Austin’s Clio dci 100 Initiale

[Austin-182]

I tested the glow plugs this morning wirh my multimeter and plug 1 & 4 are gone! No reading at all. Strange because it actually starts straight up (when the whole key / imobilisher or whatever it is, isnt playing up). I have ordered an extra deep 10mm socket so I can get them changed over.

The centre console clock / radio light has never worked. I have known how to do this for years from seeing loads of posts on here about it. I knew the dash needed to come out which i had never fancied doing. I attempted it today as not having the display is really annoying, and it really was one of the easiest jobs ever. Took me half an hour max to do it all. Put 2 new bulbs in and all is working as it should be ??

On a side note, with the continuing starting issue. I have no idea what it could be, but disconnecting the battery for a few minutes and reconnecting seems to get it going again and get rid of the flashing / solid red light. Any ideas!?

 

[Krarl]

Try getting it onto CLIP and see if there are any codes stored. My brothers old 1.2 used to do this but it would leave him stranded for an hour each time it didn't want to start. It was the key not talking to the UCH properly because they key was fubar

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[Austin-182]

Try getting it onto CLIP and see if there are any codes stored. My brothers old 1.2 used to do this but it would leave him stranded for an hour each time it didn't want to start. It was the key not talking to the UCH properly because they key was fubar

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Tempted to get the key guy back and just take a risk getting a new key made up. If it fails i will be £80 down but at least i will be able to rule that out. Such a pain of a fault because theres no answer other than trial and error.

@Brigsy are you free next week at all to plug in for me mate?

 

[Krarl]

Tempted to get the key guy back and just take a risk getting a new key made up. If it fails i will be £80 down but at least i will be able to rule that out. Such a pain of a fault because theres no answer other than trial and error.

@Brigsy are you free next week at all to plug in for me mate?

Yeah electrical issues are a nightmare. I'd rather have a random clunk than an electric gremlin![emoji23]

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[Brigsy]

@Brigsy are you free next week at all to plug in for me mate?[/QUOTE]

Should be about Wed night or next weekend mate and in all day today if you can get over later?

 

[Brigsy]

I would get the key changed and see if that sorts it, its fairly common for them to fail and with it working better briefly when you messed about with it its pointing at it.

 

[Austin-182]

@Brigsy are you free next week at all to plug in for me mate?

Should be about Wed night or next weekend mate and in all day today if you can get over later?[/QUOTE]

Cheers mate. Wed might work good as im back down that way then. Il drop you a message.

 

[Austin-182]

My extra deep socket areived today after the halfords one I bought was too wide.

For anyone interested, its a Laser 5709 3/8 drive and comes in a double pack, one 10mm and one 12mm. I could only get them online and it was £12.50 posted from Amazon, but they are on ebay too. Works perfect, although glow plug 1 (or which ever number it is that is furthest away from the battery) had to be used with one of the swivel type extensions from my halfords kit with the 3/8 drive.

I soaked them in gt85 (wd40) yesterday and got the engine hot today just before changing them.

They came out easy although once unscrewed i had to pull them out with some pliers.

I only changed the 2 of them as yesterdays test with the milti meter indicated 2 of them are still working as they should.

Anyone reading this who doesn't know how to test them, there are 2 ways. Either in the car or off.

To test in the car, you need a multimeter, i got the one above from screwfix for £8. You set it to voltage, plug the positive red to the positive red on the battery, and the negative black to the very top of the glow plug when the cap is removed. You should get a reading of 12v, the same as the battery.

When they are off the car, you need to set the multeter to Ohms, on the lowest setting which is 200. Follow the picture above. Red to the very tip of the glow plug and black to the body of the glow plug. You want a reading less than 1. If the multimeter shows 1. As it does on the picture above, it means it is no longer working at all, and the reading is higher than 200ohms. 0.6ish is what you are looking for in a working glow plug. There are loads of videos on youtube if you get stuck.

 

[Brigsy]

Good to hear the heater plugs came out ok. I might attempt to do mine now after reading these success stories, always been concerned about them snapping.

Eml off now ?

 

[gez 172]

@Brigsy, mine came out easy too. Worth doing. Mine is back to starting on the button now.

Just soak them the day before with wd40 and get the engine warm before attempting to take them out.

 

[Austin-182]

Good to hear the heater plugs came out ok. I might attempt to do mine now after reading these success stories, always been concerned about them snapping.

Eml off now ?

