated well.

As for the big service, its once every 5 years so not too bad in the grand scheme of things.

I also had a iceberg ph1 years ago.
 
  172 Ph1, Meg GT220
Love seeing a ph1 being treated well.

As for the big service, its once every 5 years so not too bad in the grand scheme of things.

I also had a iceberg ph1 years ago.

Every 4 years / 100,000km in Australia probably due to climate and dust. Yeah the cost of belt change isn't too bad. At least with a belt change its a good time to have runners, tensioners, pumps inspected and/or replaced. A number of 'sealed for life' timing chain engines fail because the chain has stretched or something failed and wasn't diagnosed.
 
  172 Ph1, Meg GT220
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New front O2 sensor fitted today, HT leads should arrive tomorrow and that concludes the mechanical / engine repairs for the time being!

next will be focusing on paint and wheels restoration, small dings and repair a tailgate crease from a previous rear ender

happy snap after a good wash
 

Coops Mk1

ClioSport Club Member
  Lots of Scrap...
Looks so blue in the Aussie sunshine. Don't think my iceberg ever looked that blue in the dreary British weather :ROFLMAO:
 
  172 Ph1, Meg GT220
The only downside to the aussie sun is it hammers the plastic trims, so much fade.

need to get some gtechniq trim restorer which is semi-permanent
 
  182 Trophy
Nice Phase 1 Dave! My mate has a sunflower yellow in Sydney, they are such a gem now! Good to see it getting some TLC, definitely unique amongst all the Phase 2 running around Aus.
 

Stu.

ClioSport Club Member
  lots of clios.
Cheers, its getting there. Chances are they are on the ozrenaultsport forum, I think these cars are slowly appreciating and are getting more interest.

Are you selling bits through the classifieds section on cliosport?

Timing belt due this year too, I don't think there are any parts left that I haven't changed in the last 12 months.

Yeah there starting to appreciate here a bit more too with the rareness factor setting in. Dread to think how many I've been through over the years 🙈

The stuff i sent to aus was via speaking to guys on facebook 👍
 
  172 Ph1, Meg GT220
Yeah there starting to appreciate here a bit more too with the rareness factor setting in. Dread to think how many I've been through over the years 🙈

The stuff i sent to aus was via speaking to guys on facebook 👍

well if you know where i can get a goddamn ph1 throttle body that works properly , I’m all ears!

my second TB is starting to show signs of wear :(
 

Darren S

ClioSport Club Member
Nice to hear of another old-timer Clio being resurrected and looked after.

How is the underfloor and cills on a car that's been Down Under for two decades? Pretty free of rust?
 
  172 Ph1, Meg GT220
Nice to hear of another old-timer Clio being resurrected and looked after.

How is the underfloor and cills on a car that's been Down Under for two decades? Pretty free of rust?

no rust anywhere and I’ve had a good look. only a tiny bit of surface rust in the spare wheel well, the rubber grommets either side of the tail lights has perished and letting in water. Sanded it back and treated it to some fresh anti corrosion paint
 


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