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.

cambelt problems (local garages)



  2001 MK 2 Clio 172
Evening all!

So I decide to go against the better advice on here and get the cam belt/dephaser done by a local mechanic. He showed me all the locking tools and said he had worked on these cars several times and never had any issues. He had just pretty much rebuilt my girlfriends engine and done a great job, so I thought I was in safe hands.

Since getting it back it is suffering from ridiculous rough idle on tick over 200rpm - 1200rpm and often stalls when coming to a stop with my foot on the clutch. Other than that everything seems to be fine no loss of power, but the engine does sound a bit whiney, more so than before.

From looking on here I'm sure I know the answer (and yes I am kicking myself) but the question is can it be fixed without having to have the whole job done again? I've done about 1500miles since I had it done and other than the two issue above everything is fine, could it be something else, spark plugs, coil pack etc?

Would appreciate any advice?

Cheers
 
  SQ5
You had all the advice to go to a specialist before and didn't.

How much did you pay out of interest.
 
  2001 MK 2 Clio 172
You had all the advice to go to a specialist before and didn't.

How much did you pay out of interest.

I already know and put that in my post?!?

I'm asking if it's possible to fix it at this stage, I'm assuming it's not too badly timed considering the mileage I've done or if I need to get the while job done again??

I paid £520
 
  SQ5
I already know and put that in my post?!?

I'm asking if it's possible to fix it at this stage, I'm assuming it's not too badly timed considering the mileage I've done or if I need to get the while job done again??

I paid £520

It would of been cheaper to go to a specialist??!
 
  275 Trophy
Evening all!

So I decide to go against the better advice on here and get the cam belt/dephaser done by a local mechanic. He showed me all the locking tools and said he had worked on these cars several times and never had any issues. He had just pretty much rebuilt my girlfriends engine and done a great job, so I thought I was in safe hands.

Since getting it back it is suffering from ridiculous rough idle on tick over 200rpm - 1200rpm and often stalls when coming to a stop with my foot on the clutch. Other than that everything seems to be fine no loss of power, but the engine does sound a bit whiney, more so than before.

From looking on here I'm sure I know the answer (and yes I am kicking myself) but the question is can it be fixed without having to have the whole job done again? I've done about 1500miles since I had it done and other than the two issue above everything is fine, could it be something else, spark plugs, coil pack etc?

Would appreciate any advice?

Cheers

1. Wether or not it's timed up properly, take it back to the guy who did the work and tell him it's not right.

2. If that doesn't solve your problem, contact him again and say you will take it to another garage to sort, having done everything reasonable to give him chance to correct the work he did, and say you will take legal action to claim back your costs off him.

3. If he doesn't care, do exactly that.

4. Learn from your mistakes.
 
  2001 MK 2 Clio 172
^^ Thanks for your useful reply! ^^

I've already contacted him and within half hour he has assured me he used all the correct timing tools, and is trying to get me booked in for Monday to see what the issue is, I've sent him a link from the forum which pretty much explains my problem!

Rest assured if he had fucked it I will be taking legal action.

I have learned my lesson but I am still what to know: if the timing is out by any amount can it be fixed??
 
  275 Trophy
^^ Thanks for your useful reply! ^^

I've already contacted him and within half hour he has assured me he used all the correct timing tools, and is trying to get me booked in for Monday to see what the issue is, I've sent him a link from the forum which pretty much explains my problem!

Rest assured if he had f**ked it I will be taking legal action.

I have learned my lesson but I am still what to know: if the timing is out by any amount can it be fixed??

Firstly, to allay your fears, if the car is running semi-okay then you shouldn't have suffered any damage.

If the timing is out then, yes of course it can be made right. This, however may cost you the full amount of the whole job again at a different garage as they won't necessarily want to use the old parts that the first garage put on because they will have to warrant the work as a separate job. If your original guy has another go at the job then, again you take your chances that he will do it properly.

