Austin’s Clio dci 100 Initiale

[Austin-182]

The starting issue has been even stranger, after working perfectly, it developed the fast flash again, which then developed into a solid light! Managed to get it going everytime, then this morning it did the same, would crank but not fire. Relays in the engine bay fuse box all look fine. Took the battery out to get the cover back on the fuse box then the car started fine when the battery was reconnected. It has worked fine without any issue since!
Had the mobile key guy out and when he tested the key, it read fine most of the time. He kept banging it on the counter and it would still read fine, but every say 7-8 attempts it wouldnt read it. He said he couldnt gaurantee it was only the key that was causing the issue so i decided not to get a new key made up just incase it isnt that. He said to keep using it and see if the problem comes back / gets worse. He said if itbis the key, it will eventually not work at all.

 

[Martin_172]

when mine used to play up I used to unplug the 3 plugs from the bottom of the UCH and leave it for an hour then re connect, this would make it work flawlessly for a month before starting again, I just lived with it but I believe it was the UCH on its way out, similar issues with fast flashing light or sometimes a solid light and not cranking

 

[Brigsy]

Check the small relays are pushed in place properly under the bonnet. For some reason the under bonnet fuse box cover on my dci knocks the relays out of place when fitted properly, which give me the red immobiliser light of doom last time i changed the battery. The cover is sat on top of fusebox instead of clipped in now.

 

[Austin-182]

Check the small relays are pushed in place properly under the bonnet. For some reason the under bonnet fuse box cover on my dci knocks the relays out of place when fitted properly, which give me the red immobiliser light of doom last time i changed the battery. The cover is sat on top of fusebox instead of clipped in now.

I checked them all earlier mate. Even swapped around etc, fitted spares i have and it didnt change anything. Well actually, it made it not fire up at all after i had fiddled with them and kept the steady red light on. It was only after disconnecting and reconnecting the battery that it seemed to solve the fault and make it work again.
Have you changed a barrel before mate? I know that has nothing to do with this, but the barrel is broke and needs changing anyway.

 

[Mazz]

I've only had a couple of non-start situation with the dCi, all sorted after a colleague found a big white connector next to the battery (wires coming from engine relay box) that had lost its locking clip. Cable tied that together, all fine since then. Worth having a look!

 

[Brigsy]

Have you changed a barrel before mate? I know that has nothing to do with this, but the barrel is broke and needs changing anyway.

Changed loads on the older renaults mate, it will be a doddle. Only hard to change when the keys are missing.

 

[RIC172]

Great thread, this car was an absolute steal. It's just inspired me to refurb my headlights and remove the bobbles from my seats too

Will you be keeping it standard or doing a few performance upgrades?

 

[Austin-182]

Great thread, this car was an absolute steal. It's just inspired me to refurb my headlights and remove the bobbles from my seats too

Will you be keeping it standard or doing a few performance upgrades?

Cheers Rich.

No plans at all to make any performance upgrades mate. I will keenit standard and serviced well. Desperate for the major cambelt service and im so tempted to try myself following guides but with no previous experience i think it might be too risky without supervision.

 

[gez 172]

Cheers Rich.

No plans at all to make any performance upgrades mate. I will keenit standard and serviced well. Desperate for the major cambelt service and im so tempted to try myself following guides but with no previous experience i think it might be too risky without supervision.

This is how I’m thinking too, I’ve been told it’s an easy cambelt to do, but I’m quite nervous because that’s one thing I’ve never done before.

 

[Krarl]

I just watched this video a few times and then cracked on with it tbh lol

He has a load of other videos for Pugs and Renaults too which I just like to watch lol

 

[Austin-182]

This is how I’m thinking too, I’ve been told it’s an easy cambelt to do, but I’m quite nervous because that’s one thing I’ve never done before.

Was just about to say the same as Kyle has posted below. Theres a very detailed 20 min video on how to do it. I watched it all but theres a couple of parts throughout which i get confused at which is what puts me off doing it without someone present who knows what they are doing.

Where are you from btw. If you are not far away we could arrange a joint cambelt session ha?

 

[Gus]

I just watched this video a few times and then cracked on with it tbh lol

He has a load of other videos for Pugs and Renaults too which I just like to watch lol

Nice link that ! Ive got a DCi mk4 but probably the same engine and will be doing the bet myself this summer.

 

[Austin-182]

Nice link that ! Ive got a DCi mk4 but probably the same engine and will be doing the bet myself this summer.

