Clio 172 cup advice

[IW365]

Hi all,

I've had some sound advice in the past from people on this forum, so here goes with another question or two...

My 2002 clio 172 cup which I have owned from new had a timing belt slip at 140k causing damage to the head which after a lot of deliberating I had repaired. I had a couple of years of trouble free motoring until it developed a misfire which my mechanic diagnosed as a potential problem with the inlet valve(s) in cylinder 1, but this could not be proved without stripping the head down.

To cut a long story short I needed a reliable car for work so I bought a Civic type-r and left the clio in my garage for a year.

Anyway, I miss the clio, so I want to get it back on the road and (probably misguidedly) I've started to strip the engine. My technical skills are fairly limited and I've probably reached the limit of what I can do (next step is to remove the belts and rocker cover), so my questions would be:

1, should I persist with the head removal and have it rebuilt?
Or
2, get a new engine fitted?
Or
3, sling everything in the boot and sell it as a non runner?

If anyone has any advice, or can point me towards someone local to Cambridge who can help I'd be really grateful.

Cheers

Ian

 

[bloke]

what does the 'mechanic' think the issue is?

 

[IW365]

what does the 'mechanic' think the issue is?

He said it could be an air leak on the inlet valve if I remember correctly.

 

[bloke]

if he said it can't be proved without stripping it down then he's not a good mechanic then!!!! leakdown test will show any issues up with valves not sealing.

 

[Mbeau]

Plenty of other reasons for missfire on these too. Was anything else checked? Did you get any lights on the dash with the missfire? Flashing EML?

Injectors seem to be one of the main reasons for missfires

 

[IW365]

Plenty of other reasons for missfire on these too. Was anything else checked? Did you get any lights on the dash with the missfire? Flashing EML?

Injectors seem to be one of the main reasons for missfires

When the misfire started I had a flashing EML which went solid. From memory he changed the coil pack which seemed to briefly cure the problem and extinguish the EML but it came back. I'll speak to him later to find out more regarding what he checked.

When I removed and checked the plugs, the one from the no 1 cylinder was blackened, could this point towards an injector problem?

 

[Krarl]

I'd say your mechanic needs to stop being a mongo

Flashing EML is injectors

 

[IW365]

I'd say your mechanic needs to stop being a mongo

Flashing EML is injectors

Would that explain the blackened plug, rough idle and unburnt fuel stink too? The EML light was alternating between flashing, solid and off.

 

[Krarl]

Would that explain the blackened plug, rough idle and unburnt fuel stink too? The EML light was alternating between flashing, solid and off.

I'd check them anyway. Stick a multimeter across them and they should be about 14.1 ohms of resistance

 

[IW365]

I'd check them anyway. Stick a multimeter across them and they should be about 14.1 ohms of resistance

Great cheers I'll look into it. Thanks for the advice

 

[IW365]

Great cheers I'll look into it. Thanks for the advice

I've got 10.2 on 1 and 15.1 on 2,3 and 4.

The injector in cyl. 1 is a new one, it was replaced after the misfire problems began....

 

[Mbeau]

15.1 is about right. 10.2 is low. Is that the cylinder with the dark plug? Another easy test is to start the car and unplug one injector at a time to see if it makes any difference to the running. If not that is the one at fault. Injectors seem to be bit of a weak point, especially as the mileage gets up over 100k. You can get a set of new genuine injectors for about £130. Well worth doing.

 

[Mbeau]

Best way is to look on live diagnostic equipment as the above are real basic tests.

 

[IW365]

15.1 is about right. 10.2 is low. Is that the cylinder with the dark plug? Another easy test is to start the car and unplug one injector at a time to see if it makes any difference to the running. If not that is the one at fault. Injectors seem to be bit of a weak point, especially as the mileage gets up over 100k. You can get a set of new genuine injectors for about £130. Well worth doing.

Thanks for the reply, the car is a little way off being able to start but I'll get onto it.

That is the injector from the cylinder with the blackened plug. I'm a bit concerned that the new injector has already got a low reading, what do you think could be causing this?

Cheers

 

[Mbeau]

What make was the new injector?

Was it a brand new injector or used?

 

[bloke]

I'll speak to him later to find out more regarding what he checked.

doubt he checked anything, more like started to replace things and keep his fingers crossed ?

 

[IW365]

What make was the new injector?

doubt he checked anything, more like started to replace things and keep his fingers crossed ?

Can't see a make on them.

Just found the bill. He did throw a few things at it: valve solenoid, plugs, coil pack, leads and the injector. To be fair he didn't charge me any labour as none of these solved the problem.

 

[bloke]

bloody nerve to charge for parts that didn't sort it either!!!

 

[MonkeyKnifeFight]

If it was me I'd swap injector 1 over with 2,3 or 4 to see if it's the injector or something else ignition related. Fault finding is all about gathering as much info as you can with what you have.

My misfire was due to a faulty injector swapped it with a spare I had and haven't had a problem since. Fingers corssed you get it sorted.

 

[IW365]

If it was me I'd swap injector 1 over with 2,3 or 4 to see if it's the injector or something else ignition related. Fault finding is all about gathering as much info as you can with what you have.

My misfire was due to a faulty injector swapped it with a spare I had and haven't had a problem since. Fingers corssed you get it sorted.

Thanks for that, I'll give it a try.

 

[IW365]

Hi all,

I know it's been a while but the car is now running again, it seems to rev up ok but has a really lumpy idle (It's always been a bit lumpy but it seems worse now) could this be caused by dodgy injectors or something else?

The good news is that the compression test was ok so we are now thinking more towards fueling/ignition than a valve problem ?

I'd be really grateful for any advice...

Cheers

 

[Iain C]

Hi all,

I know it's been a while but the car is now running again, it seems to rev up ok but has a really lumpy idle (It's always been a bit lumpy but it seems worse now) could this be caused by dodgy injectors or something else?

The good news is that the compression test was ok so we are now thinking more towards fueling/ignition than a valve problem ?

I'd be really grateful for any advice...

Cheers

Yes

 

[David172]

I had a similar running problem to you and after scanning for fault codes (and finding one) I replaced the injector and it sorted it.

If you haven't already I would scan for fault codes and go from there.

 

[IW365]

I had a similar running problem to you and after scanning for fault codes (and finding one) I replaced the injector and it sorted it.

If you haven't already I would scan for fault codes and go from there.

Thanks,

I have scanned for codes and there are none showing.

The EML is off now and the horrible fuel stink has also gone away so other than the lumpy idle and a blowy exhaust it's running pretty well.

Cheers

 

[David172]

Id just see how it goes then, maybe a nice service with new plugs if they haven't been done for a while.

 

[IW365]

Id just see how it goes then, maybe a nice service with new plugs if they haven't been done for a while.

Cheers that's good advice, it's got fairly new plugs and leads so I'll give it some tlc and see how we go.

 

[IW365]

I was wondering if anyone could give me some further advice....

With the help of a mate we have got the car running and I was at the stage where I was going to replace the injectors but now I can get it to start!

The immobiliser light extinguishes when the key is turned but then all I get is a really loud clicking (relay) noise with immobiliser light flashing when I try to turn it over.

The battery has been off the car for some time but is fully charged and I have done all the checks I found on other threads (locking and unlocking, leaving ignition on 10 mins etc)

Has anyone got any ideas, or alternatively can recommend a decent mobile mechanic/electrician in the cambridge area as I'd really like to get the clio back on the road post lockdown!

Cheers Ian