I have turned it off and it hasnt cme back on yet although iv only took it for a short drive. It mdid normally come straight back on though so hopefully it stays off. There were 2 codes though so i wont be surprised if it does come back on but only shows the other fault.

I was scared mate but they were just like any other bolt. Started to turn straight away. Theres a garage in boro who can remove them if they do snap off.

 

[Brigsy]

@Brigsy, mine came out easy too. Worth doing. Mine is back to starting on the button now.

Just soak them the day before with wd40 and get the engine warm before attempting to take them out.

I might do them one day, ive done loads of sets on other engines no issues, just a bit put off doing these as they look like they have never been out and 143k. Not had any starting problems always fires first go any temperature even -6 recently, its just a bit chuggy on idle when cold.

@Austin-182 a bloke in Boro drilled an injector out for us that snapped on removal recently, if its the same fella he done a great job but let swarf go everywhere, done a nice job of drilling injector remains out but rough as feck letting swarf go all over the place, he even removed tape on inlet ports for some reason to let filings go in. I was not there when he done it, would have given him the boot if i had seen him doing it. Ok as last resort if your stuck really

 

[Austin-182]

I might do them one day, ive done loads of sets on other engines no issues, just a bit put off doing these as they look like they have never been out and 143k. Not had any starting problems always fires first go any temperature even -6 recently, its just a bit chuggy on idle when cold.

@Austin-182 a bloke in Boro drilled an injector out for us that snapped on removal recently, if its the same fella he done a great job but let swarf go everywhere, done a nice job of drilling injector remains out but rough as feck letting swarf go all over the place, he even removed tape on inlet ports for some reason to let filings go in. I was not there when he done it, would have given him the boot if i had seen him doing it. Ok as last resort if your stuck really

Eml came back on! Plugged in and both the same faults again, so i decided to test them all. Both new ones and one old one giving off 12v, and the other old giving 9v. Strange as this one was reading 12v 2 days ago. Anyway, decided to change them and when testing them off the car the 9v was reading 1. meaning no good at all, and the other one reading 12v which indicates its a good one, was actually reading 19ohms so infact its a bad one too! Got these 2 out easy too, hardest part is getting them back in. They need a good push in with some force to get back in place ready to thread up. Turned the light off again, plugged in and no codes showing even after a drive. Will check again in the morning.

 

[Brigsy]

I always change all 4 heater plugs when doing them. Mine must be soldiering on with 2 or 3 working properly ?

 

[Austin-182]

Decided to tackle the dodgy ignition barrell today. Found a scrap yard with a dci in so went and picked up the barrel and locks etc for £20. I was hoping it would have the egr valve on that i could take too as mine is still showing a code with the eml light even after cleaning it. It was on the car but smashed, so no good. The eml code for the glow plugs has now gone though after chaning all 4 of them.

Changing the barrel is another job which was a lot easier than i thought it would be. A little bit fiddly getting the plugs apart but overall a decent job to do on the drive. I changed the ignition barrel, got the door lock but not going to bother at the minute as it was a paingetting it off at the scrappy, so i will just keep the old blade handy with the car docs incase ever needed. I also changed the decoder ring just to teat of that has been the starting issue im having. And also the steering wheel radio control as the spinning part wasnt working on mine. I got the fuel cap but the new key blade works on my old one anyway!? Maybe they are generic but I had ready they were key specific... I also got the front air bag key switch but again this works with the new key blade too so dont need to change that.

Got some dash strips and standard Dci 65 side bullets to keep as spares.

The ignition now works properly as it should ????‍?

 

[gez 172]

Brilliant news!

You should write up a quick guide on swapping the barrels etc.

 

[Mazz]

Well done Austin.

If this makes you feel better: I've always had puffs of bluey/white smoke on cold starts and rough idle for 2/3 secs. Changed the glow plugs (£24 eBay Bosch) and recently changed the glow plug relay (genuine £50).

No difference [emoji23]

 

[Krarl]

Clean your intercooler out lads, sometimes they're just filled with 100k+ worth of oily crud because nobody every cleand them out![emoji23]

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[Austin-182]

The new decoder ring hasnt solved the starting problem. Gutted about it as i have no idea what it is at all! Had it plugged into a snap-on scanner tonight and it didnt show anything! Hopefully CLIP will show what it is. Scared to hse the car bow because im getting stuck every time and it takes 10 minutes of messing around to get it to start again.

Goes from flashing red light to solid, then back to flashing againetc and eventually the loght will come on for a few seconds and go off like its meant to, then it will start.