I've been through this with a Megane and court action, including fantastic service from one of the specialists to rectify the problem - and they also did a great job on my old 172. PM if you want my experiences with the courts.
 
  RB 182 FF,1.2 16V
Hi,
Does anyone know of a Renault Independent Garage or a Renault Technician who works at home for a 182 Cambelt/Aux/Dephaser/Water Pump change & is in the Stockport/Manchester/Oldham area?

Cheers
 
  Clio 182 sport
I had the same problem with my 182 sport on a 04 this was the top plenum gasket leaking air get new gasket fitted and this will solve you're problem and you're revs won't keep varying and cutting out hope this helps and good luck
 
  Inferno 182FF
Trouble is sometimes even "specialists" get it wrong though. Took mine to one (as I didn't have time to do it myself due to work), 500 miles later it spat a valve. Ive now rebuilt the engine and done it myself! Moral of the story, if you can do it yourself, do it! You're always going to treat your own car better!
 
  BG Clio 182 FF
Called at a renault main dealer last week to ask for a price for all belts/dephaser and waterpump.

Got a private plate on my car that the system wouldn't recognise. They needed the original reg (that I don't have since I bought the car with the plate already on).

Tried to reason with the bint. "Any chance you can do it manually". e.g - car model/year/engine size etc

"Computer says no" so I walked out.

Renault are mongs. It's not like I was looking for wiper blades. What a way to run a business if you can let £600 go walking out the door.

So will take it to a specialist.
 

basketballjoe3

ClioSport Club Member
  Clio 182
Rawlinsons Renault in Bury St Edmunds are currently charging £399 for a cambelt change.

http://dealer.renault.co.uk/rawlinson-bury-st-edmunds/servicing-offers

I've used them for the past three years and so far (touch wood) have never had an issue, my car is there this week having it done, they even threw in the dephaser for £150, which I know is not as cheap as buying from Adam on here, but I do get a warranty with it and they have thrown in a half price MOT, so I can't really complain.

It'll be a miracle if Renault charged you £600 quid, it would have been more like £900.

I do agree with you in general though, I phoned around Lookers in Colchester, Holden in Norwich (where the cambelt was first done five years ago), closest I could get to Rawlinson was £650.
 
Last edited:
  twingo
personally, i think that any self respecting mechanic can do this job. it's the bread and butter of the trade, but it's genuinely scary to see how 98% of mechanics in the trade believe that they are the be all and end all all things automotive. we work on workshop manuals from the manufacturer when it comes to timing belts, and we collect the correct tools for the correct engine be that vag / ford / rover / renault / psa / gm so on so forth. i have no qualms with checking these manuals for reference when i'm doing an engine for the first time, or a second or third time because the pride i take in seeing a customer come back time and time again is what keeps me going so it is essential to do the job in the way the manufacturer intended it being done, no excuses. i have all the correct workshop tools for renault cars which is a must, there is no way to botch an F4R without the correct tools but the amount of 'local garages' that do not realise this is quite frankly terrifying.

150-200 investment in some essential tooling is realistically nothing, and if you believe any mechanic who claims that is expensive then just look at his big snap on / mac tool tool cabinet filled with over priced junk, where a set of spanners will cost him the same as this timing tool... and then ask yourself ''is this the sort of person i really want to be dealing with''
 

MicKPM

ClioSport Trader
  Clio16v/Zoe Z.E.50
personally, i think that any self respecting mechanic can do this job. it's the bread and butter of the trade, but it's genuinely scary to see how 98% of mechanics in the trade believe that they are the be all and end all all things automotive. we work on workshop manuals from the manufacturer when it comes to timing belts, and we collect the correct tools for the correct engine be that vag / ford / rover / renault / psa / gm so on so forth. i have no qualms with checking these manuals for reference when i'm doing an engine for the first time, or a second or third time because the pride i take in seeing a customer come back time and time again is what keeps me going so it is essential to do the job in the way the manufacturer intended it being done, no excuses. i have all the correct workshop tools for renault cars which is a must, there is no way to botch an F4R without the correct tools but the amount of 'local garages' that do not realise this is quite frankly terrifying.

