Cambelt checks

[Tookers]

When I got the 182 in July it came with receipts saying cam belt & accessory belt had been changed earlier this year.
Took it to a Ren specialist and they told me the tensioner wasn't correctly fitted and the accessory belt needed changing.
Because of that I'm doubting the cam belt has actually been changed.
Is there any way of checking?

I haven't driven it much at all since I got it & it's only just over 71k, but noticed a slight whine on idle from the drivers side last night... dephaser?

 

[Poopensharten]

There isn't any physical way to check a cambelt. The only way to be sure is getting it done at your own accord.

The whine is usually the aux belt, if they're telling you it was incorrectly fitted, change it. The dephaser will tick, loudly, when up to temperature, not whine.

 

[Tookers]

Thanks Danny. Thought that might be the case, better err on the side of caution.
Aux belt was changed and tensioner fitted properly in July, before that it was whining when PAS pump was under load.
Hard to describe the noise, it's not as loud as aux belt whine, and I probably wouldnt have even noticed it if I wasnt smoking.

 

[Tookers]

Got it booked in next week for cam belt, dephaser & water pump. That should sort out my cooling problems too

 

[davo172]

Got it booked in next week for cam belt, dephaser & water pump. That should sort out my cooling problems too

Who's the specialist ?

 

[Tookers]

Who's the specialist ?

Ian @Barnby & Evans in Tonbridge

 

[Stay Puft]

Should be okay, but people often say a Renault specialist and a sport specialist are 'different'.

 

[JamesBryan]

I take it they're doing the aux belt kit again too, seeing as they're changing the waterpump?

What price have they quoted?

 

[Tookers]

I take it they're doing the aux belt kit again too, seeing as they're changing the waterpump?

What price have they quoted?

I asked about that, but they only did aux belt back in July and it's done less than 100 miles since, so they said should be no need to replace.
Price was just over £400 inc VAT just for the labour (cam belt, dephaser, water pump & coolant flush), as I've already sourced the parts.

 

[Poopensharten]

You should never re-tension a belt and any garage worth the hair on their b****cks will know/tell you that!

 

[Tookers]

awesome :weary:🔨
I'll chuck in an aux belt and will pass on your comments danny :grin:

 

[JamesBryan]

As Danny says.

I also hate to tell you that it's a £600 all in job for everything from a specialist. I bet it's cost a fair bit just for the parts you've bought.

 

[Tookers]

@JamesBryan Not far off mate, got the parts for £215

 

[Stay Puft]

I can't think of any specialists nearby, hmm..

 

[JamesBryan]

Will you get a warranty on it because you've supplied the parts? I know most specialsts won't.

 

[Tookers]

Will you get a warranty on it because you've supplied the parts? I know most specialsts won't.

Probably not tbh. Seems like a decent bloke so I'm sure if any issues he'll sort it.

 

[JamesBryan]

Might be worth changing the thermostat while he's there too, you mentioned cooling problems?

Don't forget the stat housing gasket too if you do.

 

[Tookers]

@JamesBryan Yeah, since I've had the car the radiator fan never switches on even when the engine is above thermostat kick in temp.
Fan comes on straight away with AC on, so ruled that out.
Have a new thermostat, coolant temp sensor and housing gasket so asked him to swap those when he does the coolant flush.

 

[bloke]

Fan doesn't kick in until 99deg. I've had them sit ticking over for half hour before the fan comes on.

 

[JamesBryan]

The repair manuals say 2000rpm for around 20 minutes to get the fan to kick in I think from memory.

 

[Tookers]

99? Jesus
I'll plug the diag in later and see if i can get a temp reading.
@bloke what triggers the fan, the coolant temp sensor? The thermo just allows coolant to flow in right?

 

[bloke]

yup, cts brings it on. thermostat is for flow.

 

[Tookers]

Spot on @bloke
Started car from cold and it hit 85c within 10 mins then dropped to 80c so revved at 2krpm for a few mins and it eventually hit 99c and i heard and felt the fan kick in. So the cts is good.
Turned engine off for a few mins and the car would only start after 3 attempts. Never had an issue with starting it.
Temp was 93c when it started up again.

 

[bloke]

What tensioner wasn't fitted properly by the way?

 

[Tookers]

Aux belt it was at an angle leaning toward rear of the engine.
Just checked coolant level and its above the max fill marker

 

[JamesBryan]

It will go higher when hot

 

[bloke]

Can't picture how it could of been?

 

[Tookers]

Just had a look under the car and noticed a bit of fresh oil on the bottom of the sump and fresh oil spots on the floor that looks to be coming from the gear linkage. That seal looks pretty shot, is it easy to fit a new seal?
Never a dull moment with this clio 😂

 

[JamesBryan]

Gear selector seals always leak on these.

Box off job iirc.

 

[Tookers]

Can't picture how it could of been?

I did have a pic but cant find it. It looked like it had slipped, maybe wasnt torqued up

 

[Tookers]

Gear selector seals always leak on these.

Box off job iirc.

Beautiful! Sounds pricey. Anything else to look for whilst the box is out?

 

[bloke]

It's cool, just trying to picture it.

Box has to be stripped for selector seal unless you use the repair kit.

 

[JamesBryan]

Beautiful! Sounds pricey. Anything else to look for whilst the box is out?

Yeah do the clutch while you're there.

 

[Tookers]

It's cool, just trying to picture it.

Box has to be stripped for selector seal unless you use the repair kit.

Just been reading about that kit, looks like box out is only way for a guaranteed fix.
Seems like a strip and rebuild might make sense as box has done 71k

 

[bloke]

strip and full rebuild is pricey, not looked a prices for a while but parts alone are nudging £300.

 

[Tookers]

@bloke I saw PMS offer a rebuild service but it's £300 before parts, so around £600 for gearbox & maybe another £250 for clutch & flywheel. Hmmm I may drain the gearbox and see what the oil is like before doing anything else.
Clutch is heavy but I hear thats normal on the 182s, gearing is fairly smooth and don't have any crunching.

Another quick question, does the coolant need to be drained to remove the water pump?
Was going to tell the guy not to bother with coolant flush, cts & thermo but still do water pump as he'll be doing the aux & cam anyways. Just wondering if he would need to drain the coolant anyway

 

[JamesBryan]

It will need draining yes.

The repair kit 32 01 043 88R is £320 ish and i'm sure there's still bits missing from that kit to complete it.

 

[Amos91]

Leak isn't even that bad, not worth fixing until the gearbox starts crunching. A litre of of oil is less than a tenner and would rarely need to be topped up anyway.

 

[JamesBryan]

Yeah that's nothing compared to mine lol.

I'm getting a box built up with a quaife diff put in.

 

[Tookers]

Will leave the gearbox for now, will flush it and keep an eye on it.
Had a look around the forum and the issue i had last night, when the engine was hot and wouldnt start up could be the tdc sensor. So will pull that out and clean up the connector.
Going to do a compression test tomorrow so might hold off on cambelt if results are bad.