Never had a car with electrical problems before. What a pain it is! At least with an engine problem the scanner shows what it is!!!!

On a plus, iv had both front Michelin tyres from the steelies put onto the alloys so have matching set front and back. Although all starting to feel pointless when the thing wont work!

 

[Brigsy]

Get a new key programmed mate, only delaying the inevitable lol

 

[Mazz]

Clean your intercooler out lads, sometimes they're just filled with 100k+ worth of oily crud because nobody every cleand them out![emoji23]

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Yeah, it's on the list.
Mine is sandwiched between the aircon condenser and the rad.. wish I had a dCi 100 too!!

 

[Austin-182]

Get a new key programmed mate, only delaying the inevitable lol

Im not convinced though mate. If it was just the fast flash then i would have already done it, but now it has a solid loght too it makes me less confident that it is the key. I have also noticed, that when it is playing up with the solid light, the alarm red light on the centre console next to the gearstick lights up too? Although not all the time, maybe once every 15 attempts of turning the key. It will go from fast flash, to steady, to fast flash again. Sometimes will let it crank, and other times nothing at all.

I agree with you that i need to just do it. Who knows, maybe it will solve it and i will kick myself for not doing it straight away, but i have a feeling it will still play up. Only one way to find out i suppose.

 

[Austin-182]

Yeah, it's on the list.
Mine is sandwiched between the aircon condenser and the rad.. wish I had a dCi 100 too!!

How would you go about cleaning them out? @YorkshireKyle

 

[Krarl]

How would you go about cleaning them out? @YorkshireKyle

Front bumper off, take boost pipes off, ali one above the gearbox has a hidden 10mm bolt and then just clean them out with petrol and then rinse them out with some degreaser and hot water. Taking the slam panel out makes it easier too

Edit: Just make sure you have a 7mm, 8mm and 10mm ratchet spanner or really shallow socket and 1/4 ratchet[emoji23]

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[Austin-182]

STARTING ISSUE IS FIXED !!!!!!!!

I went ahead and got a key made up. It was £80 and a bit of a risk as i was t 100% this is what the problem was, but as it happens, it was. The car now starts as normal so I am very pleased about that!

I still have a massive list of things to do with it. As the weather had warmed up I cleaned the front seat belts. I have done this before on my 182. They were filthy! Look at the water in the bucket! Still got the rears to do, along with the carpet but i did have a quick go at the carpet around the centre console. It will make a massive difference when they are fully cleaned. Also ordered some genuine car mats.

 

[Austin-182]

As mentioned above, I have quite a big list of things to do and I want to keep the cost as low as possible. The Initiale has the same rear brake set up as the 1*2’s which are quite expensive. I was luckily to find a set of rear discs with the bearings / abs pressed in on ebay advertised for £45 or best offer. I made a offer of £30 including postage which was accepted! I will do a full list of everything i have spent at some point as im keeping a record of it all. I have found that searching ebay with the part number can bring up a lot of bargains! I also won a set of front genuine renault pads for 99 pence!

@mitch1503 offered to come and help me bleed the brake fluid and help with changing the discs. Massive problem occurred at the start which was the locking wheel nut key snapping so we were unable to get the wheel off. A local scrap yard had the exact key needed so got that for £5 and managed to get the wheel off. Due to wasting almost 2 hours we ran out of time to bleed and refresh the fluid so we just changed the rear discs and pads.

No major issues with this but the sliders holding the pads in were a pain to get out and one of the rear discs did not want to come off. Also found it has a new calliper on one side which im happy about as it indicates it has been looked after in the past and things have been fixed when needed.

The old pads were almost all the way worn down and one of the discs had a crack through it.

 

[Krarl]

Looks good now mate.

Cracked rear disc is from a sticking caliper, mine did this on the first day I got mine[emoji23] It was cracked under the spacer too[emoji50]

Mine stopped sticking after I bled the fluid out, the fluid was black too, the car rolled like a dream after that

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[Austin-182]

@YorkshireKyle same happened to my 182!

The sliders on this seemed to be free though and working so hopefully they will be fine. We are going to do the fluid one night during the week anyway though. Had a look inside the bottle and it does look very old so will hopefully make a nice difference.

 

[Mazz]

I want those heatshields.

 

[Krarl]

They're made from cheese and rust too much to be able to remove them[emoji23][emoji23]

@Austin-182 mine was pretty much jammed on like I was driving with it pulled up lol

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[Austin-182]

I want those heatshields.