150-200 investment in some essential tooling is realistically nothing, and if you believe any mechanic who claims that is expensive then just look at his big snap on / mac tool tool cabinet filled with over priced junk, where a set of spanners will cost him the same as this timing tool... and then ask yourself ''is this the sort of person i really want to be dealing with''

Normally I'd agree Oscar but I've just checked a 182 for a customer which had a terrible idle and poor fuel economy and the belts were done by a main dealer (not my place to name drop either party but they are on CS). It was wrong, simple but to make matters worse the cam setting points were also bent.

Who's fault the bent set points were is anyone's guess but the job shouldn't have been attempted really if they were already damaged to this degree and the customer advised as there's no way the timing could be set correctly like that.

This isn't the first dealer car I've seen either that's been wrong and they range from K4J's to the F4R to so the QA process is obviously failing in some shops.
 
  Pug 206 SW, 172 CUP
Renault garages in smaller towns charge less. Trowbridge is 200 quid less than Bristol centre. Had two Clios with belts done now by the same Renault dealer and everything ok so far. Both have performed as they should so no complaints. It really is the luck of the draw with dealers unfortunately.

I had every intention of doing it myself but a 172 cup came up with it all done and luckily I knew the dealer who did all the work on the 182 we tracked a couple of years ago.

There is more than enough on this site to get it right if you diy. As long as you even the belt tension, set the tensioner right and check and re-check it's all still times up properly with the right tools the jobs a good 'un.
 
Last edited:

FSD

  Clio Sport 172
Hi All,
I recently brought a 172 off an existing CS member, it a 52 plate with 48k miles on the clock. It will be coming up to 5 years at the end of year for a cambelt change. After reading this interesting post I decided that i wanted to get it done sooner rather than later. I was wondering if there are any traders/specialists in the Bristol area. It appears that Birmingham seems to be the specialist area and i am happy to drive there but obviously would be ideal if something was closer.

It had everything changed the last time it was done and I’m pretty certain that only the cambelt and aux need changing. I would possibly look into getting water pump done as well if I’m not too priced out :).

Sorry for bumping long/old post just though it would be better than starting a new one.

Thanks in advanced.
 
  Ph1 172 Clio 2001
I was having a read of this an finding other info on doing the cam belt change myself. I just bought a cheap camshaft locking tool kit which i thought was going to be enough but after reading this it is seeming like taking my time and using genuine renault s**t isnt going to be enough ? I cant afford to take it to anyone to do it for me and i have done timing belts before so even after reading this i am going to still do it myself. I have a mate i help out who works with renault 5 turbos and i have worked with them for the past few years too. I rekon i will take a load of pictures and put my experience up here somewhere and if someone has already got a guide on how to do it other than autodata which i was going to use then please tell me soon because the parts are on there way and the engine looks like it had a new belt but the tensioners are gone maybe
Cheers in advance everyone
 
  MG ZR x2, Polo, CTR
I was having a read of this an finding other info on doing the cam belt change myself. I just bought a cheap camshaft locking tool kit which i thought was going to be enough but after reading this it is seeming like taking my time and using genuine renault s**t isnt going to be enough ? I cant afford to take it to anyone to do it for me and i have done timing belts before so even after reading this i am going to still do it myself. I have a mate i help out who works with renault 5 turbos and i have worked with them for the past few years too. I rekon i will take a load of pictures and put my experience up here somewhere and if someone has already got a guide on how to do it other than autodata which i was going to use then please tell me soon because the parts are on there way and the engine looks like it had a new belt but the tensioners are gone maybe
Cheers in advance everyone

The cheap camshaft tools tend to bend and put the timing out.
As far as I remember, the autodata information is wrong on the timing of these.
There is a guide on here with pretty much step by step instructions, but you need to be a paid member to access it.