Gus, i have just ordered the pads for my da. Going to practice on the dci before i have a ho at the 182!

 

[Krarl]

Nice link that ! Ive got a DCi mk4 but probably the same engine and will be doing the bet myself this summer.

Yeah same engine but the MK4 has a load of w**k emissions shite on it lol

 

[gez 172]

Was just about to say the same as Kyle has posted below. Theres a very detailed 20 min video on how to do it. I watched it all but theres a couple of parts throughout which i get confused at which is what puts me off doing it without someone present who knows what they are doing.

Where are you from btw. If you are not far away we could arrange a joint cambelt session ha?

I’m just outside of Oxford, what about you?

 

[Austin-182]

I’m just outside of Oxford, what about you?

Durham lol, miles away!

 

[gez 172]

Durham lol, miles away!

?

 

[Mazz]

Both of you come down to London we'll get both of yours done in an afternoon

Jokes aside, I watched the very same video even before buying the car (ease of maintenance was a key parameter) and when it was time to do it myself I managed in three hours, including some moments of random cocking around.

The difficult bit, for me, was getting the belt evenly tensioned with the free spinning crank gear. Once you know what you're up against is not too bad.

I had to redo the job in easter time and took me two hours and change.

Get a proper timing kit, Gates for example that includes water pump.
My engine needed an M12 bolt on the crank pulley, may be a different story with the 712 !

 

[Austin-182]

Both of you come down to London we'll get both of yours done in an afternoon

Jokes aside, I watched the very same video even before buying the car (ease of maintenance was a key parameter) and when it was time to do it myself I managed in three hours, including some moments of random cocking around.

The difficult bit, for me, was getting the belt evenly tensioned with the free spinning crank gear. Once you know what you're up against is not too bad.

I had to redo the job in easter time and took me two hours and change.

Get a proper timing kit, Gates for example that includes water pump.
My engine needed an M12 bolt on the crank pulley, may be a different story with the 712 !

Well very luckily a mate has messaged me after seeing this thread and has offered to help out with it! Im going to get the kit ordered and we will get cracking with it.

Where did you buy your belt kit from out of interest?

And what do you mean by an M12 ? What comes with the kit?? And whats the 712 lol?

 

[Mazz]

Sorry, got too nerdy.

M12, or 12mm, is the size of bolt I needed for my engine. This is the bolt that secures the crank pulley on the crank sprocket, and has to be changed together with the belt.

The timing kits for the different versions of the k9k (the 1.5 dCi engine) have only little differences, one of them is the size of this bolt, that can be also an M14, like the one I had in my kit and could not use.

What I did was find out what chassis designation my car was (BB08 being an 80hp dCi from 2003) and go on the gates or dayco catalogue to find on what was the right kit for me.

K9K712 should be your particular version of the dCi engine.

Don't forget your timing pins, they are not essential (you can replace them with drill bits) but for the price I would get them if I were you.
Also get coolant, you can find 5 liter jugs of Type D which is what you need, always on eBay, and get a drive belt too, once you're there makes sense.

I'm happy to help you along the way if needed, made enough mistakes in the past myself ! Hopefully our engines won't be too different.

 

[Brigsy]

I had the same issue with a gates kit on my dci, had the wrong crank bolt but luckily had a new one in my spares. Could prob check the length of oem to see if stretched or not if stuck.

 

[Mazz]

I reused my crank bolt last year, had no choice.
Drove 10k miles with it and had no problems.
Wouldn't advice to do it but proves that if you end up with the wrong one you CAN reuse the old one.
I did replace mine in the end.

Austin just get the right code for your kit on the gates catalogue, find it on eBay and boom.

Good timing kits will include:

-belt
-water pump and gasket
-belt tensioner
-crank bolt

All you have to add is the drive belt, which for me was a 5pk1200, but our engines are not exactly the same so double check.

 

[gez 172]

I reused my crank bolt last year, had no choice.
Drove 10k miles with it and had no problems.
Wouldn't advice to do it but proves that if you end up with the wrong one you CAN reuse the old one.
I did replace mine in the end.

Austin just get the right code for your kit on the gates catalogue, find it on eBay and boom.

Good timing kits will include:

-belt
-water pump and gasket
-belt tensioner
-crank bolt

All you have to add is the drive belt, which for me was a 5pk1200, but our engines are not exactly the same so double check.

Where’s the best place to find the gates catalogue?