Lol they have holes in them but i though still better to leave them on than take them off. Gave them a good clean with the wire brush and there was a pile of rust came off ??

 

[Rob]

Should give those callipers a lick of silver hammerite when you do the fluid. Good work on the key though, nice to not have to worry

 

[TonkaTruck]

Hi mate, hows it going? I will pop over tomorrow and get a price, if its loads cheaper than Renault il just do that.

No idea why it was wet. Its driving fine. Is turbo seal failure a big thing?

Did you ever get sorted with KnS bud? I'm more than happy to help / guide you along the way!
Turbo seals are a pretty easy job, just time consuming. Just your EGR valve again soon to see how badly it's leaking.

 

[Austin-182]

Did you ever get sorted with KnS bud? I'm more than happy to help / guide you along the way!
Turbo seals are a pretty easy job, just time consuming. Just your EGR valve again soon to see how badly it's leaking.

Did you ever get sorted with KnS bud? I'm more than happy to help / guide you along the way!
Turbo seals are a pretty easy job, just time consuming. Just your EGR valve again soon to see how badly it's leaking.

Yes mate, the price they gave for the gates kit was more expensive than genuine Renault!

Thanks mate appreciate that. Got a mate helping with it as he knows what he is doing too.

EGR - i need a new one as my eml wont clear so i will see what its like when i manage to get hold of a new egr and replace it.

 

[Austin-182]

Rear seatbelts cleaned today along with the carpet and seats. Not perfect but a lot better and overall the car now feels clean.

Also cleaned the boot out and put some carpet underlay in the wheel well as the old stuff had fell apart. Spare Alloy put in place with the tool kit. Good to know if i ever need to change the wheel, it will be a matching alloy and not a steel wheel.

And just as I am slowly solving the problems, a new one is created! ABS fault of some kind. Im getting the kick back feeling when braking, but not everytime. I think this is either a ring or sensor. It would make sence that its something on the rear following the disc and pad change, but could also be a coinsodence and the front has gone. Only way i will know if stripping it down. I tried plugging it in but no fault is stored and the lights only appear after driving, and not on start up.

 

[Mazz]

When I bought the clio it had the abs light on, and the abs itself was overly active, interfering on pretty much every little movement of the middle pedal.
it was a cracked sensor ring on a front driveshaft,
they're inexpensive but you'll have an hard time trying to put one on without removing the driveshaft from the car.
BUT
given your recent activity on the rear axle one question come up to mind: have you checked the abs rings on your new discs are the same as the old ones ?

 

[Rob]

Rear seatbelts cleaned today along with the carpet and seats. Not perfect but a lot better and overall the car now feels clean.
View attachment 1407741
View attachment 1407743
View attachment 1407744
View attachment 1407745


Also cleaned the boot out and put some carpet underlay in the wheel well as the old stuff had fell apart. Spare Alloy put in place with the tool kit. Good to know if i ever need to change the wheel, it will be a matching alloy and not a steel wheel.

View attachment 1407746

And just as I am slowly solving the problems, a new one is created! ABS fault of some kind. Im getting the kick back feeling when braking, but not everytime. I think this is either a ring or sensor. It would make sence that its something on the rear following the disc and pad change, but could also be a coinsodence and the front has gone. Only way i will know if stripping it down. I tried plugging it in but no fault is stored and the lights only appear after driving, and not on start up.
View attachment 1407742

Did you check the ABS ring on this new brake discs? Count the teeth etc?

 

[Austin-182]

@Mazz @Rob Yes, they are 44 teeth, the same as the 1*2. I did wonder that too, but checked even before buying them. I also compared them together when off the car so they are definitely 44. I think it will be from scrubbing the heatshield with the wire brush and some has got in the sensor. Hopefully a clean out will solve it, but we will be checking the fronts while we are on as im going to put some new discs and pads on while doing the fluid change.

Edit; is it possible some are more than 44 teeth?? Im now looking at the pic of the new discs and trying to xount them from a picture and looks like there could be 48 teeth!? Hard to count from the pic.

 

[Austin-182]

£30 disc bargain is no longer a bargain! Wrong abs ring so looks like I need to buy another set of rear discs now!

 

[Mazz]

yup, definitely more than 44 there.
Not the end of the world to change them.

get the right ones on ebay, chances are your old one will brake while trying to remove them from the old discs, and as I said before new ones are inexpensive.

heat the old ones and get busy with a chisel and hammer trying to tap it out evenly.
if it comes out alive then use it to tap in the new one, and again, a torch is your friend.