The only thing I can advise is double check everything, then check it again to be sure.
I've done 4 of these now, and it's not a bad job, but the lack of space makes it awkward.
 
  Ph1 172 Clio 2001
The cheap camshaft tools tend to bend and put the timing out.
As far as I remember, the autodata information is wrong on the timing of these.
There is a guide on here with pretty much step by step instructions, but you need to be a paid member to access it.

I did clock another set of toruqes on here and i got an oldish copy of autodata too only goes up to 2011 but even reading the guide on autodata it doesnt seem that hard to do at all and i would need to borrow a proper set of locking tools if mine werent going to cut the mustard its just i cant seem to settle on the settings as everyone says different and i havent seen anything other than autodata on how to do it. The link at the start of this thread led me to this .

ive got the book now the guide rollers are stated @ 50nm tensioner @28nm camshaft locking tool nuts @ 80nm exhaust sprocket new nuts @80nm +86d and inlet sprocket @100nm blanking plug 25nm and crankshaft 40nm + 110d. does look tricky.

My engine is sat at 76,000 miles on it just now and from squinting the belt still looks ok maybe even newer than i magine but i am goign with the belt hasnt been done before and the squealing i hear all the time while the engine is on is coming from a pulley or a tensioner because i seen enough videos on fucked dephasers to know it isnt that.
How does the cheap stuff bent if the job is being done right ? As i wont be touching anything else old belt off new belt on if i dont touch the camshafts other than putting a belt round it how would that bend the cheap locking tools ? how does that bend 3 locking pins?
I ask this because i want to know not to sound stupid but TO know what to look for when i do it because i will be doing this belt change anyway as long as the markings dont move then there shouldnt be a problem ?

Al make a cup of tea and a smoke then film this noisy fucker in action
 
  MG ZR x2, Polo, CTR
From memory, dephaser is 100nm, exhaust is 130nm and crank was about 80nm.
In all honesty, i just horsed them all up until i was happy with them
 
  Ph1 172 Clio 2001
What if i did the work and a specialist just kept an eye on me ? How much would that cost? Hahaha I am a mechanic student but most of my tutors had not hear d of a dephaser before well at the least the name of it haha.
I am going to make a list of all these toruqes and check them against autodata hahaha
 

ADS_V6

ClioSport Club Member
  Seat Leon
dont do it yourself,dont go through the stress i had of a garage timing it up wrong etc and then having to go to sjm to correct it and him to do a report so i had to get my money back.Its not worth it m8
 
  Ph1 172 Clio 2001
I only really got my mate who has worked with renault turbos since the early 90's and I will have read up on as much as I can on this too. I became a full member here today so I could get access to the good info I seen a piece already which looks like I am going to use but then is there anyone near Glenrothes who could help ? I am going to get an alternator belt kit before I attempt this and I think the only tool missing will be the thing that covers the camshaft gears on the belt side, if I mess it up then I mess it up only got me to blame I am borrowing money just to get the alternator kit I won't be able to take it to anyone who has done them before. I also deliver curries at the weekend and I used the car for the first time just the weekend past and I need to have the job done during the week, I wouldn't get enough time in the workshop at college either because it's assessment time and all college time is studying at the moment.
I was supposed to film the rattle and post it up but it was new fast and loud the day and I had a smoke and watched that forgot the video so I am going to get it done tomorrow while I wait for my parts to arrive lol.
I have done timing belts before and i am game to do it on my only car because if I don't then I don't work and don't earn more money to put into it. I know it's needs done and the c**t that owned it before me didn't do anything to it in the months he owned it so I shall hahaha.
 
  SQ5
If your missing a tool it won't be right will it.

You need the car but willing to break it easily, rather than lose it for a day having a specialist do it correctly......

Can tell it's the Easter holidays.
 


Top