 

[Mazz]

https://www.gatesautocat.com

 

[Austin-182]

Sorry, got too nerdy.

M12, or 12mm, is the size of bolt I needed for my engine. This is the bolt that secures the crank pulley on the crank sprocket, and has to be changed together with the belt.

The timing kits for the different versions of the k9k (the 1.5 dCi engine) have only little differences, one of them is the size of this bolt, that can be also an M14, like the one I had in my kit and could not use.

What I did was find out what chassis designation my car was (BB08 being an 80hp dCi from 2003) and go on the gates or dayco catalogue to find on what was the right kit for me.

K9K712 should be your particular version of the dCi engine.

Don't forget your timing pins, they are not essential (you can replace them with drill bits) but for the price I would get them if I were you.
Also get coolant, you can find 5 liter jugs of Type D which is what you need, always on eBay, and get a drive belt too, once you're there makes sense.

I'm happy to help you along the way if needed, made enough mistakes in the past myself ! Hopefully our engines won't be too different.

Many thanks mate! Good to know what to look out for there and good to know before everything is taken apart!

Yea the lad helping me has the oins so we will use them to keep things right.

And i will pick some type d up from the local renault garage ??

Going to ring around tomorrow to see what the best price is for the cambelt kit

 

[Austin-182]

https://www.gatesautocat.com

Thats a bit confusing lol! Brings up more than one option so not clear which is correct

 

[Austin-182]

Had a price from Renault for the following genuine items at £127 total delivered!
Cambelt kit
Drive belt
Waterpump
5 ltr type d coolant

 

[Krarl]

Had a price from Renault for the following genuine items at £127 total delivered!
Cambelt kit
Drive belt
Waterpump
5 ltr type d coolant

Get the drive belt auto-tensioner too, they let go at the most inconvenient times

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[Austin-182]

Get the drive belt auto-tensioner too, they let go at the most inconvenient times

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Do you think mate? Was going to ask if it was worth changing? Does it add much more work or is it easy to change?

 

[Krarl]

Do you think mate? Was going to ask if it was worth changing? Does it add much more work or is it easy to change?

For the sake of £20 you might as well, they always seem to come apart from my experience. Do a job once and do it proper is a good motto to stick by[emoji6]

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[Mazz]

I should have got one of those, they're cheap enough. Although mine had lots of spring action and felt ok. Should be a one bolt job anyway.

 

[Austin-182]

Have i stumbled across the potential starting problem here?????? After 4 days of no issues, i got the flashing red light again. I decided to look at the relays in the passenger footwell near the glovebox and have found a load of wires which do not look standard!? Maybe aftermarket alarm at some point? Anyone have any ideas or fellow Dci’ers can you compare for me?

 

[Krarl]

Nah that's the alarm which is a factory install, Renault wiring for the win[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

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[Austin-182]

Nah that's the alarm which is a factory install, Renault wiring for the win[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

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Really mate? Cant be lol! Its a mess!!
What about the yellow plug? Whats meant to go in that?

 

[Krarl]

Really mate? Cant be lol! Its a mess!!
What about the yellow plug? Whats meant to go in that?

The cables look exactly the same as a few other 172's I've pulled apart. The massive bundle of excessive wite under the gearknob, not so sure about the yellow plug. I can check under the dash of my 172 for you if you want?[emoji23]

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[Chris_Beer]

Yellow plug is for an Auto iirc and yeah Renault had all the alarm kits fitted aftermarket I believe but were terrible

 

[TonkaTruck]

Had a price from Renault for the following genuine items at £127 total delivered!
Cambelt kit
Drive belt
Waterpump
5 ltr type d coolant

KnS in Peterlee do the gates drive belt for pennies. That's what I've got on my dCi.
Did you find out why the EGR was wet? Sadly I thought this was down to turbo seal failure.

 

[Austin-182]

KnS in Peterlee do the gates drive belt for pennies. That's what I've got on my dCi.
Did you find out why the EGR was wet? Sadly I thought this was down to turbo seal failure.

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?

 

[Martin_172]

Yeah that's the alarm, they are not fitted at the factory and are fitted instead at import centre in the UK. Seems to be a hit or a miss how well they are done lol

 

[Brigsy]

Is turbo seal failure a big thing?

Keep an eye on it, if it starts smoking blue from cold start for a few miles it will need replacing sharpish. Search on youtube for 'diesel runaway' when they start running on their own oil.