ClioSport.net

Register a free account today to become a member!
Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Read more here.

Bought a 182'



  Exige S/CTR/182
Hi All, I've got myself back into a 182 with a bit of a gamble/project car. It's a 2004 FF (as far as I can gather) with some turinis and a milltek exhaust system.

Picked it up fairly cheap, test drive showed that it had EML (Expected, decat) and code reader checked out with just the pre/post cat lambda codes. The air conditioning seems knackered too, the pipework is all there so it hasn't had a delete... but I'm guessing a leaky radiator. One to check later.

Aside from that, the car seems to occasionally stop you from revving above 3 or 4000 RPM. It gives a bit of burble from the exhaust and then after a few seconds usually lets you rev it out to the limit. I cleared the decat codes, and went for a 10minute drive managing to reproduce the symptoms plenty of times without getting a new code. The face that it's not consistent makes me think it's not an ECU initiated limp home mode... but I could be wrong.

The car came with lots of receipts, it seems to have had two cambelt changes in its life (perhaps it's let go at some stage :eek: ) but no evidence of a dephaser change... so I'm expecting to cough up for that, but will be pleasantly surprised if it doesn't cause problems. It's had injectors in the last 18months, and rear shocks in the last few years so not expecting those to be a problem (though won't rule them out).

I'll get it cleaned up at the weekend for some obligatory photographs, I'm thinking of a quick weekend tune up in which I'll replace the plugs and give everything a basic once over. but is there a go-to list of things I can check over the weekend to try and overcome this hesitation/missfire/whatever it is.

Hopefully the car will be a runaround for my wife, as her lease car goes back soon. If it survives the winter, I'll probably take it on a trackday or two before trading it in!

Cheers :)
 
  Exige S/CTR/182
Cheers, only the obligatory "petrol station on the way home from collection" one... Will get some decent ones at the weekend.
36938728272_d08458c7d0_b.jpg

Aesthetically I've seen worse, no real dings to the body - but a few scratches and the wheels could do with a refurb... but it'll be no show car in our ownership I'm afraid!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Gus
  Exige S/CTR/182
Yeah I've read/heard that before so that may be a job for today! I at least want to get under the car and figure out the exhaust situation, and whether or not retro-fitting the cat will be a pain in the ass.

The tailpipes sit straight, so that's one thing...!
 
  Exige S/CTR/182
Just been out to shuffle the cars around (We've got four of the b*****d things until my wife's Corsa goes back in October!) so that I can start fiddling with the Clio.

I may have found a good place to start, with the engine running I brushed my hand over the top of the ignition leads and got a little electric shock 😊

I'm guessing that there's some arcing going on somewhere, so I've just put an order in for 4x PFR6E-10 plugs and some leads from ECP. While they come, the missus can give the interior a bloody good clean and I can take a look at this decat situation.
 
  Exige S/CTR/182
Apologies for the triple post, struggling to find an "Edit post" button!

I've just taken the inlet manifold off, and pulled out the spark plugs.

First off, all of the spark plug holes had oily residue inside them, some worse than others - but the 3rd cylinder from the cambelt side also had some rubbery gunky stuff... maybe dialectric grease or something mixed with oil...
36949206302_3edff3048c_b.jpg

I cleaned each hole out with a rag, then blew it out with compressed air.
Once clean-ish, I took out the plugs - cyl 1 (assuming that's the one closest to cambelt side) was dripping with oil, on the actual sparky bit beneath the seal. Worrying!
The other three were dry, just trace of oil on the top-side terminal.

Since it's just Cyl 1 that was oily, I'm guessing/hoping this has just been the result of a clumsy oil top-up in the past. When I blasted it with compressed air, certainly plenty of oil residue was sprayed upwards. I gather that there are a couple of seals/gaskets in the region that may be worth swapping too - but generally the top of the engine is very messy, so I imagine it's had a few clumsy oil changes at least. The "well" part between the inlet manifold and the fuel rail guard had small pools of oil in it, which backs up the theory.

I've got nothing to do now until the plugs and leads arrive, so I'd welcome any more suggestions for easy seals/gaskets that are worth replacing whilst I'm in the area. I'm going to have a specialist check out the car in the next week or so - but I figure I can make a head start on some easy DIY stuff. The money we saved on the car allows me to spend a bit on it before I get too disgruntled.
 
  B9 Audi A4 Sport
There's definitely some bargains to be had out there. It looks like a really nice example, that. Be prepared to potentially keep it much longer than anticipated though ;)
 
  Exige S/CTR/182
We cleaned it and gave it a quick polish on Sunday. The bodywork isn't shocking (no big dents or cracks in plastic) but it's had a fair peppering from stonechips and a few scratches typical of a pushbike being leant against the car or scuffed past it...

It's really not a show winner. I'm also getting the impression that the engine has been lifted out of the car before, the wiring doesn't look like it's in a "factory" position. I'm not sure what the common reasons are for lifting an engine, easy cambelt change maybe, or clutch change (it's certainly had a clutch recently) but it's not much of a problem - I can't see anything too cowboy under there, nothing a few cable ties can't fix.

Had some deliveries today, think the leads arrived but I'm still waiting for sparkplugs and a VVT solenoid seal (I think that's been leaking, which would cause the oil contamination in the left hand cylinder (think it's actually cyl 4 on these?)
 


Top